Which Pokémon designer created Pikachu?

Atsuko Nishida created the original Pikachu design.

Nishida worked at Game Freak during development of the first Pokémon games. She was asked to design a cute Electric-type Pokémon that would evolve twice and whose final evolution would look strong. Her design became Pikachu, which later evolved into Raichu; Pichu was added in a later generation as Pikachu's baby form.

Pikachu's early concept was influenced by squirrels rather than being directly copied from a mouse. Nishida was interested in squirrels' movements and used the idea of storing food in cheek pouches as inspiration for Pikachu's red electric cheek sacs. Satoshi Tajiri later classified the species as a mouse Pokémon.

Ken Sugimori finalized Pikachu's artwork and produced the unified promotional illustrations for the original Pokémon species. Because Sugimori was the franchise's art director and most visible illustrator, he is sometimes incorrectly credited as Pikachu's sole designer. Nishida's design became especially important after Pikachu was selected as the anime's central Pokémon and franchise mascot.