Pokemon Fans Choose Favorite Small Mythical Pokemon

Many creatures in the Pokemon series are hard to catch, but the Mythical line of Pokemon are some of the hardest. Now, a new poll has established which of the series' many small Mythical Pokemon is the one fans like most.

As veterans of the Pokemon series know, many of the rarest Pokemon in the series, known as Legendary Pokemon, can only be found and caught once per save file. Taking things to the next level, Mythical Pokemon cannot normally be found at all in-game; players must attend special distribution events or fulfill special requirements in order to obtain them. Even though many players never get their hands on these Pokemon, there are plenty of reminders that Mythical Pokemon exist. As an example, many of the Pokemon movies focus on a particular Mythical Pokemon.

A Reddit poll conducted by user AmberBamberAlligator tasked fans with choosing a favorite small Mythical Pokemon. While every included Pokemon got support, a runaway winner emerged early on in the poll: the original Kanto Mythical Pokemon Mew. Jirachi, Hoenn's wish-granting Pokemon, took second place. There was an apparent tie for third-place, split between Johto's time-traveling Celebi and Sinnoh's flower-themed Shaymin. Still, the enormous gap between Mew and Jirachi established that Mew was the fan-favorite by far.

There are a number of caveats to this poll that might distort the results. The most important wrinkle is the fact that not every small Mythical Legendary Pokemon appears. In particular, the poll excludes Pokemon like Sinnoh's water-based Manaphy, Unova's musically-talented Meloetta, and Kalos' jewel-themed Mythical Pokemon Diancie. Even if they were included in the poll, Mew would probably have won all the same. While each of the Pokemon mentioned above appears in user comments, none of those comments have as many upvotes as Mew has poll votes.

The poll additionally excludes large Mythical Pokemon, many of whom are nearly as iconic as Mew. The most prominent example is Arceus, progenitor god of the Pokemon universe. Arceus is so important, in fact, that it received a flawed man-made clone in the form of the chimera Pokemon Type: Null, just as Mew received one in Mewtwo. Plus, Arceus will be taking on an important role in the upcoming open-world adventure Pokemon Legends: Arceus. All of this is to say that Arceus would have a good chance of winning the poll, if it were included.

It's possible that some of the Mythical Pokemon included in the poll might end up not being Mythical one day. A prime example of this is Deoxys; while the DNA-inspired alien Pokemon was once exclusive to event distributions, it became an important combatant in Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire's Delta Episode, guaranteeing players could catch it. While allowing players a surefire chance to capture a Pokemon like Mew would take away some of the character's mystique, it would probably make many fans very happy.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, remakes of the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games, are scheduled to release in late 2021 much to the delight of both old and new Pokemon fans. The remake of Pokemon's fourth generation and the promise of a return to the Sinnoh Region will be a great way to close out the year, and so far, the remake looks like it will do a wonderful job of capturing the look and feel of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. While not everyone is 100% sold on what's been revealed about the game so far, it can't be faulted for not being faithful to the original.