Hard to tell, the rare appearances and mentions of real animals in the pokeverse has confused everybody for over a decade. Especially in the relatively early years, like the infamous Indian Elephant. And some animals appeared alongside pokémon in the first couple editions of the cardgame, like a frog and a bird. In other words, real animals are probably not supposed to exist in the pokéworld, but sometimes they slip in by accident.
Popebug said: Hard to tell, the rare appearances and mentions of real animals in the pokeverse has confused everybody for over a decade. Especially in the relatively early years, like the infamous Indian Elephant. And some animals appeared alongside pokémon in the first couple editions of the cardgame, like a frog and a bird. In other words, real animals are probably not supposed to exist in the pokéworld, but sometimes they slip in by accident.
Depends what continuity you go by. Real animals DIFFENETLY exists in the Pokemon adventures manga. The anime is honestly a toss up.