I always thought the Safari Zone was mostly a preserve. I mean I guess they're the same thing.
Still, just because some of the NPCs in a game may or may not have caged a Pokemon doesn't necessarily make it right. It sounds like good ol' fashioned human greed at worst, sticking their nose into business where it doesn't belong at best to me. :\
Don't get me wrong, I understand what value a zoo can have as an educational resource, but at the same time, real life animals are at most only sentient. I may not feel great about the whole thing, but for the most part, animals that are in legitimate zoos are usually there for their protection. Maybe they didn't function well in the wild, they were abandoned, or they were sick. I can buy into that, but as I said in another topic, I sometimes feel that humans feel like they have to intervene when in fact nature marches on. It's based on human bias and the need to anthropomorphize everything because honestly, what other point of view do we have?
Again, it just becomes really really grey in terms of Pokemon. If a zoo was opened, a legitimate zoo, you'd still have to ask yourself if the Pokemon in question really asked to stay there, or if you forced it there against its will. But would we even bother to ask the Pokemon? In universe, we can't understand them easily, but they seem to understand us. A Pikachu could be shouting "Pikas" in protest all day long, but I feel like we'd instantly go into patronize mode and just say "awww, Pikachu is just being cranky". Why? Because it seems as if we still see them as nothing higher than animals. Or rather, because they arent human. Frankly, we'd do the same thing to aliens if they came to our planet, probably put them on display for our entertainment, too.
Conversely, some Pokemon would enjoy the free ride and companionship that a perserve may provide, which is why so many of them clearly don't mind traveling alongside humans on their quest to be whatever. In fact, they may have the same goals, and figured you'd be a good partner to help them get there. I can easily imagine a Charmander who wants to become big and strong because he was a runt in his family. You'd also have the case of some Pokemon wanting to work as well. Maybe they like the idea of having a reserve that exists for the temporary housing of Pokemon while they recover. Chansey'd be all over that.
It's actually kind of funny, because despite being a different continuity, Ash more often than not, at least in the old episodes (seeing as I haven't kept up with the series) asked the Pokemon if traveling with him sounded good to them before catching them. I know we don't get that option in a video game, but in real life, I'd feel like it might make the relationship a lot less terse between Pokemon and trainer from the onset. If a Pokemon wishes to become stronger, I'm sure it'll let you know.
There needs to be a topic on this somewhere on the forum. I'd have so much fun. :D Sorry again for the topic derailment.