Plushies of my six favorite 笔辞办é尘辞苍 are sitting on my desk. They’re from the Sitting Cuties line (called 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Fit in Japan), an ongoing line of stuffed toys meant to give every 笔辞办é尘辞苍 (yes, all 1000+ of the little guys) a piece of merchandise. Sitting Cuties touches on a sentiment that 笔辞办é尘辞苍 fans have been preaching since the games did away with the National Dex in 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Sword and Shield. Statistically speaking, with millions of people infatuated with the franchise, each and every one of the monsters Game Freak puts into the games is probably someone’蝉 favorite. And yet, for a franchise that drills attachment into the hearts of its fans, 笔辞办é尘辞苍 has a lot of ground to cover if it wants to give every hypothetical fan at least one item to put on a shelf commemorating their favorite ‘mon.
I’m lucky. My favorite 笔辞办é尘辞苍 is the Raichu line, and because that includes the series’ mascot, I’m never left wanting for merch of my favorite little guy. My other top faves are also popular fixtures in the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 world. We’re talkin’ ‘mon like Palkia, the god of space; Torterra, an evolution of a starter in a popular generation; Latias, a popular legendary; and Houndoom, another fan favorite who was recently featured heavily in Scarlet and Violet. That said, I also dig Beautifly, a bug/flying-type 笔辞办é尘辞苍 that was featured prominently in the anime once, but has been largely forgotten as far as merch goes. So the Sitting Cuties line letting me put her on my shelf made me really happy.
Sitting Cuties isn’t the only time The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company has attempted to make merchandise of each 笔辞办é尘辞苍, but the other pillar of the company’蝉 “give every 笔辞办é尘辞苍 something people can buy” is shutting down this week. Original Stitch is a shirt company that creates custom-designed shirts, and has, until recently, been rolling out designs based on every 笔辞办é尘辞苍. Sadly, on May 26, the company announced it will be closing on June 11, and will be taking its designs with it.
Original Stitch only made it up to Generation IV, meaning if your favorite 笔辞办é尘辞苍 was introduced in a game after Diamond and Pearl, you never got a chance to buy a cute top adorned with your favorite. The designs were lovely and subtle enough that it didn’t feel like you were walking around with a giant 笔辞办é尘辞苍 logo on your shirt. But they were also expensive, as each shirt had to be custom-made. Again, I was lucky, as the line got far enough into the Pokédex that I got shirts for all six of my favorites (two for Raichu and Houndoom thanks to far superior redesigns). But for a lot of people, one of the best ways to rep your favorite 笔辞办é尘辞苍 is now gone.
For some, this is just an inevitable falling back into something The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company has always done. If your favorite isn’t a cute, marketable mascot, odds are you won’t get much of anything based on them, especially as time passes and The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company prioritizes new 笔辞办é尘辞苍 over your favorite from generations ago.
Adam Schifani, community manager for the gaming-oriented children’蝉 hospital fundraising program Extra Life, is particularly partial to Sandslash. This ground-type pangolin 笔辞办é尘辞苍 comes right after Pikachu and Raichu in the Pokédex, and has even had an ice-type regional variant in 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Sun and Moon. But as far as the OG? Schifani has had to rely on independent, third-party sellers to find anything of his favorite. Yes, Sandslash has a Sitting Cutie plush as a first-generation 笔辞办é尘辞苍, but Schifani, like many others, has had trouble actually getting his hands on the thing.
“As someone who hasn’t been able to get a Sandslash Sitting Cutie because I never see it restocked, I don’t have much faith in The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company having a way to represent every 笔辞办é尘辞苍 that people want,” Schifani says. “I get from a business perspective it’蝉 not cost-effective, but it’蝉 disappointing anyway.”
For some, the struggle comes from their favorite being more obscure. For others, the trouble is that their favorite is overshadowed by their evolutionary sibling. As a Raichu fan who mostly settles for Pikachu merchandise because it’蝉 readily available, I sympathize with YouTuber RV’蝉 plight as a Wigglytuff fan drowning in Jigglypuff merch.
