The world's Pokémon of the Year is Greninja, according to a poll held by Google
The world chose Greninja as the Pokémon of the Year.
A few weeks ago, Google partnered with the makers of the Pokémon video game to run a contest, urging fans to vote for their favorite animated character from the franchise.
The winner, a water-type Pokémon that throws high-speed stars, was announced by Google during a YouTube stream held Thursday on National Pokémon Day. More than 45,000 people tuned in to the live stream within minutes of it starting. More than 140,000 votes went to Greninja.
The fighting Pokémon Lucario was the second most popular character. Mimikyu, a ghost Pokémon that hides beneath a rag, was the third most popular.
To vote, fans of the series simply had to search Google for "Pokémon of the Year." The search giant then displayed a form that let people choose from 890 Pokémon from the show, movies and video games.
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There were eight categories of animated characters to choose from, such as Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinno. On the show, the creatures are grouped based on biological characteristics.
Pokemon of the year!!!!!#pokemonday #pokemonday2020 #gamefreak #pokemon #sinnoh #gen4 #remake #remakes pic.twitter.com/uPOn2ilgGW
— Pokemon Out of Context (@PkmDayEveryday) February 27, 2020
Voting closed on Valentine's Day.
Ever since the series took off in the '90s, it's been common for fans of the franchise to debate over which animal-like character was the best. February 27 marked the release of the original Japanese Pokémon video games in 1996. An annual celebration is held across the world each year in celebration of the cartoon.
Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin_Brown.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Greninja: Google's Pokemon of the Year award winner revealed
