One of the world's most popular Pokemon is quite easily Mewtwo, the legendary psychic-type Pokemon that served as the final boss in Pokemon Red and Blue, and was also the main antagonist of the first Pokemon movie. Mewtwo has since appeared in countless other Pokemon media since making his debut in 1996. Despite Mewtwo's popularity, some fans may still be confused as to why the Gen 1 legendary Pokemon is suddenly trending on Twitter, but there is a pretty good reason for it.
In the original Pokemon Red and Blue games, players discover various diaries in the Pokemon Mansion on Cinnabar Island. The diaries detail the experiments that were done on the mythical Pokemon Mew, which led to the creation of Mewtwo. In the original games, the diaries even go as far as to say "Mew gave birth," though that wasn't what literally happened. Regardless, "Mew gave birth" on February 6, so today is Mewtwo's birthday.
As previously stated, Mewtwo remains one of the most popular legendary Pokemon in series history, consistently featured in various Pokemon media. Mewtwo has been appeared multiple times in the Pokemon anime, mainly in the movies, and was also seen in the first live-action Pokemon film, Detective Pikachu. Mewtwo has also had a consistent presence in the Pokemon video games as well.
Following Mewtwo's debut in Pokemon Red and Blue, the legendary appeared in future Pokemon games as well. Mewtwo has made multiple appearances in the main series Pokemon games, most recently in the Nintendo Switch exclusive games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Pokemon Sword and Shield players can encounter Mewtwo, and a number of other legendary Pokemon, by purchasing The Crown Tundra DLC expansion.
Mewtwo has appeared in a variety of Pokemon spin-off games as well, including the fighting game Pokken Tournament and the popular augmented reality game Pokemon GO. Infact, Mewtwo was the first Pokemon featured in Pokemon GO that required an Raid Pass invitation, making him one of the most difficult Pokemon for players to catch for quite some time. There have been easier ways to get Mewtwo and some of his variants since then, however.
Like Pikachu, Mewtwo will likely remain one of the most popular Pokemon in the franchise, and fans can expect him to be featured regularly in future games and other media as well. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if rumors of a Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remake being announced this month are true, and if so, Pokemon fans will have more reasons to celebrate in February than just Mewtwo's birthday.