The Shaymin are a popular semi-sentient species of pet in the Ryccian Empire.

History
It is believed that the Shaymin originated as a species 85,000+ years ago on Stilia. They lived in grasslands and forests, and most were domesticated by the native Registin population to initially raise them as livestock. Eventually, some of the Registin nation-states took them as pets, whilst other national entities still clung on to treating them as livestock, although the practice of their wealthier citizens making them pets was not unheard of.

As the Registin civilizations never united before Stilia became a Ryccian world, Shaymin farming for meat continued in some areas of the planet until the conquest of Stilia 2,800+ years ago by the Ryccian Empire. The reigning monarch of the time, finding them exceedingly cute, banned their consumption and confiscated hundreds of millions of specimens as war bounty to popularize them as pets in the rest of the Empire.

This was successful, and there was a pet craze amongst the Ryccian aristocracy shortly after. The rarer Azure race was popular amongst the wealthy due to their scarcity and expense.

The Shaymin continued to be a popular pet even to this day. Shaymin are the second-most popular pet in the Empire, just behind dogs.
Biology
Semi-Sentience
There is an ongoing debate on the sentience of the Shaymin. It is the only known species in the Ryccian Empire that can both understand and learn language and that is also not classified as fully sentient. They use the language they learn from their masters to express basic feelings and needs (example: "I want cuddle, I want food, I hungry, I love you", etc.). However, they can only memorize basic words and concepts, learn slower than actual sentients, and most abstract concepts apart from feelings seem to be beyond their understanding. They cannot perform any complex math nor solve any other complex problems, and although their memory is far better than most animals, it is still inferior to a sentient's. Experiments were conducted to see if the Shaymin could live an independent life as citizens, but this resulted in failure, as the Shaymin had no concept of money, civilization, society, politics, or even a job. Unable to understand the concept of salaried work or independent housing, many specimens in the experiment ended up begging or stealing food from others, with none of the observed specimens succeeding even briefly. Some still call for the Shaymin to be released from captivity regardless, although this view is not popular.
Other Facts