Did you know that Satoshi Tajiri’s Pokémon is currently the top grossing media franchise in the world, with an estimated total revenue of $76.4 billion?
Multiplayer card game experts at World of Card Games have analyzed Google search volumes from the past year to find out which of the 1,010 total monsters have captured the attention of the U.S.
In 2020, The Pokémon Company released the results of their Pokémon of the year poll, which saw Kalos starter Greninja being crowned the favorite. This poll was open to a global audience, but the findings of the new study show a different picture across the U.S.
California’s favorite Pokémon are:
Pikachu – The electric mouse Pokémon
Search volume: 105,733 per month
Introduced in Red and Green versions, this small yellow mouse is the mascot of the franchise. In the anime, Pikachu is the reluctant partner of Ash Ketchum and the two travel across the world, eventually forging an unbreakable bond and friendship. Pikachu was not originally intended to be the mascot, however, due to Nintendo feeling that it was more recognizable and had a less common color scheme, it was chosen over Clefairy.
Despite this Pokémon’s popularity, Pikachu cannot be caught in Black 2 or White 2 but has been in every other mainline series game to date.
Eevee – The evolution Pokémon
Search volume: 67,890 per month
Eevee has joined the ranks of the starter Pokémon in two mainline games, those being Yellow version and Let’s Go Eevee. The small fox-like Pokémon is known for its evolutions and for showcasing the dark type and fairy types when they were introduced.
The last evolution announced for Eevee was Sylveon, the fairy type. Fans have wanted an eeveelution for each of the 18 elemental types but there has been no additional Eevee evolution since the X and Y games from 2013.
Charizard – The flame Pokémon
Search volume: 58,125 per month
Charizard is one of the original starter trio that debuted in the Red and Green versions. Along with Pikachu, Charizard is one of Ash’s most well-known Pokémon due to its arrogance and eventual loyalty and respect for Ash.
This fire starter commonly makes a playthrough of generation one difficult because it is weak to the first two gym leaders, although in later generations the Charizard family is given access to moves that can help defeat them.
Prior to using the generation legendary on the box art, Charizard was featured on the box for Red version.
Snorlax – The lazy Pokémon
Search volume: 38,609 per month
Another first generation Pokémon, Squirtle’s anime appearance featured a Snorlax blocking the water source for a village. This is similar to the way the Pokémon acts in the games, as it is a roadblock to prevent players reaching later areas.
Snorlax has a lot of health in the games and is good as a Pokémon that can take hits while other team members recover.
Gengar – The shadow Pokémon
Search volume: 35,195 per month
Gengar is the final evolution in the Gastly family line and one of only three ghost type Pokémon in generation one.
Up until 2016 and the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon, Gengar was not available to be caught in the wild. The ghost Pokémon could only be obtained by trading a Haunter with a friend.
Its pokédex entry states that Gengar will slip into its prey’s shadow in order to steal the life force. This has also inspired a theory that Gengar is the shadow or ghost of a Clefable.
What’s your favorite character?
