Initially both Pikachu and the Pokémon 

Clefairy were chosen to be lead characters for the franchise

merchandising, with the latter as the primary mascot to make the early comic book series more
"engaging". However, with the production of the animated series, Pikachu was chosen as the
primary mascot, in an attempt to appeal to female viewers and their mothers, and because it was
believed that Pikachu presented the image of a recognizable intimate pet to children. Its color was
also a deciding factor, as yellow is a primary color and easier for children to recognize from a
distance, and with consideration to the fact that the only other competing yellow mascot at the time
was Winnie-the-Pooh.[14] Though Tajiri acknowledged that the character was relatively popular with
both boys and girls, the idea of Pikachu as the mascot was not his own, with the company
responsible for the production of the animated series OLM, Inc. giving the suggestion to utilize
Pikachu's potential to Game Freak, and stated he felt the human aspect of the series was
overlooked by Japanese children who embraced Pikachu by itself more readily. [15][16] Pikachu was
originally going to have a second evolution called Gorochu, which was intended to be the evolved
form of Raichu.[17][18]
Pikachu's design has evolved from its once-pudgy body to having a slimmer waist, straighter spine,
and more defined face and neck; Sugimori has stated these design changes originated in the anime,
making Pikachu easier to animate, and were adopted to the games for consistency. [19] "Fat Pikachu"
was revisited in Pokémon Sword and Shield, where Pikachu received a Gigantamax Form
resembling its original design.[20][21][22]