>>55249105>If this thing wasn't the mascot of the franchise would anyone even remember that it exists?Probably.
Kanto already has a lot of these first-stage cutemons that are more popular than their evolutions despite being relatively rare.
Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Psyduck...
If Pikachu hadn't been the mascot it'd have just been another one of those - but let's be real, Pikachu is the mascot because it just has the most mass appeal, stradling the perfect line between cute and cool.