NO, they aren't running out ideas. And like other people said, basing your opinion off of the appearance of some Pokemon, or the Plot, etc isn't really fair at all.
Like with the Bidoof and Pachirisu. Bidoof doesn't look crap or anything. Tell me, when was the last time we had a Pokemon like a Beaver or a Squirrel? But that's besides the point.
Even though I have few 'eh's about Gen V, so far. I'm really excited for it. And I think this is the best Pokemon has been since Gen II. A HUGE city like Hiun? That's gotta better than Goldenrod, Lilycove, Celadon, and Veilstone City.
And for the Pokemon part, where they get the ideas for the Pokemon etc. It's not like ALL Pokemon are based off of animals. Some are based of creature from mythology, main Japanese, Chinese, Persian, Arab, and Hebrew and Native American legends. IE: Magmar, And all the Legendary Pokemon. There are plenty of others things out that they cane get really good ideas from.
In short:
They ain't running out of ideas.
And you call urself, Pokemon fans shame on u.
On a side-note: I do have one issue, with the starters. Don't get me wrong, they look AWESOME. But I'm just wondering where they got the ideas from? A Fire Pig? A Grass Snake? A Sea Otter?
Tsutaja, while I LOVE the way it looks, a Grass Snake? You sure? Where did get the idea for him?
Same thing with Pokabu. I'm choosing him as my starter. I LOVE HIM!!! But again, a Fire-breathing pig, interesting but really where did Game Freak come up with the idea for it?
Mijumaru, its said that its a Sea Otter Pokemon, but it looks more like a Bear, I mean Buizel and Floatzel looked WAY more like Otters than Mijumaru, it's really cute though.
Also, as much as I like the Gen V starters, I like the idea mentioned earlier of having contests of Pokemon artists posting candidate starters for the next Gen.