“I would be more drawn to certain merch if Wigglytuff was afforded the same conveniences that Jigglypuff was offered,” he says. “Jigglypuff has become a headliner for the fairy type [so] it’蝉 always front and center in new merch. For instance, I own a Jigglypuff necklace from the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 x Rocklove collaboration, would I like one of Wigglytuff too? Well it’蝉 less that I would go out and buy new merch, but if the option existed at the time I would have preferred Wigglytuff.”
The Sitting Cuties line is propped up as a solution to this problem, but now that the line spans five generations totaling roughly 649 creatures, The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company hasn’t consistently kept early plushies in stock. If you search for Sitting Cuties on the online store, you’ll get a few hundred available results, but eventually, you’ll find a graveyard of out-of-stock plushies that have no known return date. With the official 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Center site feeling inconsistent and unreliable, some fans have just opted to make their own merch or have some commissioned.
Eli Fitch, engineering manager at collaborative design tool Figma, loves Koffing. Despite some early anime love, the gas-spewing poison-type hasn’t received a ton of attention in recent years. So instead of waiting, Fitch says he “bribed” a coworker to crochet a Koffing for him, which he says is “way better” than anything The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company has offered, as he wasn’t impressed by the Sitting Cutie plush, saying it “felt kind of small and cheap, didn’t really capture the essence of the design.” Despite The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company’蝉 lack of follow-through, Fitch thinks Koffing has a lot of merch potential through other avenues.
“I think Koffing has this big grin that seems a perfect fit for graphic tees, mugs, the classic Redbubble, Society6, etc. stuff,” Fitch says. “Koffing has a round shape that’d be perfect for a Squishmallow as well.”
While a crochet Koffing is adjacent to the plushies The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company already sells, some fans are going with more unorthodox homemade merchandise. Christopher “Griver84" Dunn is a Twitch streamer and Hippowdon fan. While he says he will likely buy Hippowdon’蝉 Sitting Cutie at some point, the hippo’蝉 lack of official love had him looking to other avenues to represent his fave, including having a Perler bead mockup of Hippowdon’蝉 in-game sprite from Diamond and Pearl made as a birthday present.
For a lot of adult fans, these kinds of items are preferable to a plushie or figure, and it seems like The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company has caught on to that, as 笔辞办é尘辞苍 increasingly feels less like a line of games and toys than it does a full-blown lifestyle brand. Dunn says this shift has given the brand longevity for him, as 笔辞办é尘辞苍 has given adult fans more practical merchandise as the years have gone on.
“I usually don’t hunt down merch but [instead] buy things on the fly if I happen to stumble across them and have the budget to do so,” Dunn says. “I like the fact that 笔辞办é尘辞苍 is kinda a lifestyle these days and not just a ‘merch’ or ‘video game’ line. It’蝉 one of the few constants in my life since the Red and Blue 诲补测蝉.”
RV echoes the sentiment, saying that merch beyond toys, such as clothing and home items, has helped keep 笔辞办é尘辞苍 an “all-ages” franchise similar to Disney, or to Lego’蝉 shift from mostly making sets for children into offering plenty of adult-oriented merch as well.
“In the time that 笔辞办é尘辞苍 has shifted into more lifestyle products and less exclusively toys, I have turned from a bumbling teenager to a fully formed adult, and as such I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy the pivot,” he says. “More items that are more socially acceptable for older audiences to own is not a bad thing, especially as more and more people grow up consistently loving the franchise.”
笔辞办é尘辞苍 is a globally recognized brand, but depending on where you live, your options for merchandise may be far more limited. Dan Moore, a UK-based fan of 笔辞办é尘辞苍, and of Dracovish and Aeigslash especially, says he feels a bit of jealousy toward those in territories that have more options available. While the UK has received some love with pop-up stores, Moore feels Japanese fans will always have access to more merchandise just by proximity. The series originates in Japan and there are 16 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Center store locations in Asia. The U.S. had one in New York City in the early 2000s until it was repurposed into a general Nintendo store in 2005.
