After Generation 3’s Plusle and Minun, it’s become tradition for the new crop of to include what fans have dubbed 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:‘Pikachu clones’. These Pokemon are designed to be the ‘Pikachu’ of their generation - a cute electric rodent thatꦆ mimics Pikachu’s role in the first genera⭕tion.

Some of these Pokemon are much more like Pikachu than others. But how close are they really? Can we really call them clones? I’m going to analyse each one closely by scoring them out of ten to see how similar they🌸 are in terms of appearance, their Pokedex entries, and their movesets, so we can figure out which one is the true clone.

I’m not counting Pichu and Raichu, since t♛hey’re in the same line as Pikachu and they’d have an unfair advantage.

8 🅷 Plusle And Minun

Introduced in Generation 3, Plusle and Minun are the Pokemon series' first-ever Pikachu clones, and boy do they look it. Just like Pikachu, they have long ears, a tail with a trademark design, and electric pouches on their cheeks. The main difference is their new red and blue colours and the plus and minus signs on their cheeks. While they're 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:slightly more like rabbits than a mouse, I✱'d say that's deserving of a high score in 🐓the appearance department.

Where things start to deviate is their Pokedex entries. As the pair debuted alongside Double Battles in Ruby & Sapphire, Plusle and Minun are all about being a team and cheering each other on. The only reference to electricity is the sparks that come off their bodies if their frien𝔉ds are losing.

Plusle and Minun's movesets follow a similar theme, with moves like Helping Hand, Switcheroo, Copycat, and Baton Pass taking the place of Pikachu's signature movies like Iron 𒈔Tail ꦗand Thunderbolt. All in all, Plusle and Minun are a good first try for a Pikachu clone but stick a little too heavily to their Double Battle schtick.

7 Pachirisu

Full disclosure, Pachirisu is my favourite Pikachu clone, so there may be a little unconscious bias here. But come on, just look at it - how couldn't I be biased when it's so damn cu♚te?

Pachirisu looks like the result of what would happen if a witch cast a spell on Pikachu to look like a squirrel. That's what you want to see in a Pikachu clone. It has yellow cheeks, a big smile, and Pikachu's lightning-bolt tail is now a spiked squirrel tail. The only thing letting it down is the colour scheme -ꦫ there's not a lick of white or blue on Pikachu, so where did that come from? Still, I can't hold that against it because it works so well.

Pachirisu also scores highly in the Pokedex entry department. One of Pikachu's defining features is storing electricity in its cheeks, and guess what? Pachirisu does exactly that too. There are even Pokedex entries for both Pokemon that mention how they use their tails. The similarities are sജo big in their Pokedex entries I'm starting to think Pachirisu needs a bit of its own personality...

Luckily (or not luckily depending on how you look at it, since we're looking for a high score), their movesets differ. Where🔜 Pikachu is all about Thunderbolt, Pachirisu has some variety. Play Rough, Wild Charge, Gig🔯a Impact, and Hyper Beam are all options. Imagine being a Pokemon and getting Hyper Beamed by a Pachirisu. You'd never hear the end of it.

6 Emolga

Emolga gets a middling score in the appearance department, but that's not because it has a bad design. In fact, it's for the complete opposite reason. Its design draws inspiration from flying squirrels, which immediately makes it distinct in the world of Pikachu clones, but that works against it in our analysis. It uses Pikachu's iconic black and yellow colours throughout, which𒅌 brings the score up, but the wings and rounded ears are just too different from the original design.

Emolga and Pikac🐽hu's Pokedex entries have some striking similarities, though. Both Pokemon are said to live in forests, with Emolga living on the treetops and Pikachu (I'm assuming, since it can't fly), on the ground. Emolga, just like Pikachu, uses its cheek pouches to make electricity - the only difference is that it's then stored in the membrane of its wings, instead of staying in its cheeks like Pikachu. Turns out, they're much more similar than I thought.

That's where the similarities end. While Emolga a💙nd Pikachu share some moves like Spark and🍌 Quick Attack, Emolga doesn't naturally learn Pikachu's signature Thunderbolt, or even Thunder. Instead, Emolga's signature move is Acrobatics, and its main Electric-type move is Discharge. I can't fault it for being different when it's such a great Pokemon, though. You be you, Emolga.

5 Dedenne

Dedenne is unfortunately one of those Pikachu♎ clones I forget even exists. I don't know if I even cꦐaught one in X & Y. It's just a bit meh all around. It looks a little bit like Pikachu with its red cheek pouches, but that's where the similarities abruptly end. It has round ears, a singular buck tooth, sharp black whiskers, and a long spindly tail - I don't recall ever seeing these traits on Pikachu...

According to its Pokedex entries, its aforementioned whiskers are used as antennas and for absorbing electricity. Interestingly, its Shield Pokedex entry says it can't even produce much electricity on its own, 🔯so it steals it instead. The one defining trait of Pikachu is that it generates eඣlectricity in its cheek pouches, so we've failed at the first hurdle there, Dedenne.

