I'm not trying to say Lucario is a bad character or anything. What I'm saying is that his mascot is confined more strictly to Pokemon fans, at least in the west, by virtue of not being part of the huge Pokemon explosion in the 90s.
Meowth and Jigglypuff, I'll concede those. I can't advocate Meowth as a playable character, at any rate. Pikachu was accidental fan-favorite before the anime hit. Clefairy was supposed to be the series mascot, and Nintendo just rolled with how fans really liked Pikachu.
I sincerely apologize if I was coming across as a genwunner. I actually think Gens II and IV had better sets of new Pokemon.