If Pokemon Had a Different Mascot

[Enzap]

Let's just pretend that Pikachu never existed (much to the joy of some, and to the sorrow of others). What Pokemon do you think Game Freak would have/should have/could have chosen to be their mascot? You can use Pokemon from any generation, or if you want to stick to the basics of Gen I you can.

Make sure you give some justification for why you think it would be a good mascot! Is it because Marill is the most adorable of them all? Is Arcanine the cooliest? Does Basculin just feel like a good mascot?

 

[Destructive Idiot]

Either Clefairy or Rhydon (I remember having heard/read that Game Freak once planned on making Clefairy the mascot instead, and Rhydon was the first Pokémon ever designed).

 

[Amante do Mikuri]

Eevee, because the eeveelutions.

 

[godiego]

it'd probably just be some other Pokemon Ash had during the early Kanto season(s).

 

[CynthiaLover]

Well, given its popularity, role in the anime, and two Mega Evolutions, if Pikachu didn't exist, title of mascot would've probably been given to Charizard. Though I'm not complaining about Pikachu being the mascot, as it was a better choice than Clefairy, and is a better mascot than some franchises (I'm lookin' at you, Suezo from Monster Rancher), but given the status and power of it, Charizard would've probably ended up as the mascot of Pokemon if Pikachu was never born.

 

[Osprey]

If the anime had gone the way it was originally planned, the mascot would be a Clefairy. However, since this isn't the case, I'd say the mascot role would either fall to Eevee or Charizard. Maybe both.

 

[Rainami]

all these people saying charizard....charizard's not mascot material, imo. Just because somefin is popular doesn't make it mascot material. Can you imagine seeing charizard plastered on the front of a chocolate bar? No? Neither could I. inb4 somebody links me to a chocolate bar with charizard on it that I didn't know existed

as for my choice, well, idk. Somefin simple that's not overly generic like pikachu is.

zubat for pokemon mascot 2016

 

[Juliko]

Since Eevee's more well liked than Pikachu, I wouldn't be surprised if Eevee had been a mascot. However, I know this is a bit of a stretch, but I think Deerling should be the mascot. Come on! It's a cute flowery deer that changes colors and evolves into an awesome buck with flowers on its antlers! Of course, that'll never happen.

 

[Stratelier]

I agree with Eevee. Unlike the poor whatever-the-shock-Pikachus-are-supposed-to-evolve-into, Eevee's variety of evolutions (even during Gen 1) would guarantee they wouldn't be constantly overshadowed by the base prevo.

 

[Steel_Justice]

It would be either Clefairy, Charizard or Eevee in the original series for reasons stated above. Though if Pokemon went the way of Yu-Gi-Oh and had a different flagship mon in each generation things could have been quite interesting.

Here's my thoughts on who the mascots for other gens could have been if they went down that route

Johto: Marill/Azumarill
Hoenn: One of the starters or Gardevoir
Sinnoh: Lucario
Unova: Zoroark
Kalos: Greninja

 

[skyradiant]

As others have mentioned above, Eevee does seem like a likely mascot. I think Mew could have been the mascot too, the only problems being its rarity and legendary status.
Going off of the generation idea ^, the starters and mascot legendaries would work as the mascots of their respective generations. I also think certain Pokemon would work as secondary mascots of certain games, mainly event legendaries:
RBY: Mew or Mewtwo
GSC: Celebi
RSE/FRLG: Deoxys (maybe Absol for the former)
DP: Manaphy or Darkrai
Pt: Sky Shaymin or Arceus
BW: Victini
B2W2: Keldeo or Genesect
XY: Sylveon or Diancie
ORAS: Hoopa

 

[Tusken Raider]

Well here's my opinion. I think the Pokémon that should have been the mascot of the entire franchise to be Meowth. Meowth is a Pokémon species based on the cat. Or more specifically, the Japanese lucky cat.

 

[proserpina]

I definitely think Eevee would work quite well for the aforementioned reasons. There's just something really cool and handy about the Pokémon that can evolve into so many different types being the mascot for the series. I'm not necessarily completely against the idea of Clefairy being the mascot for example, though - I do find it relatively cute.

