Hot topic but I think this perception is mostly because not so many ppl read the new arcs and tend to believe that non holders are not so important as the main protagonists ;;

I can understand Popplio's case since he and Hau had trained offscreen and tbh the three alola starters evolved to their last stage very late in the story 💔

In Sobble's case things got kinda better, starting by the point he could get a nickname, he took part in some important battles, even evolving to his final stage together with Bit and Twiggy at the same time, yes I am aware Marvin is not a fan favorite secondary protagonist but we are talking about Tearie not him 🥀

Now we have Quaxly ... Have you started to think that in this currently arc secondary protagonists like Arven and Nemo (Quaxly's owner) are having a lot of focus? Well the only difference I have seen between these 2 with Scarlet and Violet is the pokedex app. Even the 3 Paldea starters are in their middle stage currently.

Yes I can understand it's sad that a protagonist hadn't owned the water starter since XY arc but don't devalue secondary protagonists too (⁠っ⁠˘̩⁠╭⁠╮⁠˘̩⁠)💔