Ever since its debut in 1996, the Pokémon phenomenon has grown far beyond the borders of Japan, where it was created. It has become a core part of pop culture, inspiring a cult-like following and spawning thousands of products, from merchandise to video games and collectible trading cards.
But if there’s one place where Pokémon fever truly rules, it’s CA. The free-to-play social gaming website ACE.com analyzed monthly searches for Pokémon characters, and California tops the list with an astonishing 3 million searches. The Golden State is followed by Texas with 2 million and New York with 1.4 million searches, respectively.
Californians favorite Pokémon
While Pikachu remains the U.S.’s favorite Pokémon overall, averaging 685,100 searches per month, Californians have their own pick: Persian, a sleek, agile cat-like Pokémon that evolves from Meowth and is known for its elegance and signature red forehead gem.
One possible reason Persian is getting so much love in California is its presence and collectible appeal in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. While many Persian cards are fairly accessible at base level, some rare and older versions can fetch significant prices on the secondary market, with graded pristine copies trading for over 120 grand, as published by The Price Index.