Discover Britain’s favourite Pokémon, characters, games, and cards as the franchise celebrates 30 years
Pikachu dominates with 135,000 monthly searches across the UK — but which Pokémon does your city love most?
| Rank | Pokémon | Number of Monthly Searches (Average) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pikachu | 135,000 |
| 2 | Charizard | 74,000 |
| 2 | Charmeleon | 74,000 |
| 4 | Bulbasaur | 60,500 |
| 5 | Charmander | 49,500 |
| 5 | Squirtle | 49,500 |
| 5 | Snorlax | 49,500 |
| 5 | Grafaiai | 49,500 |
| 9 | Cetitan | 40,500 |
| 9 | Mewtwo | 40,500 |
Bulbasaur dominates as the most-searched starter Pokémon across nearly every city in Britain.
| City | Top Starter Pokémon | Number of Monthly Searches (Average) |
|---|---|---|
| London | Bulbasaur | 6,600 |
| Birmingham | Bulbasaur | 1,300 |
| Leeds | Bulbasaur | 720 |
| Manchester | Bulbasaur | 720 |
| Glasgow | Bulbasaur | 720 |
| Bristol | Bulbasaur | 590 |
| Edinburgh | Bulbasaur | 480 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | Bulbasaur | 390 |
| Plymouth | Bulbasaur | 390 |
| Coventry | Bulbasaur | 320 |
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 |
Ash Ketchum and Misty tie at the top nationally — but your city might have a different favourite.
| Rank | Pokémon Character | Number of Monthly Searches (Average) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ash Ketchum | 6,600 |
| 2 | Misty | 5,400 |
| 3 | Serena | 4,400 |
| 4 | Brock | 3,600 |
| 5 | May | 2,400 |
| 5 | Dawn | 2,400 |
| 7 | Jessie | 1,900 |
| 7 | Lillie | 1,900 |
| 9 | James | 1,600 |
| 9 | Giovanni | 1,600 |
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.
| 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 £18,916 — making it the most expensive set to collect.
| Rank | Name | Current Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Skyridge | £18,916 |
| 2 | Aquapolis | £9,226 |
| 3 | Expedition | £9,028 |
| 4 | Legendary Collection | £8,925 |
| 5 | Team Rocket Returns | £8,645 |
| 6 | Delta Species | £7,502 |
| 7 | League & Championship Cards | £7,462 |
| 8 | XY Promos | £6,910 |
| 9 | Miscellaneous Cards & Products | £6,769 |
| 10 | Unseen Forces | £6,422 |
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 Citys. The 950 most-searched Pokémon were then analysed at city level across all 50 UK citys.
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 city-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 used to prevent duplication.
Note: Search volumes are rounded to the nearest whole number. Where items share identical rounded values, they are ranked equally.