From the start, fans were biased towards specific Pokemon.
Game Freak picked up on this bias, and has been following it ever since.
Nowadays, it affects even whenever you are allowed to play your favorites in the first place.
Charizard and Pikachu keep winning, whether they deserve it or not (they don’t).
Some Pokemon are more popular than others — it’s a fact. Still, we feel like Game Freak has been paying much more attention to certain Pokemon, often undeservingly, while ignoring certain others. And it’s been a problem for a long while.
It started with the community
Pokemon has always allowed you to choose your game difficulty. It always went like this: one starter is super effective against the first Gym or two, one is weak to them, and one is neutral. In the first Generation, the “Hard Mode” choice was Charmander — and coupled with Charizard being a pseudo-dragon, it is known as the badass option. In the first generation, however, the same “Hard Mode” Pokemon is known as the punching bag — because Chikorita’s final evolution Meganium looks like a kindly flower dinosaur.
Additionally, Gen 1 is generally more popular. It was many people’s first exposure to Pokemon back in the day, and many of its Pokemon kept their relevance due to constantly reappearing in newer installments — which could not be said about many Pokemon that appeared in later Gens.
Over the years, this resulted in Game Freak being very selective with which starter Pokemon they pay homage to. When Mega Evolutions happened, not every starter received one. Instead, only Gen 1 and Gen 3 had Mega Evolved starters, because all three Pokemon of each were perceived as “cool”. And when it was time to introduce Gigantamax forms, it was only Gen 1 starters that got one — and even then, Charizard received its new form months ahead of the rest. And of course, Gen 1 Pokemon in general had the most Mega Evolutions and Gigantamax forms.
What it means for anime
Most Pokemon movies deal with Legendary Pokemon — mythically powerful creatures that are designed to be fan favorites through sheer rule of cool and rarity. The other important roles, though, are mostly determined by popularity.
Just like any other multimedia franchise, Pokemon is a business. A business that can afford to put minimal viable effort in the mainline games, because people would buy them anyway thanks to the quality of side games, anime and merchandise. And those are not allowed the same risks at all.
Ash’s party choices had affected the popularity of certain Pokemon — Pikachu is the series’ mascot specifically because of the anime — though it is also something that happens in reverse. Greninja is (woefully) the most popular starter in Gen VI, and it wasn’t thus simply chosen by the eternally 10 years old boy — it now has an extra special Ash-Greninja form that was achieved through their bonds. Lucario, another fan favorite, is not just present in multiple trainer parties — including Ash, of course — but is also the central character of the 8th Pokemon Movie.
This, of course, creates a vicious cycle of Game Freak reacting to popularity polls by including crowd favorites into more anime and games to the detriment of less popular Pokemon — even more so now that they curate which Pokemon can be used in every new game. And this can not possibly be healthy for the series.
Mostly Gen 1. Especially Gen 1.
Summary:
From the start, fans were biased towards specific Pokemon.
Game Freak picked up on this bias, and has been following it ever since.
Nowadays, it affects even whenever you are allowed to play your favorites in the first place.
Charizard and Pikachu keep winning, whether they deserve it or not (they don’t).
Some Pokemon are more popular than others — it’s a fact. Still, we feel like Game Freak has been paying much more attention to certain Pokemon, often undeservingly, while ignoring certain others. And it’s been a problem for a long while.
It started with the community
Pokemon has always allowed you to choose your game difficulty. It always went like this: one starter is super effective against the first Gym or two, one is weak to them, and one is neutral. In the first Generation, the “Hard Mode” choice was Charmander — and coupled with Charizard being a pseudo-dragon, it is known as the badass option. In the first generation, however, the same “Hard Mode” Pokemon is known as the punching bag — because Chikorita’s final evolution Meganium looks like a kindly flower dinosaur.
Additionally, Gen 1 is generally more popular. It was many people’s first exposure to Pokemon back in the day, and many of its Pokemon kept their relevance due to constantly reappearing in newer installments — which could not be said about many Pokemon that appeared in later Gens.
Over the years, this resulted in Game Freak being very selective with which starter Pokemon they pay homage to. When Mega Evolutions happened, not every starter received one. Instead, only Gen 1 and Gen 3 had Mega Evolved starters, because all three Pokemon of each were perceived as “cool”. And when it was time to introduce Gigantamax forms, it was only Gen 1 starters that got one — and even then, Charizard received its new form months ahead of the rest. And of course, Gen 1 Pokemon in general had the most Mega Evolutions and Gigantamax forms.
What it means for anime
Most Pokemon movies deal with Legendary Pokemon — mythically powerful creatures that are designed to be fan favorites through sheer rule of cool and rarity. The other important roles, though, are mostly determined by popularity.
Just like any other multimedia franchise, Pokemon is a business. A business that can afford to put minimal viable effort in the mainline games, because people would buy them anyway thanks to the quality of side games, anime and merchandise. And those are not allowed the same risks at all.
Ash’s party choices had affected the popularity of certain Pokemon — Pikachu is the series’ mascot specifically because of the anime — though it is also something that happens in reverse. Greninja is (woefully) the most popular starter in Gen VI, and it wasn’t thus simply chosen by the eternally 10 years old boy — it now has an extra special Ash-Greninja form that was achieved through their bonds. Lucario, another fan favorite, is not just present in multiple trainer parties — including Ash, of course — but is also the central character of the 8th Pokemon Movie.
This, of course, creates a vicious cycle of Game Freak reacting to popularity polls by including crowd favorites into more anime and games to the detriment of less popular Pokemon — even more so now that they curate which Pokemon can be used in every new game. And this can not possibly be healthy for the series.
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