“Japan has much more choice than in the UK and I always hope for a full 笔辞办é尘辞苍 store outside of the pop-ups and the more robust online store of recent years,” Moore says.
In the meantime, he says he’ll wait until his favorites get Sitting Cutie plushies in future waves, as both Aegislash and Dracovish originated in Generations VI and VIII, and as of this writing, the line has only reached Generation V. While these plushies may not be the highest-quality pieces 笔辞办é尘辞苍 has ever put out, they are affordable, especially compared to Original Stitch shirts, which would run you around $100 USD, at minimum.
Welcome to Exp. Share, Kotaku’蝉 weekly 笔辞办é尘辞苍 column in which we dive deep to explore notable characters, urban legends, communities, and just plain weird quirks from throughout the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 franchise.
“[Original Stitch was] just too much for me to afford,” Moore says. “A shirt for that much money is just not something I could reasonably afford but would dote over semi-regularly. I just spent half an hour looking through Sitting Cuties. [I’m] very much on board, but my boys are not there at the moment. For shame.”
For some of the more obscure picks, if they do get merch, it’蝉 rarely on their own. Jordan Deeb, a podcaster who loves Elekid, wants a pin of the electric-type baby 笔辞办é尘辞苍, but the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Center only sells it in a bundle with several other pins. This, of course, raises the price far beyond what an individual pin would cost, but if you don’t love any of the other 笔辞办é尘辞苍, it’蝉 harder to justify the money.
“Trying to find Elekid merch outside of just plushies is hard, and if any exists it’蝉 often lumped in with others,” Deeb says. “For example, the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Center sells a set of pins of baby 笔辞办é尘辞苍 that include Elekid but do not sell Elekid’蝉 pin on its own. I don’t have strong feelings about the other 笔辞办é尘辞苍 that come in that pin set.”
Elekid was, at one time, a prominent 笔辞办é尘辞苍 in merchandising as a tie-in to 笔辞办é尘辞苍 The Movie 2000, having made its debut in the film. But that was 20 years ago. Now there’蝉 speculation that Elekid specifically has dropped off the merchandise train due to its design including what look like AC power plugs, and The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company not wanting kids to try shoving the little guy into electric sockets. But unlike the early 2000s, when 笔辞办é尘辞苍 used to constantly have cross promotions with other brands, these days, The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company has an airtight lock on merchandising rights and you’re less likely to see Pikachu on the side of a cereal box. So finding something of an older 笔辞办é尘辞苍 often means buying older collectibles that have skyrocketed in price.
“I’ve always wanted to get a nice, high-quality, small figurine of them but they’re either all bootleg or very expensive since they’re from the late 90s or early 2000s,” Deeb says. “Which has been the hardest thing about being an Elekid fanatic. Elekid was one of the Gen II 笔辞办é尘辞苍 used on a lot of merchandising, alongside 笔辞办é尘辞苍 like Togepi and Marill. They were slapped on cereal boxes, pop tarts, and other Gen II merch but now it’蝉 hard to find really anything.”
While the UK may not be The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company’蝉 biggest priority, some places don’t have any official channels to go through at all. Journalist Willem Hilhorst is an Excadrill fan in the Netherlands, who has managed to get some merchandise like the Original Stitch shirts imported to the country, but because the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Center doesn’t ship to him, he’蝉 had to use roundabout ways to get official merchandise, or ask friends who live elsewhere for their help. However, he was finally able to find the Excadrill Sitting Cutie after a trip to Japan earlier this year.
“Last month, I finally got to go to Japan myself and one of the main goals was to find any Excadrill merch, since I hadn’t owned any yet,” Hilhorst says. “I originally had planned to go on a specific day to one of the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Centers in Osaka, but when I saw voice actor SungWon Cho tweet about looking for a Mienshao plushie I only then realized that there was a Gen V set of Sitting Cuties that had just released. The next day I went to a 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Center in Kyoto and finally found an Excadrill plush as well as a small hanger of it and Drillbur. I think I was very lucky to see that tweet, because all the other Centers I visited during my vacation did not have an Excadrill.”
