Discover America’s favourite Pokémon, characters, games, and cards as the franchise celebrates 30 years
Pikachu dominates with 823,000 monthly searches in the US — but which Pokémon does your state love most? Pokémon with names that were not unique enough, such as ‘Persian’ or ‘Electrode’ were paired with the search modifier [Pokémon] to rule out false positives.
| Rank | Pokémon | Number of Monthly Searches (Average) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pikachu | 823,000 |
| 2 | Charizard | 450,000 |
| 3 | Charmeleon | 368,000 |
| 3 | Flamigo | 368,000 |
| 5 | Bulbasaur | 301,000 |
| 5 | Charmander | 301,000 |
| 5 | Squirtle | 301,000 |
| 5 | Snorlax | 301,000 |
| 9 | Gengar | 246,000 |
| 9 | Eevee | 246,000 |
Bulbasaur dominates as the most-searched starter Pokémon across nearly every state in America.
| State | Top Starter Pokémon | Number of Monthly Searches (Average) |
|---|---|---|
| California | Bulbasaur | 40,500 |
| Texas | Bulbasaur | 33,100 |
| Florida | Bulbasaur | 18,100 |
| New York | Bulbasaur | 18,100 |
| Illinois | Bulbasaur | 12,100 |
| Pennsylvania | Bulbasaur | 12,100 |
| Michigan | Bulbasaur | 9,900 |
| North Carolina | Bulbasaur | 9,900 |
| Ohio | Bulbasaur | 9,900 |
| Washington | Bulbasaur | 9,900 |
The Pokémon with the highest number of tagged posts on Instagram.
| Rank | Pokémon Name | Pokémon hashtag | Number of Instagram posts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pikachu | #Pikachu | 9,715,082 |
| 2 | Charizard | #Charizard | 3,331,698 |
| 3 | Luxio | #Luxio | 3,061,874 |
| 4 | Ditto | #Ditto | 1,925,307 |
| 5 | Eevee | #Eevee | 1,606,473 |
| 6 | Mew | #Mew | 1,492,906 |
| 7 | Charmander | #Charmander | 946,309 |
| 8 | Bulbasaur | #Bulbasaur | 855,936 |
| 9 | Squirtle | #Squirtle | 806,493 |
| 10 | Mewtwo | #Mewtwo | 785,816 |
Misty narrowly beats Ash at the top nationally and is the most popular character in 26 out of 50 states. Regionally, fractional searches were rounded up or down to produce overall leaders.
| Rank | Pokémon Character | Number of Monthly Searches (Average) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ash Ketchum | 40,500 |
| 1 | Misty | 40,500 |
| 3 | Serena | 33,100 |
| 4 | Brock | 27,100 |
| 5 | May | 22,200 |
| 6 | Dawn | 18,100 |
| 7 | James | 12,100 |
| 7 | Jessie | 12,100 |
| 7 | Lillie | 12,100 |
| 10 | Giovanni | 9,900 |
Pokémon GO leads with 201,000 monthly searches — but classic titles like Emerald and HeartGold remain hugely popular.
| Rank | Pokémon Game | Number of Monthly Searches (Average) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pokemon GO | 201,000 |
| 2 | Pokemon Emerald | 74,000 |
| 2 | Pokemon HeartGold | 74,000 |
| 2 | Pokemon SoulSilver | 74,000 |
| 2 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus | 74,000 |
| 2 | Pokemon Scarlet | 74,000 |
| 7 | Pokemon Platinum | 49,500 |
| 8 | Pokemon Red | 40,500 |
| 8 | Pokemon FireRed | 40,500 |
| 8 | Pokemon LeafGreen | 40,500 |
Pokémon Emerald tops the ranking for difficulty, combining high walkthrough searches with a 31-hour average completion time.
| Rank* | Game | Number of Monthly Searches For Walkthroughs (Average) | Hours To Complete (Average) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pokemon Emerald | 18,100 | 31 |
| 2 | Pokemon FireRed | 14,800 | 30 |
| 2 | Pokemon LeafGreen | 14,800 | 30 |
| 4 | Pokemon HeartGold | 12,100 | 36.5 |
| 4 | Pokemon SoulSilver | 12,100 | 36.5 |
| 6 | Pokemon Platinum | 6,600 | 35 |
| 7 | Pokemon UNITE | 10 | 76 |
| 8 | Pokemon Black 2 | 5,400 | 32 |
| 8 | Pokemon White 2 | 5,400 | 32 |
| 10 | Pokemon Crystal | 5,400 | 29 |
*Search volume and hours to beat were both normalized and combined for a final ranking.
Team Rocket and Base Set tie at the top with 4,400 monthly searches each — nostalgia remains a powerful force. Search terms were paired with the search modifier [Pokémon cards] to rule out false positives from sets with common names, such as ‘Fossil’.
| Rank | Pokémon Card Set | Number of Monthly Searches (Average) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Rocket | 4,400 |
| 1 | Base Set | 4,400 |
| 3 | Journey Together | 2,400 |
| 3 | Destined Rivals | 2,400 |
| 5 | Generations | 1,600 |
| 6 | Fossil | 1,300 |
| 6 | Paldean Fates | 1,300 |
| 8 | Surging Sparks | 880 |
| 8 | Evolving Skies | 880 |
| 10 | Legendary Collection | 720 |
Completing a full Skyridge set in raw, ungraded condition costs $25,536.77 — making it the most expensive set to collect.
| Rank | Name | Current Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Skyridge | $25,536.77 |
| 2 | Aquapolis | $12,455.26 |
| 3 | Expedition | $12,187.33 |
| 4 | Legendary Collection | $12,048.18 |
| 5 | Team Rocket Returns | $11,670.97 |
| 6 | Delta Species | $10,128.10 |
| 7 | League & Championship Cards | $10,074.22 |
| 8 | XY Promos | $9,328.25 |
| 9 | Miscellaneous Cards & Products | $9,137.79 |
| 10 | Unseen Forces | $8,669.40 |
Card price data courtesy of PokémonWizard.
Google Keyword Planner — keyword search volume data
HowLongToBeat.com — game completion times
Instagram — hashtag post counts
PokémonWizard — Pokémon TCG set prices
Search volume data was sourced from Google Keyword Planner. A seed list of all 1,025 currently known Pokémon was used to determine national average monthly search volumes across the United States. The 950 most-searched Pokémon were then analysed at state level across all 50 US states.
A list of 281 Pokémon characters from the movies and TV shows was also analysed at national level. The 50 most-searched characters were then included in the state-level pull alongside the 950 Pokémon, producing a combined list of 1,000 terms per location.
Any Pokémon whose name coincides with common search terms unrelated to Pokémon had a search modifier applied to ensure data accuracy. Where both ‘[Pokémon name]’ and ‘[Pokémon name] Pokémon’ returned data, the higher value was manually checked and used to prevent duplication adn ensure optimal relevance.
Note: Search volumes are rounded to the nearest whole number. Where items share identical rounded values, they are ranked equally.