Hello everyone! I’m a data journalist at YouGov UK polling company, and a Pokéfan since Red/Blue, so to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pokémon on Friday I asked the British public about Pokémon. These are some of my favourite findings:
67% of Britons can identify Pikachu when shown a picture (plus another 9% answered “Pokémon”) – among Gen Z and Millennials recognition rises to ~90%
17% of Britons say they love or like Pokémon, rising to 40% of Gen Z and 30% of Millennials
When we asked those who had played Pokémon video games which the best Gen 1 starter is, Charmander wins a handsome victory, at 51% to 21% Squirtle and 15% Bulbasaur
10 years ago when I first asked this question, I speculated what would happen if Pikachu/Yellow was included, and now we know: it gives Charmander a run for its money at 33% vs 35%
I read a 4 page magazine insert thing that told me that Bulbasaur was the best for beginners. So I did Bulbasaur. I also bought one particular version over another because it had a tiny chance to catch Pikachu in one of the early areas. Turned out Pikachu wasn’t great.
I guess I always was special.
Also, wouldn’t Pikachu be the hardest starter because Brock is the first Gym leader?
fillerbitch on
I am sick – SICK, I TELL YOU! – of my number 1 lil’ guy being shit on.
Justice for Bulbasaur!
elferrydavid on
Charmander was the worst starter because you had a Rock type gym first and a water gym afterwards.
andrasq420 on
I’m not an expert so I wanted to ask someone that knows more, but isn’t this type of data (best of something) often bit “skewed” due to people’s perception of the word “best” and them often using it as “my favourite” instead?
In this case I was pretty confident that while Charmander is a fan favourite (mine aswell) that Bulbasaur and Squirtle were always considered much better Gen 1 starting Pokemons, due to their smooth start and way easier early gym fights.
theother64 on
I think this shows how most people play and that unsurprisingly it’s pretty casual. As charmander may be your favourite but he’s just terrible against brock and misty. So bulbasaur is clearly ‘better’ but just not as loved.
griffnuts__ on
Wow. 37 people, who played Pokémon, and were willing to be polled, didn’t know/didn’t have an opinion on the best starting Pokémon?!
Nev-man on
The notion that one of the starters is best based on the early gyms is somewhat mitigated by the fact that you can catch pokemon at that early stage of the games that deals super effective damage against those gyms, or a worst is neutral.
Whateversurewhynot on
Red/Green? You mean Red/Blue, right?
Silverbuu on
I watched the TV show before I played the games – we didn’t have a lot of money so it took a long time to get a gameboy, so I always loved Charmander.
Whomper on
I was a Squirtle kid myself. I remember looking at the cover art for red/blue and thinking a giant turtle with cannons on its shell was the coolest thing ever, so I chose pokemon blue and Squirtle as my starter.
uselessflailing on
#001 in the dex, #001 in my heart <<3333 #justiceforbulbasaur
Miitama on
Not only is Charmander weak to both the first 2 gyms, with a whole tunnel between the two full of ground and rock types in them, but Charizard is also the worst performing of the 3 in terms of (non-mega) meta performance in competitive Pokemon across all generations.
BenjiSBRK on
What kind of sick person would “not know” ? That’s a pretty existential question !
TheJollyKacatka on
I never actually really got into mechanics, always preferred Squirtle coz Blastoise had them cool ass cannons and that’s all the convincing my kid brain needed.
dazzumz on
It’s probably charmander because there aren’t many other good fire type options in the main game.
I still went for Bulbasaur though. I swear I was getting an outrageous number of critical hits from razor leaf that made it so easy for me.
Dark_Akarin on
I was part of the Charmander gang. Gym 1 wasn’t too much trouble with a few bug/grass types in my team, however dealing with Misty and her water types was a long, rough grind to over level my team to beat her because Charmander was useless against that damn bubblebeam attack.
ibelieveicanuser on
286 is certainly… One of the sample sizes of all time…
OhhSooHungry on
The word “Best” does a LOT of heavy lifting here. People like Charmander because Charizard has that air of badass-ness to him. Bulbasaur would be “best” for beginners of the game to let them get past Brock and Misty easily. Pikachu would be “best” because we’ve been inundated to his importance because of the show. If anything, graphs/data like this speak more to people’s values than anything game-related
dcute69 on
Charmander will always be my boi
wicketRF on
So bulbasur was mt least likely starter to still have a job at the elite 4, but easiest start, need to know the concrete context to be able to correctly answer
TotalSmuubag on
Squirtle and Bulbasaur enjoyers rise up against this injustice ✊
Oergels on
Why is one percent missing on the right side?
dark_wizard_lord on
My first game was Pokémon Blue on the Gameboy Colour.
