How Pikachu went from rare rodent to media icon

“Pika. Pika pi, pikachu. Pi ka chu.” OK, maybe writing this story in Pika-ese isn’t a great idea. Still, it does remind us of an important point: one of the most popular video game characters ever created can’t say any words besides his own name.

Pikachu was one of the 151 Pokémon introduced in the original games back in 1996, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this week. He quickly became its breakout star, featuring prominently in the popular cartoon, movies, card game, and tons of merchandise. You saw him on everything: T-shirts to plush dolls and school supplies like binders and notebook. Pikachu has helped boost the Pokémon series to over 200 million games sold — and $1.5 billion in merchandise sales annually. The newest games in the series, Pokémon Sun and Moon, will come out this holiday.