With over 1000 笔辞办é尘辞苍 in the Pokédex now, it’蝉 inevitable that certain 笔辞办é尘辞苍 won’t receive the same love Pikachu does. But for a franchise that’蝉 been around this long, asking for every 笔辞办é尘辞苍 introduced to receive some love doesn’t feel like an unreasonable ask. 笔辞办é尘辞苍’蝉 preservation of its own history has been an ongoing conversation in the community, especially in the wake of dropping the National Dex in the games, making it impossible to acquire or transfer every 笔辞办é尘辞苍 in every game. While there are mainstays like Pikachu and Eevee that will likely always be prominent in the games, anime, and merchandise, the pipe dream of every 笔辞办é尘辞苍 being supported with the same push has been unmasked as just that.
“Maintaining an ever-growing library of 笔辞办é尘辞苍 designs is an impossible task, especially given the short development cycles for even mainline titles,” Fitch says. “I think it could be a tremendously cool thing to have seamless and easy access of all the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 you’ve ever caught in 20+ years all in one place, but that ship has well and truly sailed at this point. Absent a ‘hardcore’ and/or competition-focused live service companion to the traditional mainline releases, I don’t think it’蝉 feasible to have the full dex in each new release.”
Some folks are understanding of the Gigantamax task The 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Company has in front of it, but it still stings when your favorite isn’t getting any share of the spotlight.
“I strongly dislike that they can’t keep up with their own history,” Schifani says. “In most previous games, there was a way for folks to get access to the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 they liked the most while still introducing gamers to new 笔辞办é尘辞苍. Not including the National Dex is one of several reasons that I didn’t play Scarlet and Violet. I understand it is a lot of work to create animations for 1000+ 笔辞办é尘辞苍, but it’蝉 disappointing that some 笔辞办é尘辞苍 just don’t exist in newer games.”
While Original Stitch may be shutting down, fans like RV are still hopeful that the spirit of it might persist in a new merch initiative, or that more games like 笔辞办é尘辞苍 Unite might highlight some of the more niche picks. Even with one of the pillars of the “Every 笔辞办é尘辞苍 is someone’蝉 favorite” mindset going away, there’蝉 still some hope that old favorites won’t be forgotten under the constant flood of newcomers.
“Original Stitch shutting down is definitely a bummer for sure, but I think projects like this, where they lay equal importance onto every 笔辞办é尘辞苍, are effectively only for those niche audiences in the first place. They didn’t make Original Stitch for the Pikachu shirt, they made Original Stitch knowing that the 15 Spoink fans are gonna come out the woodwork for the Spoink shirt and I say that as a proud Spoink fan. I am confident that the 笔辞办é尘辞苍 company knows the worth of things like that, and even if we don’t get as much physical merch of the individual 笔辞办é尘辞苍, on the media side of things, our favorites will always have a role to play.”
In a way, plushies and shirts are how some fans keep the memories of their favorites alive when 笔辞办é尘辞苍 games can’t anymore. I’m wearing my Torterra Original Stitch shirt as I type this, and the big turtle wasn’t in Scarlet and Violet (though he might be in the DLC, based on data mining). Even when my favorites don’t show up in my next adventure, I keep them with me knowing they might show up again in the future.
“I think that for the massive media empire that 笔辞办é尘辞苍 is, you can always count on them returning to older 笔辞办é尘辞苍 and creatures and giving them a new time to shine,” Hilhorst says. “Look at stuff like mega evolution and even regional forms and evolutions that put the spotlight back on some overlooked designs. Given that we have passed the 1000 mons, I know we can’t give attention to them all. But that’蝉 okay, my memories and appreciation of my favorites aren’t going anywhere.”