My reading comprehension wasn’t spectacular at 4 so I thought I had to pick Squirtle. He’s my first ride or die so he has a special place in my heart 💙
Ismailberlin on
Charmander my Goat from Day One since 1999
Beitelensteijn on
Isn’t fire objectively the worst? Not just for the gyms, but with all the trainers you encounter as well. A lot of water and ground / rock along the way
F-Pottah on
I understand all the gameplay implications of choosing Bulbasaur os Squirtle over Charmander, but now after been taken a beat over all those souls games, I simply cannot have fun with easy games anymore, so Charmander it is!
Also, he evolves into a full fledged dragon! Kudos for that.
Jalcatraz82 on
Squirtle is the best and I won’t debate any further
Solo Blastoise with Crunch, Surf, Ice Beam and Earthquake. Almost full coverage with 95 power 100% accuracy moves. Solo that shit.
YayzTheInsane on
Objectively speaking its bulbasaur. Bulbasaur can mow down the first 2 gyms early game, it gets the insane razor leaf at 30, and you hit tier 3 at 32.
Late game you get sleep powder which can also be paired with swords dance and body slam
Squirtle at least has a better early and midgame going for it. Bubble at 8 vs vinewhip at 13. Bubblebeam from misty and way less PP issues (vinewhip only has 10 for some reason)
Charmander just sucks balls. Im sorry he just does. Forget the bullshit with Brock. You get flamethrower at mother FUCKING 38 or fire blast from Blaine. That’s so GD late. Until then its ember.
Pikachu isnt even worth mentioning. You can’t even evolve him in yellow unless you traded.
ArsonBjork on
Grass/poison has the most weaknesses in the game, half of gen one is water types and charizard it the best fire-type in the game
![[OC] On the 30th anniversary of Pokémon Red/Green, which starter Pokémon do Britons say is best?](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/bz1ecjm45tlg1-1024x716.png "[OC] On the 30th anniversary of Pokémon Red/Green, which starter Pokémon do Britons say is best?")
31 Comments
Hello everyone! I’m a data journalist at YouGov UK polling company, and a Pokéfan since Red/Blue, so to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pokémon on Friday I asked the British public about Pokémon. These are some of my favourite findings:
67% of Britons can identify Pikachu when shown a picture (plus another 9% answered “Pokémon”) – among Gen Z and Millennials recognition rises to ~90%
17% of Britons say they love or like Pokémon, rising to 40% of Gen Z and 30% of Millennials
When we asked those who had played Pokémon video games which the best Gen 1 starter is, Charmander wins a handsome victory, at 51% to 21% Squirtle and 15% Bulbasaur
10 years ago when I first asked this question, I speculated what would happen if Pikachu/Yellow was included, and now we know: it gives Charmander a run for its money at 33% vs 35%
Data source: YouGov, [https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54169-30-years-of-pokemon-how-have-britons-engaged-with-the-franchise](https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54169-30-years-of-pokemon-how-have-britons-engaged-with-the-franchise)
Tools used: Adobe Illustrator
I read a 4 page magazine insert thing that told me that Bulbasaur was the best for beginners. So I did Bulbasaur. I also bought one particular version over another because it had a tiny chance to catch Pikachu in one of the early areas. Turned out Pikachu wasn’t great.
I guess I always was special.
Also, wouldn’t Pikachu be the hardest starter because Brock is the first Gym leader?
I am sick – SICK, I TELL YOU! – of my number 1 lil’ guy being shit on.
Justice for Bulbasaur!
Charmander was the worst starter because you had a Rock type gym first and a water gym afterwards.
I’m not an expert so I wanted to ask someone that knows more, but isn’t this type of data (best of something) often bit “skewed” due to people’s perception of the word “best” and them often using it as “my favourite” instead?
In this case I was pretty confident that while Charmander is a fan favourite (mine aswell) that Bulbasaur and Squirtle were always considered much better Gen 1 starting Pokemons, due to their smooth start and way easier early gym fights.
