When you think of Pokémon, chances are you imagine Pikachu, the yellow mouse-like creature with red cheeks. Despite being the face of the franchise, Pikachu is not the most popular pocket monster. In fact, it didn’t make the top 10.
The gaming experts at Solitaire Bliss wanted to know which Pokémon are the most popular of all, which is a tall task since there are over 1,000 different kinds. The company broke down search data from engines like Yahoo, Bing and Google to see which names came up the most in 2022.
In first place is Charizard, one of the original 150 Pokémon, with over 234,000 searches on Google alone. In all, the name was searched more than 240,000 times each month.
There is one name on the list that can technically be considered a Pikachu stand-in, Mimikyu, since it poorly disguises itself as one. It came in eighth place, with 84,300 monthly searches.
A Solitaire Bliss spokesperson said in a press release, “It may be surprising to some that Pikachu didn’t make the top ten. This character has become so synonymous with the brand, even to those who have never played the video games or watched the shows.”
For those interested, these are the Pokémon who made the top 10:
1. Charizard with 240,000 cumulative searches
2. Gardevoir with 158,400 cumulative searches
3. Sylveon with 137,300 cumulative searches
4. Lucario with 126,200 cumulative searches
5. Gengar with 113,500 cumulative searches
6. Umbreon with 113,000 cumulative searches
7. Garchomp with 93,700 cumulative searches
8. Mimikyu with 84,300 cumulative searches
9. Rayquaza with 82,400 cumulative searches
10. Greninja with 73,100 cumulative searches