Pokémon Sun and Moon - Kiawe's face says it all

Lillie being terrified as hell of Pokemon honestly makes so much sense. Like… every animal has the potential to kill you, and that they are semi-sentient is the only thing holding them back.

The word your looking for is "sapient" not "sentient". "Sentient" means something has thoughts and feelings, which, even though they're much more basic than humans, even real world animals are. "Sapient" means something has the minimum intellect and emotional complexity a human would have.