For my part, I'm glad that the Element Monkeys are getting some attention.
I've especially liked Pan/Simipour since the release of Gen5, had the Japanese version (don't ask, long story) and kept the gifted Panpour in my team.
Since 2021, I've had a Panpour PMD-OC that was initially based on my Simipour, and yes, it's hard to have a favorite Pokémon that's rather unpopular, but I'm happy and have accepted it because there were people who liked these Pokemon anyway.
At first, I didn't particularly like Pansear, Simisear, and Simisage, but that only came after I also created PMD OCs xD
I own, or rather owned, fan merchandise... (a lot of this merch, like these claw machine figures, Sittung Cuties, and other plushies, got lost during the move.)
I also use Simipour in ZA. Even though it and the other two don't have Mega Evolutions (could have used that boost, btw), it performs very well in gameplay. Hydro Pump goes hard.✨
The stats aren't bad per se, it's just that the monkeys' two defense stats are meh, making them very fragile.
Maybe this little nod will help them appear more often in future games and not skip two whole gen core games (I'm not counting Gen 7, as they weren't catchable but could be transferred through bank).
Sure, popular Pokémon have to be included, fan service and all that. The monkeys take up 6 slots in the Dex, but so does Eevee from Gen to Gen... whole 9 slots.
By the way... a small, somewhat unrelated side note... for years, Drifloon was my most favorite Pokemon, and it appeared pretty much everywhere? B/W Postgame (?), but otherwise every core game and many spin-offs? In ZA, they are uncatchable for the first time. xD