Who designed the Pokémon species Pikachu?

Atsuko Nishida designed the Pokémon species Pikachu. She created the original design at the request of lead designer Ken Sugimori, who later finalized its promotional artwork.

Nishida worked on Pikachu during development of the original Pokémon games. She was asked to create a cute Electric-type Pokémon, and her early design work drew on a squirrel-like concept before Satoshi Tajiri characterized Pikachu as a mouse.

Pikachu was not initially planned as the franchise mascot. The character became much more prominent after the television series selected Pikachu as Ash Ketchum's partner instead of using one of the three selectable starters from the games.

Pikachu's design changed over time. The earliest game version was rounder and heavier, while later game and anime appearances gave the character a slimmer shape. Pichu was added in the second generation as Pikachu's pre-evolution.