Pikachu is not the most popular Pokémon… so who is?
Beginning almost 27 years ago, the adventures of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu won the hearts of millions worldwide. Their journey and relationship became a staple for the Pokémon franchise, as the two characters skyrocketed to fame.
You would think after all their success that Pikachu would be the most popular Pokémon, but a recent study shows different.
So who is the most popular Pokémon in this day and age?
Pikachu is NOT the most popular Pokémon searched on the internet... They are not even in the top 10.
In a recent study, Solitaire Bliss discovered the top 10 popular Pokémon via multiple search engines. Using data from Google, Bing and Yahoo, they were able to figure out which Pokémon were being searched on a regular basis.
Rank Pokemon Google Searches Bing Searches Yahoo Searches Total | 1 Charizard 234,000 3,000 3,700 240,700 | 2 Gardevoir 152,000 2,500 3,900 158,400 | 3 Sylveon 131,000 1,900 4,400 137,300 | 4 Lucario 122,000 2,000 2,200 126,200 | 5 Gengar 110,000 1,700 1,800 113,500 | 6 Umbreon 109,000 1,700 2,300 113,000 | 7 Garchomp 92,000 800 900 93,700 | 8 Mimikyu 80,000 1,800 2,500 84,300 | 9 Rayquaza 80,000 1,100 1,300 82,400 | 10 Greninja 70,000 1,400 1,700 73,100 |
With over 240,000 searches across all three engines, Charizard takes the cake as number one in internet searches. Number two, Gardevoir, was almost 100,000 searches behind.
Every Pokémon behind number one is close, but Charizard takes a heavy lead. Such an awesome creature deserves to take number one, especially since it has been around from the start.
The second Pokémon, which surprised me, was Gardevoir. Gardevoir was first introduced in generation three with Pokémon: Saphire and Ruby. It was the third evolution, following Ralts and Kirlia.
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Only 2 Pokémon in the top 10 are from Gen. 1... with multiple other generations filling the list.
The next Pokémon besides Charizard who is also from the first generation on this list is Gengar. In fact, Gengar is the only other Pokémon from the first generation in the top 10.
Every other Pokémon on this list span across all the generations. The most recent generation displayed in this list is generation seven, where Mimikyu resides. This ghost Pokémon was first introduced in 2016 in the Pokémon: Sun and Moon series.
Pokémon's pull in the pop culture world is incredibly prominent. Not only are the video games huge sellers, but the anime and trading cards are also just as popular.
