Honestly I don’t even think gen 1 Pokémon are anymore creative than the others. I was still a kid when the concept was new so they felt fresh, but pretty much every Pokémon I can think of is based on an existing archetype of some sort. Plant/Animal, inanimate object brought to life, spirits, dinosaurs, etc. Then you sprinkle on some regional flavor and there you go, you got a Pokémon.
“Identity” isn’t something that belongs to the object, it’s something that is assigned to the object by an observer.
The grass Joto starter was literally named after looking in the spice cabinet.
This is why, in retrospective, I’ve really fallen out of love with Pokémon. I could have spent that time learning about real-world animals and plants, since it’s so arguable, whether Pokémon are even cooler to begin with.