They’re both based on the same source material - various mythological creatures and real animals with a twist

I used to think Pokemon was super original - but a lot of it just seems they way because we don’t learn much about Japanese or asian folklore overseas.

Like take Magikarp. There’s a Chinese proverb about a carp leaping through the dragons gate (an actual waterfall) turning into a dragon (meant to describe how with diligence a common person could become powerful through the civil official exams)… The weak magic carp, if diligently leveled, can become a Chinese dragon that looks exactly like the ones they use in parades.

Meouth - a wealth giving cat, many asian shops have a cat figure with a gold coin for luck. And Persian is just a lioness (a bigger cat) with the same design.

Vulpix/Ninetails - nine tailed fox

Ekans - snakE. Arbok - kobrA. Pidgey - pigeon. Pigiotto, pigeot? Reminds me of fire, fira, firaga, firaja naming scheme from final fantasy

Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan - Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan

Noticably, most of these puns and references to actual people are not copied, instead it is things like wolves and mythological creatures

If anything, it’s the style of the art that makes them so similar - but copying aesthetics is how art grows and develops. It’s not like they were the first or only ones to copy the style either