Lopunny Cracked Top 15 Favorite Pokemon in Recent Study

A recent study has found the top 15 Pokemon, which includes a few surprises like Flamigo and Lopunny. February 27 is Pokemon Day, when the Pokemon franchise will be celebrating its 30-year anniversary. As such, it's not surprising that search volume for the series has increased over recent months.

It's shaping up to be a big week for Pokemon fans. Not only has there seemingly been a shake up within the franchise's favorite rankings, but developer Game Freak and publisher Nintendo have recently announced that fan-favorite games Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen will be available on the Nintendo Switch systems following the Pokemon Presents event on February 27. Aside from the surprise release of these two games, it's possible Nintendo and Game Freak will reveal more information about the upcoming Pokemon Wind and Wave, which will be the series' 10th generation. The event is expected to include news, reveals, and more surprises.

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By Joshua Duckworth

The New Hierarchy Ahead of Pokemon's Three-Decade Anniversary

In a recent study conducted by ACE.com, a free-to-play social gaming website, it was revealed that the top five Pokemon ahead of the franchise's 30-year anniversary are Pikachu, Flamigo, Charizard, Charmeleon, and Squirtle. The website looked at search data across the United States over the last 36 months to create its rankings. While the top five might not be very surprising (aside perhaps from Flamigo, the Generation 9 Pokemon that's literally just a pink flamingo), Grafaiai, Gardevoir, and Lopunny rounded out the list, ranking 13, 14, and 15 respectively. Most of the top Pokemon come from the game's first generation aside from Flamigo, Grafaiai, Gardevoir, and Lopunny.

Rank	Pokemon	Search Volume
1	Pikachu	685,100
2	Flamigo	374,600
3	Charizard	310,900
4	Charmeleon	250,400
5	Squirtle	215,800
6	Eevee	214,500
7	Mewtwo	209,100
8	Snorlax	207,600
9	Gengar	192,100
10	Ditto	175,500
11	Bulbasaur	171,600
12	Charmander	169,400
13	Grafaiai	166,900
14	Gardevoir	149,800
15	Lopunny	144,900

Another interesting point from the study is which states had the highest search volume. Pokemon is apparently most popular in Montana, which has had 117,650 monthly searches for pocket monsters during the 36-month period. That's 1,024 searches per 10,000 people. Washington came next with 842 searches per 10,000 people, and Hawaii a close third with 825 monthly searches per 10,000 people. Pokemon Sun and Moon, which sent players to the Alola region for Pokemon's seventh generation, was based on the island state.

Image via The Pokemon Company

While search data may not be indicative of the true top-ranked Pokemon, it does paint a picture of what players are looking into ahead of the franchise's three-decade anniversary. It shouldn't be too surprising that Pikachu, who first appeared in 1996 in Pokemon Red and Blue and is essentially the face of the franchise, was ranked number one with 685,100 monthly searches. The unlikely number two spot went to Flamigo with an impressive 374,600 searches. Lopunny, the Generation 9 normal-type Pokemon, who sits at rank 15, had a total of 144,900 monthly searches. As of 2026, there are 1,025 unique Pokemon species, with the upcoming Pokemon Wind and Wave expected to add even more to the Pokedex.

Flamigo is a pink, fighting and flying-type Pokemon with no evolutionary forms. It's found in the Paldea region. It was first introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the series' ninth generation, which released on the Nintendo Switch in November 2022. The Pokemon series has seen thousands of unique designs across its 30-year history. Despite its understated and, perhaps, less creative design, Flamigo has somehow managed to garner more search volume over the last 36 months than the hugely popular fire-type Pokemon Charizard, who, according to the study, only had 310,900 monthly searches over the same period.

Charizard first appeared in Pokemon Red and Blue in 1996. Perhaps with the upcoming re-release of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen — remasters of the original Red and Green versions — Charizard will see an uptick in popularity, surpassing Flamigo for the number two seat. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen may include the original 151 members of the Pokedex.