It certainly raises questions about the not-Pokemon-wink-wink Digimon franchise. Or the recent Cassette Beasts[0] which has a lot more mechanical similarities to a Pokemon game than Palworld.
it would be incredibly dull if only one company was allowed to make "catch things and make them fight for you" games. Or a game whereupon the player character is rendered from the point of view of the character's eyes, there are multiple other characters (player or non-player) and shooting was the point.
valve being so successful with half-life, when it was just a "less alien" version of unreal, or a less "doom" version of "Quake". Yes it was a great game but the mechanics of gameplay existed for ages; prince of persia had the 3d platforming, the ones previously mentioned for FPS, i don't think the gravity gun was unique itself, but perhaps in a first person shooter, it was. Heck borderlands and rage take half life style gameplay to new places. Minecraft wasn't original (also Lego, in there too).
innovation requires "remixing". Wholesale copying of assets and code should be punished. "prior art" needs to be scrutinized, because "did they actually make this, is it actually novel" is an important question.
[0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1321440/Cassette_Beasts/