>>50949526>If you're referring to Sandshrew (which also isn't officially indicated to be a pangolin anywhere in the Japanese version)pikachu's designer stated in an interview a while ago that pikachu and raichu were actually based on squirrels, not mice
it's apparently obvious the sandshrew line are based on pangolins: both have armored bodies, large claws, and thick tails
as for why they're both called the "mouse" pokemon idk. i just imagine whoever was tasked with writing pokedex entries just didn't put much thought into the species names
