>>16203319those are the reasons for which I've said that 1) it's the best one 2) I specified that it was the case if we were using THAT definition
mincinno is not a mouse and fills another role entirely in the game, which is that of the common normal types found in tall grass in the early game
marill had the nickname "Pikablu" before release, is a mouse, has a zig-zag motif tail, had a one stage evolution and then a baby pre-evo both very similar to pikachu's line, and I'm not sure about this last one but I think they tried and make it pass as a new pikachu in some advertising stuff (first thing that comes to mind is Lyra having one, but that's in gen IV so it may have been not based on anything prior to it). their rarity was also kind of similar I guess? I don't remember where marill was found in gen II, but definitely not in the equivalent parts in which you'd find a mincinno.
if all the "pikaclones" were like it, it would actually be a decent gimmick, but seeing as that didn't work they started going for a shittier one-stage-electric-critter-wow-even-more-similar approach I guess
