The hype for the PEPE is already over, and we can clearly see its price plunging along with the trading volumes that surged pretty high when the token was getting too much hype by the crypto community, so it's pretty clear now that meme coins can't exist if they are not hyped and even if they exist, they will simply be abandoned and will get absolutely no trading volume at all.
Dogecoin has been around for so long only because it has been hyped a lot of times and as you said, we can also see Elon pumping it every now and then which is always keeping the hype alive within the community and people holding or buying it are always hopeful and waiting for a teaser from Elon.
Those meme coins that have received a listing on the leading centralized exchanges will remain in the top for a very long time. Accordingly, Pepe, as well as Doge, will be pumped from time to time and after the big players fix their profits, the price will decrease, which will be used for a new accumulation of coins.