Why is Pikachu so popular?

Pikachu is too easy to love and appeals to both genders making him/her so popular. For the girls its a cute, cuddly, little yellow furball that sounds adorable and for the guys its an always loyal pet that follows you and kills whatever you want dead with rediculous amounts of electricity (orr to give that annoying relative of yours a little shock to wake em' up;]). Sounds pretty good to me:)