1996 marked the start of what would eventually become the global Pokemon phenomenon. What first began as two Game Boy games would only continue to evolve, change, and grow over the 27 years that the franchise has been around. Game Freak's RPG series now spans several seasons and series' of anime, hundreds of manga chapters, and of course, plenty of games. What started as a simple total of 151 Pokemon in Gen 1 for players to catch has now made its way into the thousands after players asked if the next generation would be the one to reach the next milestone.

Pokemon has always been about trying to catch all of its titular creatures, but sadly this challenge has grown rather difficult in recent years. As of Pokemon Sword and Shield, fans are limited with what critters can join them in which games, with some stranded on older titles with the closure of the Nintendo 3DS eShop making Pokemon Bank inaccessible to players who didn't download the app. As upsetting as this is, this isn't the first time specific Pokemon have been left behind, as Spiky-eared Pichu and Cosplay Pikachu weren't transferable at all.

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Spiky-eared Pichu and Cosplay Pikachu Never Followed Players to the Next Pokemon Generation

Spiky-eared Pichu was a unique Pichu exclusive to Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver which was tied to an event that could only be activated with a specific event Pokemon in the player's party. This was because Spiky-eared Pichu and a Shiny Pichu known as the "Pikachu-colored Pichu" were best friends who were known for going on time travel adventures with Celebi. Due to how Spiky-eared Pichu traveled more than her friend, her time travels with Celebi made it so that she couldn't evolve, breed, or even be traded, making it so that she couldn't be transferred to any later games.

Cosplay Pikachu was a bit different in that players would be given a cosplay Pikachu upon experiencing Pokemon Contests in Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. This specific electric mouse could be dressed in numerous different costumes to better suit the contest she was in, with the last move she knew changing to better fit the outfit she wore. Without the costume, though, Cosplay Pikachu was denoted by a black heart shape at the end of her tail, and like Spiky-eared Pichu, she couldn't evolve, breed, be traded, or even transferred directly into Pokemon Bank.

How a Pikachu and a Pichu Foretold the Limited Pokemon Options in Generation 8 and Above

While the fact that Spike-ear Pichu and Cosplay Pikachu aren't as huge of a loss as the number of creatures that are currently unobtainable without Pokemon Bank, the fact that they weren't transferable was something fans noticed rather quickly and didn't take lightly. While there could be an argument that Cosplay Pikachu wasn't transferable due to her costumes and special move pool, Spiky-eared Pichu is practically a walking counterargument as her design and presence in HGSS were only different in terms of the notch on her ear being represented with new sprites.

This means that both Pokemon were cut from future games all because the developers didn't want to have to program one more critter on top of the hundreds they already had to do. This would later end up being the big reason why the number of creatures fans could find and bring to each title would be limited as the existence of the National Pokedex in every title was proving to be a matter of issues with balancing the overall Pokemon experience, as well as a heavy weight on Pokemon's development time, extending it incredibly. It's interesting, however, that this trend would start with a Pikachu and a Pichu, as the Pikachu evolution line is the mascot of the franchise, and likely won't ever sit out on a mainline game, while other favorite creatures will likely need to wait for a future Pokemon generation to get their time to shine.

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