Of
course GF could get to fix that and make the Nidorans a single 'dex number, but down the line there's not much a need for it. There's been no real technological (read: programming) difficulty against it since at least Generation 4, probably even G3 when Formes as links to data indexes were first introduced, if I'm not mistaken.
But GF are not the kind of people to fix issues, because that adds no selling point in their eyes. Not enough hair, not enough Megas. For example the extended character limit from G6 could have been put to much better use. "Co
phagrigus" instead of "Co
fagrigus" (and that way we avoid lelridiculousban)? Nope. "Feraligat
or" and "Victreebel
l"? Nope either. The weird spacing or lack thereof in the names of Pokéball names or other items in the same families? Well, it's 2015 but at least we are not returning to the times of "PRZCureBerry".
Nidorans? Nidoqueen/rina breeding? They laugh at our suffering and we still throw our wallets at them.
Purisu andestandu.
Cerberus87 said:
But Pokédex number is determined by species. Nidoran male and female are not, and cannot be considered a single species, for the reasons I've explained in my earlier post.
(Emphasis mine)
There's nothing on that post that excludes Nidoran from being able to be a single species. Nidoran are set as different "species" (what you are actually calling 'dex numbers) simply because of the anthropic principle - they were made that way
back then. Had they have been made in Gen3 onwards, they could have shared a Pokédex dex number and simply have differed in the data index number - like, you know, any Pokémon with Formes. But it simply wasn't done (probably wasn't even possible) back then.
Stuff like stats and moveset don't determine species either, though they are far more relevant as a factor than the 'dex number, because the data to make stats and movesets different
if it is done has to go somewhere - still once you get into the data structure for G4 Pokémon that bump is out. So comparing Charmander and Cyndaquil, while fun (and prompting of... weird entertaining mental images) does not really provide any insight. It's just as simple as saying one is a lizard(thing) and the other is a mustelid(thing).
There's also no cause-to-effect relation between Pokédex number and species, as any and all branched evos and cross-generation evos show. Heck, there's not even a direct relation between Pokédex number and data index, and that would be the best indicator we would have from a game design perspective.