I think this shows how most people play and that unsurprisingly it’s pretty casual. As charmander may be your favourite but he’s just terrible against brock and misty. So bulbasaur is clearly ‘better’ but just not as loved.
Wow. 37 people, who played Pokémon, and were willing to be polled, didn’t know/didn’t have an opinion on the best starting Pokémon?!
The notion that one of the starters is best based on the early gyms is somewhat mitigated by the fact that you can catch pokemon at that early stage of the games that deals super effective damage against those gyms, or a worst is neutral.
Red/Green? You mean Red/Blue, right?
I watched the TV show before I played the games – we didn’t have a lot of money so it took a long time to get a gameboy, so I always loved Charmander.
I was a Squirtle kid myself. I remember looking at the cover art for red/blue and thinking a giant turtle with cannons on its shell was the coolest thing ever, so I chose pokemon blue and Squirtle as my starter.
#001 in the dex, #001 in my heart <<3333 #justiceforbulbasaur
Not only is Charmander weak to both the first 2 gyms, with a whole tunnel between the two full of ground and rock types in them, but Charizard is also the worst performing of the 3 in terms of (non-mega) meta performance in competitive Pokemon across all generations.
What kind of sick person would “not know” ? That’s a pretty existential question !
I never actually really got into mechanics, always preferred Squirtle coz Blastoise had them cool ass cannons and that’s all the convincing my kid brain needed.
It’s probably charmander because there aren’t many other good fire type options in the main game.
I still went for Bulbasaur though. I swear I was getting an outrageous number of critical hits from razor leaf that made it so easy for me.
I was part of the Charmander gang. Gym 1 wasn’t too much trouble with a few bug/grass types in my team, however dealing with Misty and her water types was a long, rough grind to over level my team to beat her because Charmander was useless against that damn bubblebeam attack.
286 is certainly… One of the sample sizes of all time…
The word “Best” does a LOT of heavy lifting here. People like Charmander because Charizard has that air of badass-ness to him. Bulbasaur would be “best” for beginners of the game to let them get past Brock and Misty easily. Pikachu would be “best” because we’ve been inundated to his importance because of the show. If anything, graphs/data like this speak more to people’s values than anything game-related
Charmander will always be my boi
So bulbasur was mt least likely starter to still have a job at the elite 4, but easiest start, need to know the concrete context to be able to correctly answer
Squirtle and Bulbasaur enjoyers rise up against this injustice ✊
Why is one percent missing on the right side?
My first game was Pokémon Blue on the Gameboy Colour.
My reading comprehension wasn’t spectacular at 4 so I thought I had to pick Squirtle. He’s my first ride or die so he has a special place in my heart 💙
Charmander my Goat from Day One since 1999
Isn’t fire objectively the worst? Not just for the gyms, but with all the trainers you encounter as well. A lot of water and ground / rock along the way
I understand all the gameplay implications of choosing Bulbasaur os Squirtle over Charmander, but now after been taken a beat over all those souls games, I simply cannot have fun with easy games anymore, so Charmander it is!
Also, he evolves into a full fledged dragon! Kudos for that.
Squirtle is the best and I won’t debate any further
https://preview.redd.it/54siq83zotlg1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79ad3091df83af913a4c0a7fdc3e4d27d8f1e771
Squirtle for life!
Especially once dark moves got introduced.
Solo Blastoise with Crunch, Surf, Ice Beam and Earthquake. Almost full coverage with 95 power 100% accuracy moves. Solo that shit.
Objectively speaking its bulbasaur. Bulbasaur can mow down the first 2 gyms early game, it gets the insane razor leaf at 30, and you hit tier 3 at 32.
Late game you get sleep powder which can also be paired with swords dance and body slam
Squirtle at least has a better early and midgame going for it. Bubble at 8 vs vinewhip at 13. Bubblebeam from misty and way less PP issues (vinewhip only has 10 for some reason)
Charmander just sucks balls. Im sorry he just does. Forget the bullshit with Brock. You get flamethrower at mother FUCKING 38 or fire blast from Blaine. That’s so GD late. Until then its ember.
Pikachu isnt even worth mentioning. You can’t even evolve him in yellow unless you traded.
Grass/poison has the most weaknesses in the game, half of gen one is water types and charizard it the best fire-type in the game
It’s not a choice, it’s an IQ test