Pikachu

The Mouse Pokémon
#025 - Pikachu
Pre-Evolve	Pichu
Evolve	Raichu
Debut	Pokémon: Red Version Pokémon: Green Version
Species Info
Type	+
Height	0.4 m (1'04")
Weight	6.0 kg (13.2 lbs.)
Color	Yellow
Gender Ratio	1♂ : 1♀
Ability	Static
Hidden Ability	Lightningrod
Egg Group	Fairy / Ground
Icon		Sprite
		File:025sprite.png
Footprint
30px
Base Statistics
Hit Points	35	Speed	90
Attack	55	Sp. Attack	50
Defense	30	Sp. Defense	40
Training Info
Catch Rate	190	Hatch Steps	2,560
Base Exp.	082	Effort Points	Spe
Happiness	70		Spe
To Lv.100	Normal

Kanto #	Johto #	Hoenn #	Sinnoh #
< 025 >	< 022 >	< 156 >	< 104 >
Unova #	Johto (IV) #
	< 022 >

Pikachu is a popular electric Pokémon. Introduced in the first generation games, and it became the most prominent Pokémon in the anime series, which lead to it being featured as the mascot Pokémon of Pokémon: Yellow Version (which is alternately referred to as Special Pikachu Edition). Pikachu has also become known as the mascot for the franchise.

Information

Pikachu looks like a small yellow mouse with brown stripes. The tips of their ears are black and they have red spots on their checks. Their tails are shaped like a lightning bolt. Female Pikachu have an indentation in their tail. The red spots are special sacs which Pikachu use to generate electricity, and it will immediately discharge electric energy when angered. It will also hit anything new that it encounters with an electric jolt, with blackened berries being a sign of Pikachu mistaking the identity of its charge. Its cheeks are charged while they sleep at night and sometimes discharges while it is drowsy after awakening. They also sometimes use their electricity to heal a fellow Pikachu that is in a weakened state.

Pikachu feed on berries. Instead of climbing the tree to get them, they zap the berries off the tree, which cooks them. The electricity stored in their checks can be discharged as sparks, bolts, or in other forms. The inability to discharge electricity, sometimes due to a strong magnetic field, results in flu-like symptoms. Pikachu like to gather near places with lots of electric activity. They also raise their tails to monitor their surroundings and will bite anyone who tries to yank on the tail while in this state, although its tail is also sometimes hit by lightning while assuming this pose.

Pikachu was initially believed to be the first step of its evolutionary line, but its baby form Pichu was later discovered. Pichu evolves into Pikachu when it levels up after maxing out its happiness. A Pikachu will in turn evolve into a Raichu when exposed to a Thunder Stone.

Surfing Pikachu

A special variation on Pikachu is Surfing Pikachu, which uniquely knows the move Surf. There are five ways to get a Surfing Pikachu: the original two being via Pokémon Stadium and Nintendo Contests. A Pikachu knowing both Surf and Volt Tackle can also be unlocked in Pokémon Battle Revolution. The fourth is a Pichu that knows Surf which can be unlocked by storing 1499 Pokémon from the same game in Pokémon Box: Ruby & Sapphire. And in HeartGold and SoulSilver, male Pikachu knowing Fly and female Pikachu knowing Surf could be found on the Yellow Forest course of the Pokéwalker, which must be accessed through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Other variant Pikachu that are given away during special events include a Pikachu that knows Fly (which actually flies with the aid of balloons as seen in the Pokémon Yellow intro) and one that knows Yawn. The Yellow Forest course not only contains Surfing Pikachu, but it has other special Pikachu which know Fly, Volt Tackle and Flail.

Appearances

Mainstream Games

Pikachu can be uncommonly found in the Viridian Forest and Power Plant in Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, Pokémon FireRed, and Pokémon LeafGreen. In Pokémon Yellow, Pikachu is the player's starting Pokémon. This Pikachu was just recently caught by Professor Oak and due to its rebellious nature, will follow Red around instead of staying in its Pokéball. It will also refuse to evolve into a Raichu if offered a Thunder Stone. If the player has a Surfing Pikachu, it could be used in a special minigame at the beach near Fuschia City.

In Gold, Silver and Crystal, Pikachu is located at Route 2. In the Crystal Version, Pikachu is also available as a prize in the Celadon City Game Corner for 2222 coins. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Pikachu could be found at the Viridian Forest, and through the Pokéwalker it could be found at the Resort Area, Yellow Forest, Event and Shopping courses. In Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, and Pokémon Emerald, Pikachu can only be found in the Safari Zone. In Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Pikachu can be captured in the Pokémon Mansion's Trophy Garden.

Other Games

Outside of the main games, Pikachu's popularity has garnered it several games of its own games of it's own. It was featured in early spin-offs such as Hey You, Pikachu!, where the player raised a Pikachu and communicated with it through a microphone, and the handheld series of minigames known as Pokémon Pikachu.

In Pokémon Pinball, Pikachu can be found in the Viridian Forest while in Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Pikachu can be caught at the Safari Zone. Pikachu also acts as the ball server in both games. In Pokémon Stadium, aside from being available as a Rental Pokémon, Pikachu was featured with other electric-type Pokémon in the Thundering Dynamo minigame. Additionally, a Surfing Pikachu could be unlocked by beating the R2 Prime Cup Master Ball while using a Pikachu from Yellow Version in every battle. Pikachu appears in Pokémon Puzzle League as one of Ash's main Pokémon. Additionally, in Pokémon Snap, Pikachu are found in the Beach, Cave, Tunnel and River areas and a variety of pictures, such as a "Surfing Pikachu" snapshot of one on a surfboard, can be taken of them.

