The Toy Zone Research - The most Disproportionately Popular Pokémon in Every Country

[FelipePR]

Some time ago The Toy Zone published a data research, based on Google searches, on which Pokémon were the most popular in each country.

Spoiler: Here.

And while the research was not accurate and was, rightly, the target of criticism (Does it consider that several countries do not use the same name for some/all Pokémon?, That in the Philippines there is a province called Abra?, etc...), the The results are still interesting. And, at least in relation to Brazil, I believe they are correct.

Now, they've made a new post, drawing attention to which Pokemons are which Pokemon, proportionally, more popular in each country compared to the rest of the world.

Spoiler: Here.

In Brazil, we had Pidgeotto. A result that seems credible to me, given how "Genwunner" the country is, with Pidgeotto being a Pokémon available in the first routes, used by our rival in the game and by Ash himself in the original saga.

Well, what does my fellow comrades have to say about the result for your country? Do you agree with them? How do you justify the results?

 

[guzmania]

very proud of my mother's home country; squirtle + chikorita.. <3
as for my paternal heritage, charizard and glimmet are a little more, eh.. here in the u.s., gengar and mime jr. are seemingly very popular? mime jr. is very surprising, gengar significantly less so.
i have a close friend who is french and mewtwo is her favorite pokemon so that checks out, lol.

naturally while i think these experiments are very very difficult to "properly" conduct it's still fun to look at i guess!

 

[FelipePR]

here in the u.s., gengar and mime jr. are seemingly very popular? mime jr. is very surprising, gengar significantly less so.

Not necessarily very popular, but more popular in the United States than in the rest. The second study brings attention to Pokémon that are, proportionally, more popular in each country compared to the rest of the world.

In other words, Mime Jr. may have gotten 0.1% of searches related to pocket creatures in the US, but if it, worldwide, only got 0.00001% of searches, this Pokémon, proportionately, is super popular in the US.

To be honest, I was surprised that Pikachu showed up so much. Considering that this Pokémon is super popular worldwide, it should be difficult for it to achieve a high comparison ratio relative to its global average.

 

[Yung Dramps]

I've always been weirded out by that first chart and the fact not a single country chose a non-Kanto Pokemon. Look I get it, it's Kanto, it's the perennial face of the franchise, but you're telling me you have nations with the likes of Goldeen and Graveler as their most searched Pokemon but not a single one that went with Lucario or Greninja or Mimikyu? Something seems fishy with the methodology there.

Spoiler: Or maybe I'm committing the xkcd "Average Familiarity" blunder idk

 

[FelipePR]

I've always been weirded out by that first chart and the fact not a single country chose a non-Kanto Pokemon. Look I get it, it's Kanto, it's the perennial face of the franchise, but you're telling me you have nations with the likes of Goldeen and Graveler as their most searched Pokemon but not a single one that went with Lucario or Greninja or Mimikyu? Something seems fishy with the methodology there.

True, I highly doubt that Greninja and especially Lucario didn't reach the top in any country.

On the other hand, is Mimikyu as popular as people on this forum credit it?

It's not the first time I've seen someone mention it, but I have the impression that, although it is indeed a popular Pokémon, Mimikyu still has a long way to go before catching up with the most popular ones.

 

[guzmania]

afaik mimikyu is very popular among pokemon fans but not quite as much outside of the community
lucario and greninja are extraordinarily recognizable though

 

[Yung Dramps]

True, I highly doubt that Greninja and especially Lucario didn't reach the top in any country.

On the other hand, is Mimikyu as popular as people on this forum credit it?

It's not the first time I've seen someone mention it, but I have the impression that, although it is indeed a popular Pokémon, Mimikyu still has a long way to go before catching up with the most popular ones.

My main data point is the 2020 Pokemon of the Year poll where iirc Mimikyu got #3 most popular overall. That said yeah, it's not Lucario/Greninja level and a lot of people had issues with the methodology of that poll in regards to how it split voting by region so maybe it wasn't the best example. Still more popular than Dragonair of all things lol

 

[Daren]

My main data point is the 2020 Pokemon of the Year poll where iirc Mimikyu got #3 most popular overall.

If I recall correctly, that poll split the Pokémon up by region so it's methodology was a bit odd--Mimikyu could rate higher than Pokémon that are more popular than it overall by being overwhelmingly the most popular Alola 'mon.

 

[Zerito]

I believe popularity being measured with google researches is not accurate. For example, my favorite pokémons are Whimsicott and Gengar, but i don't randomly search Whimsicott or Gengar on google, i often search other pokémons for various purposes - getting a picture of them, to show their design to someone etc. If by "popularity" they mean people wanting to know something about this specific pokémon, it is quite accurate, but not for "popularity" meaning "favorite pokémon".

