There are no barriers to entry for being a pokemon fan. If you're a pokemon fan just because you think pikachu is cute, that's fine by me. For me, knowledge doesn't dictate fandom.
This. So many times over, this.
I have a lot of friends who are only really into Pokemon because of the fact that they think a few of the Pokemon are cute, or have seen me play a little bit of Pokemon X (yes, people actually like that game, I myself included) on my 3DSXL. Hell, one of my friends went out and bought a 3DSXL AND Pokemon Y just because they saw me catch an (a?) Honedge and thought it was the coolest Pokemon ever.
Which I agree with. Aegislash all the way.