Newly collected data has determined what each country’s most popular Pokémon based on Google search data. Pokémon is a global phenomenon, changing pop-culture forever with its introduction to Japan in 1996 and the rest of the world by 1998. 25 years later and people still cannot get enough from the series. While Pikachu has been the mascot since its debut alongside 150 other Pokémon, fans and players worldwide have specific favorites with hundreds of Pokémon to choose from.

The love for pocket monster catching and battling has not stopped in 2021 as the eighth generation of the series was introduced with Pokémon Sword and Shield on the Nintendo Switch. New projects in the franchise are now in development for the Switch as well, with remakes of the fourth generation’s Diamond and Pearl in the form of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl slated to release this year. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is series developer Game Freak’s first attempt at a fully open-world game, and it's set in the lands of Sinnoh many years before the events of Diamond and Pearl and could be the start of a new Pokémon subseries.

Related: Three New Species Of Beetle Have Been Named After Legendary Pokémon

In honor of the 25th anniversary, TheToyZone posted its analysis of every country’s most popular Pokémon based on search volume from Google. The United States' most popular 'Mon is Gengar, while Canada searches for Charizard and Mexico searches for Onix most frequently. Europe searches most for Psychic Pokémon Abra, but Rock/Ground-type Pokémon Golem is most popular in Albania, Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland. Pikachu and Mew are most popular in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the rest of Asia and Oceania. Japan, the birthplace of the franchise, searches most often for the fossil Pokémon, Kabuto. In most of Africa, the most popular Pokémon is Pikachu - but it's nearly matched by Gloom.

Pokemon World Map Google Search

Data was compiled by identifying the global search volume of each Pokémon from the Ahrefs Keyword Explorer tool. Based on the findings, the most popular Pokémon in the world is Pikachu. While this result was an expected one, the other top Pokémon on the list - Charizard, Onix, Mewtwo and Eevee - show that popularity varies based on cultural differences and other independent factors. The reasoning behind why different Pokémon could be up to a number of factors, and it's not likely at all that the data is a completely perfect representation of how everyone in every country views the creatures that make the Pokémon franchise tick.

It would be interesting to see what cultural differences lead to making a Pokémon popular in a given country. For example, why is Gengar popular in the United States while Onix is searched most in Brazil? Is it due to the anime and the love for Gen I, or is it something more? These questions and their answers would make for an excellent follow-up to this fascinating Pokémon study.

Next: The Worst Shiny Pokémon From Each Generation (& How They Can Be Fixed)

Source: TheToyZone