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Greninja, the final form of Froakie, is the Pokémon of the Year.
In early February, The Pokémon Company partnered with Google to collect votes on which Pokémon is Pokémon of the Year. The set up lets people choose one Pokémon from each region featured in the games once a day between February 5 and February 14. The series is 24 years old today, with fans of all ages across the globe, and a smart better would say that a critter from Generation 1 would take the crown.
After the analysis of 6.6 million votes over the course of ten days, here are the results:
10. Gengar
9. Gardevoir
8. Rayquaza
7. Garchomp
6. Sylveon
5. Umbreon
4. Charizard
3. Mimikyu
2. Lucario
1. Greninja
Did anyone else think it would be Pikachu, too? Upon reflection, it totally makes sense that Greninja is the king of the castle. It features a lot in the anime, and any Greninja with the Ability Battle Bond is able to turn into this Ash-Greninja form. It is very popular in competitive tournaments, and The Pokémon Company has made it a mascot in a number of merchandising and promotions for the Pokémon series. Greninja also appears in Super Smash Bros., and there’s a scene centred on the Ninja Pokémon in Detective Pikachu.
Pokémon Go and Pokémon Sword & Shield are celebrating Pokémon Day with their own events and goodies. Pokémon Go now features clone Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise in four-star Raids and Armored Mewtwo with Psystrike in five-star raids. Party hat Pikachu and Eevee are in the wild and in eggs, and party hat Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur are found in 7km eggs and one-star Raids. Clone Pikachu could pop up when players snap a photo of their catches, and on March 1, party hat Nidorino and Gengar will be in Raids. Finally, during the event, players may make two Special Trades instead of one Special Trade in one day. The event ends on March 2.
Pokémon Sword & Shield’s Max Raid Battles have now added Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Mewtwo to the pool of Pokémon. But, Mewtwo cannot be caught by players, and will drop very high value rewards by way of an alternative. As a limited-time event, the Pokémon will disappear from Raids on March 2.