 

[FelipePR]

I believe popularity being measured with google researches is not accurate. For example, my favorite pokémons are Whimsicott and Gengar, but i don't randomly search Whimsicott or Gengar on google, i often search other pokémons for various purposes - getting a picture of them, to show their design to someone etc. If by "popularity" they mean people wanting to know something about this specific pokémon, it is quite accurate, but not for "popularity" meaning "favorite pokémon".

But popularity and favoritism are, in fact, two different things.

For example, I'm sure that Pikachu is the most popular Pokémon in Brazil, in the sense that it is the Pokémon that most people would recognize and know the name of, but several surveys among Pokémon fans here show that it is far from being the favorite Pokémon by the public.

On the other hand, Google searches demonstrate how much a Pokémon sparks interest and engagement from the public, revealing peculiarities that may hold greater value than personal preferences.

 

[Zerito]

But popularity and favoritism are, in fact, two different things.

For example, I'm sure that Pikachu is the most popular Pokémon in Brazil, in the sense that it is the Pokémon that most people would recognize and know the name of, but several surveys among Pokémon fans here show that it is far from being the favorite Pokémon by the public.

On the other hand, Google searches demonstrate how much a Pokémon sparks interest and engagement from the public, revealing peculiarities that may hold greater value than personal preferences.

Got it. It just bothered me how they pointed it in the research, leaving the reader to interpret it freely

 

[Nicolas721]

Cool analysis. I assume some places of Latin America got Vaporeon because of that ugly copypasta but I have no clue where Pineco, Flamigo and Chikorita could come from.

 

[mastermind lissi]

….chi-yu in Canada…? Wow

And Pikachu in Kyrgyzstan…. How wonderful

 

[Zerito]

….chi-yu in Canada…? Wow

I didn't even know this pokémon exists

 

[Nanulak]

Mime Jr. seems fitting for the US. It’s a real clown nowadays. Trust me; I live here. A lot of it (especially places like here in California or in New York) are really crappy and I wouldn’t/don’t want to live there (the only reason I live in CA is because I’m still a kid so I’m living with my parents and I don’t want to abandon the stray cat in our apartment’s parking lot, Shadow. Love her so much )

Also gotta say, why. Why, why, why, why, why is places like Paraguay and Saudi Arabia’s most popular Pokémon Flamigo! That thing isn’t really a Pokémon! It’s just. A. Flamingo.

 

[Dreary_Rowlet]

I find it interesting that Chi-Yu is really popular in Canada, in my opinion it seems extremely random. Not surprising that my country picked Pikachu though.

 

[FelipePR]

Also gotta say, why. Why, why, why, why, why is places like Paraguay and Saudi Arabia’s most popular Pokémon Flamigo! That thing isn’t really a Pokémon! It’s just. A. Flamingo.

I think it may be a question of representation, at least when it comes to places in the southern cone of the American continent.

That is, Flamingos are animals present in countries such as Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, as well as in the nation that colonized these regions, Spain. I believe, therefore, that it is not strange that they would appreciate the introduction of a Pokémon of this type.

On the other hand, I don't know if Flamigo is a popular Pokémon in these places, what the research shows is that it is more popular in Paraguay than in the vast majority of other countries, and not how popular it is.

 

[Nanulak]

I think it may be a question of representation, at least when it comes to places in the southern cone of the American continent.

That is, Flamingos are animals present in countries such as Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, as well as in the nation that colonized these regions, Spain. I believe, therefore, that it is not strange that they would appreciate the introduction of a Pokémon of this type.

On the other hand, I don't know if Flamigo is a popular Pokémon in these places, what the research shows is that it is more popular in Paraguay than in the vast majority of other countries, and not how popular it is.

What I’m saying is my hate of Flamigo. Reasons: It’s just a flamingo that lost the n, got a Fighting type slapped onto it for absolutely no reason, and has a weird face and neck knot. I loathe it

 

[Handium]

Mime jr is something
as for my heritage, glimmet and chien-pao are interesting choices to say the least

 

[Daenerys]

The whole premise of the first study seems off to me. You can't judge a Pokemon's popularity based on internet searches. Common sense would tell you that Pikachu is arguably the most popular Pokemon in the world simply due to it becoming a pop culture icon and the face of the franchise for the past 25 years. The same would apply to Pokemon like Mewtwo and Charizard who have been extremely popular and marketable for just as long and continue to receive massive amounts of exposure.

Sorry study, you can't convince me that Gengar of all things is the most popular Pokemon in the USA just because people Google searched it often. Maybe folks Googled its name because they didn't know what a Gengar is.