Pokémon Unveils Pikachu Redesign, Gamers Divided

The Pokémon Company has unveiled a bold new design for Pikachu for one of its upcoming games, and while it is cute it’s also divisive.

In case you missed it, the next Pokémon game is not one that’ll follow the traditional formula, nor the new formula the Legends series has been sporting.

Pokémon Pokopia is essentially Animal Crossing but with a Pokémon skin slapped over the top of it. Sounds like I’m being negative but I actually think it looks kind of cute.

Instead of being a normal human character you instead play as a Ditto pretending to be a human, and can use your powers to take on the form of other Pokémon and use their abilities to grow, harvest and construct in your new home.

The goal is to create a paradise for all Pokémon to enjoy, including the new Pikachu who’s looking a little worse for wear…

A new variant of Pikachu has been revealed for the game called Peakychu, which sports a pale, white design and more reserved demeanour. Fans already have plenty of theories on why this is…

Some are predicting this is the same Pikachu seen in the Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu game, whereas others believe it’s a new Ghost/Electric-type variant that’ll appear in future games.

The Pokémon Company

Other new variants were revealed included Mosslax, who’s just a Snorlax covered in moss, and Smearguru, a Smeargle with more paint covering its body.

I’d imagine even more special variations of Pokémon will be found in the game, so stay tuned for more.

Back to Peakychu though, fans really can’t decide what this is supposed to be.

Regional variants do exist but they’re not considered new Pokemon, as in they’re not listed as something different in the Pokedex.

“So is this a new numbered pokemon with it having a new name?” asked one fan in the comments, a good question and one that probably has a very simple answer.

In all likelihood this is indeed a Pikachu, but has just been named differently to give it a bit more character. The changes to the new Pokémon designs seem purely artificial rather than biological, so they’re not different Pokémon, they just appear to be different.

Peakychu is definitely an odd one though. What could have happened for it to lose all of its colour? And why is it so shy when other Pikachu ‘mon are so energetic and raring to go?

We’ll find out when Pokémon Pokopia drops on Nintendo Switch 2 next year, on 5 March.