One in a series of posts dedicated to pop-culture depictions of mice — as symbolic representations of abject other, rebellious scamp, intrepid explorer, scrappy survivor, resourceful collaborator, and habitat experimenter — from 1904–2003.

Japanese game designer Satoshi Tajiri created the first Pokémon game in 1996 for the Nintendo Game Boy. The franchise became wildly popular in the United States and around the world.

The Pokémon anime series and films feature the adventures of Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu. Ash journeys to train and capture Pokémon while the members of the villainous organization Team Rocket attempt to steal Ash’s Pikachu. A yellow mouselike creature with electrical abilities, Pikachu is the face of Pokémon and helped the series become a worldwide phenomenon. The character has been regarded as the Japanese answer to Mickey Mouse.

Fun fact: The -chu is from the Japanese onomatopoeia of a mouse’s squeak.