By Brandon Yeo
The Electric Rodent species of Pokemon is one that is well known and is not a common sight in all five generations. It begins of course with the well known Pikachu, the first of the electric mice with brown stripes and a lightning shape tail that identifies it from its various counterparts. Coming with Pikachu is of course Raichu, an oversized rodent maybe, that might account for it slow speed as compared to Pikachu. In the second generation, we are also introduced to Pichu, the baby mice, clearly meant to make kids squeal when they see him, especially seen in the Pikachu Movie introducing the notorious “Pichu Brothers”. Next up is the third generation and my personal favourite – Minun and Plusle, the cheering mice that always seem to stick together and likewise appear together in the Pokemon series. This is clearly evident in Destiny Deoxys as well as in the other episodes of the Pokemon series. For the Fourth Generation, Pachirisu, seeming more like a squirrel than a mouse as compared to its other counterparts, however still similar, identified by its huge tail and its yellow cheeks. Lastly the most recent would be Emolga the flying squirrel pokemon, similar to that of Pachirisu.
After all that description, who indeed is the most appealing of them all? Clearly, Pikachu being Ash’s main Pokemon would be a natural candidate for it, however I may beg to differ. As Minun and Plusle and my favourite Pokemon, my biasness would naturally tend to make them the most appealing, however all of the electric rodents have their own aesthetic appeal. For Pikachu, this could include the perception of a small cuddly mouse and coupled with its high voice, it gives people more reason to love Pikachu. However in Pikachu’s line, my personal preference would be that of Pichu, especially with the presence of the mischievous Pichu brothers that make them all so lovely. Being babies too, this all the more makes them aesthetically appealing. For Raichu however, he personally doesn’t appeal much to me being over-sized and to me, “not too cuddly”, but similarly opinions are subjective and many people do love the Rai-Rai especially with his appearance as Lt. Surge’s Raichu.
For Minun and Plusle, I think enough has been said and my personal bias only makes them seem even more lovely, always cheering and supporting each other. The fact that one cries when the other loses the battle only makes them even more adorable. Fortunately, they were never given an evolution and hopefully it stays that way to maintain their image of the ultimate cheering mice.
Moving on to the squirrels! Pachirisu one of Dawn’s Pokemon that was given much attention, though less than Piplup, but likewise, its huge tail is one of its more appealing factors. In fact, having a Pachirisu plush of my own, it’s even unable to stand up since its tail is heavier than its body, but it makes Pachirisu all the more cuddly and cute.
Finally, the newest of them all Emolga! Having watched every single episode of Best Wishes till the present point, Emolga appeared quite late in the series, however was still given much screen time with 2 full episodes and I reckon more to come. Although voices in the anime aren’t supposed to affect the aesthetics of the Pokemon since aesthetics is about looks, I cannot bear to ignore how child-like the voice of Emolga is and its one of the main factors that makes her appealing apart from her wings.
Well, I’ve said my fair share about my personal preference of the Electric rodents. We can probably expect more to come in the coming generations, but for now, who is your favourite? And don’t be suayed by my opinions because it is subjective and it might really be difficult to choose from the whole group of rodents.