So people eat pokemon, I get it, but something bothers me. How do we decide what pokemon to eat? If you come across say a wild Miltank, how do you decide whether it would be better as a partner/team member or as a tasty cheeseburger?

Oh, the answer’s quite simple, anonymous. It’s the same way you would decide whether or not to eat a wild animal. I would presume that every time you come across a deer or a cow, you wouldn’t instantly attempt to slaughter it for its meat, and you wouldn’t cut down every tree you come across for its wood, either. In much the same way, humans look at pokémon and decide for themselves whether to catch it, eat it, or leave it alone for the most part.

Of course, most people eat domesticated pokémon anyway, rather than pokémon found in the wild—meaning you would eat farm-raised miltank or torchic instead of those you encounter in a field. After all, farm-produced pokémon meat (including those from grass-types, which I suppose would be more vegetable-like than meat-like) is typically raised specifically for consumption. Thus, it goes through an approval process to ensure that it’s safe to eat and obtained in a humane manner. Meat you slaughter yourself or obtain from sources that haven’t been officially sanctioned by your country’s agricultural department could be contaminated with any number of diseases or otherwise unfit for human consumption, not to mention you can’t simply slaughter a pokémon and call it humane.

In short, I suppose the answer is even simpler than previously stated: you don’t choose at all unless you’re involved with the pokémon food industry. I suppose you could if you’re a hunter, but although I am not one myself, I would assume that those who go out hunting for pokémon are doing so specifically to find and kill pokémon, rather than to catch them for their teams.