>>20362221>>gets 2 signature movesYeah, and they're both pretty shit moves he can't even use properly.
>a great abilityWell this i cant argue about, but to be honest, if he didn't have Protean he'd be borderline unusable. Protean makes him usable without being broken.
Sakurai liking him so much as to put him in Smash is purely coincidental and Gamefreak has taken no part in pushing him. His popularity came about naturally.