Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 1)

[BIONIC]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/pok%C3%A9mon-has-greninjas-popularity-wanned-in-recent-years.1049088/

(Please Note: This is not a judgement call on the Pokemon itself or their fans, please don't treat it as such).
[CENTER][/CENTER]
I remember back in 2020 when Greninja topped the massive Pokémon of the Year, in front of Lucario, Mimikyu, Charizard and Umbreon and for years before that, Greninja seem like they'd became one of the most beloved Pokemon, getting their own special form in the anime and the Sum/Moon games, constant appearances in TCG and so much fan art and fan love.

However, in the past two years, I've noticed Greninja's popularity has seemed to have diminished while the other 4 I've mentioned have remained consistently beloved. Now this is not to say they are unpopular or forgotten, far from from it (especially in the US), they are still popular, but not top 10 popular if that makes sense and seemed get way love from both the fanbase. I see way less fan art of them, less discussion of them etc. Now Pokemon due come and go in popularity; Tinkaton was a massively popular Pokémon around the launch of Scarlet and Violet but then began wanned in popularity in comparison to Clodsire, the Sprigatito line and Maushold line (and having a lot of their thunder stolen by Ogerpon), but I've never seen that was as popular as Greninja drop like that; The closest are Pikachu and Charizard but that's more hardcore fans sick of their exposure and Greninja was nowhere near their levels.

And I'm not just talking about online discourse. Something I check on now and then is which Pokemon are currently are the most bought on the Pokémon Centre sites (I find it useful info for making fan rosters for Pokkén 2 etc), both the US, UK and Japan mostly because I find them a good indicator of their current popularity. the Japanese site in particular as a small bit on the front page where they show the most popular Pokémon in terms of being bought by people. This is how it looks right now:

I've noticed starting around 2022, Greninja started disappearing on the list and the Pokémon getting less and less merch overall.

Am I just seeing things or is their a reason for their reduced popularity?

No WLW discussion? No hobgoblin farts? No reverse smiley face?