Dedenne's highest score is in the moves it shares with Pikachu, but even then, it's not very high. Dedenne can use Nuzzle, Thunder, and Discharge, but there's no Thunderbolt in sight. Instead, it has Super Fang and Play Rough, and when it's all tired out from stealing electricity from others, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:it uses Rest and Snore. Yeah, I'm going to keep sleeping on Dedenne.

4 Togedemaru 💫

One thing I can appreciate about Togedemaru is that, even though it's based on a hedgehog, Game Freak didn't try to make it anything like Sonic. Togedemaru is a chubby, round hedgehog and proud. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it looks anything like Pikachu. It has a sprinkling of yellow in its spikes and its cheek pouches, but that's all. It does have a lightning-bolt-shaped tail, unlike the majority of the other Pikachu clones🍷, so respect where it's due.

Its Pokedex entries, however, are a different story. Its cheek pouches are barely mentioned, and the focus is instead on Togedemaru's spiny fur - to be expected, since it's a hedgehog. These hairs act as light♓ning rods and can be used to stab anytꦫhing that attacks it. Pretty far from Pikachu's electric-producing cheeks, to say the least.

This trend continues with Togedemaru's moveset, as its hedgehog theme even translates into its moves. It can use Pikachu classics like Spark and Discharge, but it also has Pin Missile, Defense 🍒Curl, and Spiky Shield, which make use of i👍ts spiny design. The hedgehog thing really takes away from Togedemaru's Pikachu-ness, huh?

3 Mimikyu

Oh Mimikyu. Possibly 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the most tragic Pokemon in the entire series. While its disguise doesn't exactly look like a real Pikachu, I'm giving Mimikyu extra points here for effort. Unlike all the other Pikachu clones, it's actually trying to look like Pikachu, and tha🔯t effort has to coun🐻t for something.

If I were ꦜto judge by Mimikyu's actual appearance, it would be a zero, but I'm not going to be that cruel. Mimikyu's already been through enough.

The majority of Mimikyu's Pokedex entries discuss its "terrifying" appearance under its disguise, so I can't rꦐeally give too many points away here. However, its Sword entry specifically mentions how it's a Pikachu costume, so the explicit Pik🦩achu mention bumps Mimikyu up the ranks.

Unfor♒tunately for Mimikyu, its moveset when compared with Pikachu is a completely different story. They share almost no moves, except for Charm and Double Team. It's to be expected, with Mimikyu being a Ghost-type Pokemon, not an Electric-type, but my heart still hurts to give it a🍨 zero. I'm sorry Mimikyu.

2 Morpeko

Appearance-wise, Morpeko is easily the most similar t🎐o Pikachu. It's the same overall shape, it has cheek pouches, and similar facial expressions. Most of its body is even y💙ellow! You can't say that about the majority of Pikachu clones. The only thing making it lose a couple of points here is that it doesn't have any kind of tail, and that's one of Pikachu's iconic design features.

As Morpeko's whole gimmick is about its Hangry mode, its Pokedex ♋entries are naturally all about that and how it needs to eat a lot to satisfy its hunger. It still earns a good number of points in this department, though, as some Pokedex entries mention how it stores electricity in its 🥂cheek pouches (just like Pikachu, who would have guessed).

Despite its physical similarities to Pikachu, Morpeko shares fewer moves with it than you might expect. It's sti🌸ll got things like Spark and Thunder Shock, but a lot more Dark-type moves to coincide with Hangry mod🍷e, like Crunch and Power Trip. It even has its own signature move, Aura Wheel. It seems like Morpeko is pretty much what would happen if you forgot to feed your Pikachu all day.

1 🍃 Pawmi, Pawmo, And Pawmot

Introduced in Scarlet & Violet, Pawmi, Pawmo, and Pawmot are like if Pikachu was a big, fluffy teddy bear instead of a mouse. They all have yellow cheek pouches that complement their orange fur and a lightning-bolt-shaped tail. On paper, they're very Pikachu-like. However, there's just something... so round about them. I can imagine them bouncing around like a bouncy ball. Other than its body, Pikachu is aꦡll sharp edges. There's a big discrepanc🧔y there, so the Pawmi line loses a few points.

Pawmi's Pokedex entry mentions the electric pouches on its cheeks, but this immediately falls off when it comes to Pawmo and Pawmot. Attention quickly turns to the Pokemon's paw pads and how it uses them to zap its foes - hence the paw in the names. I don't 🌄think we've ever seen Pikachu punch an opponent, so points lost there.

A lot of the Pawmi liꦑne's natural moves are similar to Pikachu, with a few moves that take advantage of the paw-theme thrown in, like Arm Thrust and Close Combat. Overall, a convincing clone of Pikachu, but the roundness is just a bit too much.

And The True Pikachu Clone Is...

Pachirisu!

Pachirisu scored the highest, with 21/30!