The first time Heath saw such a fat Pikachu on television, he was stunned. At first glance, he thought he was looking at a Snorlax, since that was roughly how much a Snorlax weighed and how big one was. Only later did Heath realize that it was actually a Pikachu, not a Snorlax. That Pikachu was simply too fat. Its trainer doted on his Pokémon, regularly providing unlimited amounts of all kinds of delicious food. On top of that, the trainer did not particularly like battling, so all Pikachu did every day was eat and sleep. Over time, it ended up like that, to the point that its life was in danger.
In the end, Nurse Joy first performed a series of operations to save Pikachu's life, then began strictly supervising its exercise and weight loss. It was practically a real-life version of "Interested in swimming or a gym membership?" Only after slimming back down did Pikachu return to normal, and its health became a little more normal too. No similar problems occurred afterward.
The League then used this example to warn trainers who spoiled their Pokémon too much. Even if they adored their Pokémon, they still had to control their diets. Ideally, they should also let those Pokémon develop interests and hobbies of their own. Battling was best, since it helped control their weight and provided plenty of exercise, preventing Pokémon from developing weight problems.
After seeing that news report, Heath kept feeling that, in a sense, raising Pokémon was much like having a child and then trying to raise that child to be successful. They were essentially much the same. Children needed to manage their weight too, and Pokémon were also highly intelligent in a sense, smarter than ordinary pets. Psychic-type Pokémon could even be spoken to just