Pokemon's roster has grown so much over its more than 25-year history that there are now more than 1,000 'mons to remember the names of, something my three-year-old currently knows better than his ABCs. What he probably doesn't know is that his favorite Pokemon Pikachu isn't one of the three pocket monsters available to catch in every single pair of mainline games in the series so far.
Of course Pikachu is his favorite because the little yellow mouse is Pokemon's mascot. Everywhere you look when consuming Pokemon content he's front and center. In the show, the movies, and the games. Except that isn't technically true for that last one. Pikachu missed out on Black & White, outside of a later addition via a special event, as Game Freak insisted on making you use gen five's new additions on your latest quest.
Confirmation that everyone's first guess is not one of the three Pokemon to have been catchable in every single game comes courtesy of ogio_go on TikTok and has been expanded upon by Kotaku. You'd think since Black & White focused on its new Pokemon, every 'mon's streak would have ended with those games. However, Psyduck, Magnemite, and Magikarp managed to endure, and their streaks continue to this day.
Game Freak has clearly wanted us to be frustrated by the journey that is evolving Magikarp into Gyarados on as many occasions as possible. As for where to find the useless fish in Black & White, you can get one from the salesman on Marvelous Bridge after you beat the game. You know, after having a Gyarados in your team might have actually been helpful.
Psyduck isn't in Black & White, but its evolved form Golduck is, albeit sparingly and only when you're nearing the end of the game. Since Golduck can be caught in Black & White, it can be used to breed a Psyduck. Magnemite might be the strangest pick by Pokemon to have appeared in all of its games. Even where you find it in Black & White is a little odd. Floating around in White Forest even though that typically isn't its natural habitat, it was also exclusive to White which meant a trade was needed if those of you playing Black wanted one.
Psyduck and Magnemite's streaks almost came to an end a few years ago when Pokemon made the controversial decision to seriously cut back on Pokedex numbers in each game starting with Sword & Shield. Neither was included in the base game, but both were added via DLC, allowing their streaks to continue alongside Magikarp.