[@dark light] LOL make a new thread--I think we'd be better off making a shared collab doc or something of the like. (just reinserting my argument about laying responsibility onto one person)

As for having them start off at level 5, that would be slightly odd since a trainer could easily evolve up a Pokemon at level 1 with an evolution shard. Sure it would up the Pokemon's level by three, but the entire system would be skewed should you change the system at all. Perhaps just consider the Poke to be a "level 1" in trainer care? Besides, the argument against wilds being at lvl 5 would be that they should, actually, start at lvl 10 since that's when Pokemon should "naturally" evolve if they aren't exposed to consumables. 

Really, I don't know a better way to improve the system without breaking it. I think that keeping it as-is is the best option for now since the Pokemon has to get to know your trainer anyway, and is automatically "more powerful" as it is a "tier two" Pokemon rather than tier one.

What do you / does everyone think about that?