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

Eevee encompasses evolution, one of the core mechanics of the Pokemon franchise. It also teaches about day and night through Umbreon and Espeon, location-based evolutions through Leafeon and Glaceon, and Pokemon-Amie with Sylveon. Really, given how versatile it is, Eevee would be a perfect mascot.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

Yeah, I'm definitely inclined to agree with all the people saying eevee. Not only is it cute, and in my opinion, vastly preferable to pikachu, there's the thing with the evolutions. It actually feels like a special pokemon, unlike pikachu which is just... there. Nothing about pikachu ever really says to me 'this is a special pokemon', apart from the existence of Pokemon Yellow - it's not a particularly rare pokemon, nor is it very strong, and apart from a few token gestures, there's nothing about its use in-game that makes it feel at all unique or special. Yeah, I'm not a fan of pikachu myself, and I don't really know why it's the mascot. Eevee definitely seems preferable to me.

That being said, I think each game does just fine with its own mascot. Why the need for an overall one? One of the main focusses of each new generation is the new pokemon, so surely all a mascot from an older game does is distract from that, or just not achieve anything at all? Pikachu has definitely had more than its fair share of the limelight, but then, I'd argue so has eevee. And so would anything else as a series mascot. Eevee and its evolutions are all great, but they've had their day, I think. We really don't need more, when there are still a lot of pokemon who go largely ignored. Some with very good reason, admittedly, and I wouldn't wish a mega on almost any of them lucky enough to avoid having one so far, but they're still there. Hence why I think Gen 6 did the right thing with number of pokemon introduced.

Anyway, I think a mascot for each generation, and a mascot for each game is the best system. That stops one pokemon from constantly hogging attention from the newcomers when it's already had its fair share. So with that in mind, I might set up the generation mascots sort of like this:

Gen 1: Eevee, because of the reasons above.
Gen 2: Don't know, none really stand out to me. Maybe a steel or dark type. Not umbreon, though because eeveelution.
Gen 3: I really want to say zigzagoon. But seriously, I'm not really sure, again there aren't any that seem stand-outs here.
Gen 4: Lucario, I guess, since it's given a fair bit of special treatment.
Gen 5: Zoroark, for being a prominent and important pokemon, and being better than lucario, dammit.
Gen 6: I would say sylveon, except eeveelution. But nothing else really seems to fit... Floette, perhaps, because story?

Something like that could work, except that I've no idea for gens 2 and 3, and I'm a bit unsure about gen 6. So, yes, apart from the fact I'm missing half the generations, this is hopefully a not bad idea, sort of. Great.

Have I actually said anything sensible all post? I'm having one of those days, I think.

 

[Peridorito]

I'm on the Eevee train as well, but Jigglypuff and Clefairy would make good choices too. That said, in a perfect world, Tepig would be the mascot.

 

[Boss1708]

I think Charizard. It's the most loved Pokemon, bar Pikachu. Personally, Pikachu is the best mascot from all the available Pokemon to date. It is a very good design. Very mascotish

 

[ocelotlrama jaguar]

Doubt they would use something like Charizard or anything remotely similiar. As popular as he is, he's too "monstrous" looking that normally appeals more to older kids with not enough of the "cute" factor that would appeal to young boys and girls. They'd probably go with something else cute like the stage 1 starters or even Eevee. I'd say second to Pikachu, Eevee is a recognizable face to the franchise, has a ton of evolutions, can sell a lot of toys, has a ton of promotions revolved around it; I'd say it's a good contender for a Pokemon mascot next to Pikachu.

 

[PaulTheProtist]

Porygon, to make up for his mistreatment following the Electric Soldier Porygon fiasco.

 

[Lysson]

I'd say Eevee, it's cute and has many evolutions which plays a huge role in Pokemon. You also don't want a Pokemon that is too 'boyish' or 'girly' or people would get it into their heads that Pokemon is gender specific (it's bad enough that Pokemon merch is always in the Boys isle, ugh).

Other candidates could include: Lucario, Mew, Charizard or Mewtwo because they're all fairly well known and popular.