In Pokémon Stadium 2, a Pikachu transferred from a Game Boy pak could possibly appear as a contender in the "Pichu's Power Plant" minigame. In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, Pikachu could be unlocked by defeating the Genleman, who could only be faced in Challenge Mode's Normal or higher difficulty if the player executed a six-block combo before facing Clair. Within the line of Pokémon e-Reader cards, Pikachu was featured in the Pika Pop minigame where it had to use Thundershock to disable a stereo and some speakers that Pichu and Togepi were dancing to. Pikachu also made appearances in the "Gotcha!" short where it chased a Smoochum and wound up being kissed by a Jynx in one version, as well as the "Lifesaver" short in which a Dragonite saves Pikachu (as well as a chain of other Pokémon in the second version) from drowning.

In Pokémon Channel, a Pikachu acts as the player's companion as in Hey You, Pikachu!. In Pokémon Trozei!, Pikachu can be caught in Secret Storage 4, Secret Storage 20, Mr. Who's Den and Endless Level 1. Pikachu was also featured in Pokémon Dash, where the player controlled it in a variety of races (along with hidden Surfing and Flying Pikachu events). In both of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, Pikachu is one of the optional starter Pokémon whom the player is transformed into depending on their personality. In the first games, Pikachu are also found in the sixth through tenth floors of the Lightning Field, while in the second games, Pikachu is found in the ninth and tenth floors of the Amp Plains as well as the first four floors of the Far Amp Plains. In Pokémon Ranger, Pikachu can be found in Lyra Forest, Panula Cave and Sekra Mountain Range. In Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, Pikachu are found in the Vien Forest, Crysta Cave, Volcano Cave, Chroma Road, Chroma Highlands and Chroma Ruins.

In My Pokémon Ranch, Pikachu could be obtained in a random trade with Hayley. They are also found at the Silent Forest in Pokémon Rumble. In Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, Pikachu is found at the Submarine, Faldera Volcano and Thunder Temple. Pikachu is also featured in PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Great Adventure as the protagonist who explores the PokéPark to help Shaymin. In Pokémon Rumble Blast, Pikachu was available as a starter Pokémon, and it was also found in Trailhead Field as well as Firebreathing Mountain and the first floor of World Axle Underground.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Yoshi's Woolly World, a Yoshi design based on Pikachu's appearance could be unlocked by scanning an amiibo of Pikachu.
• In Super Mario Maker, Pikachu appeared as one of the Mystery Mushroom costumes that Mario could transform into. It could be unlocked by clearing a 100 Mario Challenge on Normal or harder, or by scanning a Pikachu amiibo.

Super Smash Bros.

Pikachu has appeared as a playable fighter throughout the Super Smash Bros. series, appearing in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is a light and agile character with a variety of electric moves based on its abilities from the games. Pichu was later added to the series with a mostly cloned moveset. Pikachu also gained a Final Smash in Brawl in the form of Volt Tackle, where it flew around the area while surrounded with a powerful field of electricity. In Ultimate, Pikachu Libre was made available as an alternate costume for Pikachu.

Trophies/Stickers/Spirits

Throughout the series, Pikachu has also been represented by three unlockable trophies in Melee, two trophies (one being of its Final Smash) and a sticker in Brawl, two trophies (plus a trophy of its Final Smash in the Wii U version) in the 3DS/Wii U game and four Spirits in Ultimate. Two of the Spirits are Fighter Spirits of Pikachu and Pikachu Libre. The other two are Support Spirits of Detective Pikachu and Partner Pikachu, the latter representing the Pikachu from Let's Go, Pikachu!.

The Ace-rank Support Spirit of Partner Pikachu (which raised attack and speed while the player character was undamaged) was initially unlocked only by having save data from Let's Go, Pikachu! on the same system, but it was made available on the Spirit Board after a January 2019 update to the game. When fought against in a Spirit battle, Partner Pikachu's Spirit would possess Pikachu (wearing Red's hat) and fight alongside a Mii Brawler (representing its trainer) in a stamina battle. During the battle, the Pikachu's electric attacks would be strengthened, and it would suddenly gain its Final Smash when heavily damaged.

Brawl: The Subspace Emissary

Within Brawl's Adventure Mode, "The Subspace Emissary", Pikachu had been captured and kept in a Subspace Army Research Facility, where its electricity was being drained as a power source. This was brought to an end when the Pikachu was rescued by Samus Aran during her exploration of the facility, and the Pikachu proceeded to tag along with Samus and help her to find her missing power suit. Pikachu particularly helped in freeing Samus from Ridley's grasp during his surprise attack and then helped her to defeat Ridley. After a mission in the Subspace Bomb Factory, Samus and Pikachu joined up with the game's main party for the final battles in Subspace.

Ultimate: Adventure and Classic Modes

In the Adventure Mode of Ultimate, "World of Light", Pikachu was seen in the opening cutscene among the fighters assembled to oppose Galeem and his Master Hand army. Once Galeem unleashed his beams of light, Pikachu was seen trying to run away from a beam near Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic appeared to slow down for the sake of helping Pikachu, but both were immediately overtaken by the light. After falling under Galeem's control, Pikachu could be found in an area of the Light Realm surrounded by rapid waters. There, it could be defeated and awakened as its true self, at which point it would join the playable roster.

Pikachu's Classic Mode route in this game was called "I Choose You!". Its battles followed the theme of pitting Pikachu against other Pokémon fighters, starting with the Pokémon Trainer. The route's boss battle started as a fight with Mewtwo, but Master Hand (accompanied by Crazy Hand on higher difficulties) would join the battle upon Mewtwo's defeat.

Other Media

• Pikachu is featured in the Pokémon anime series as the main Pokémon of Ash Ketchum. Ash had been too late to get one of the normal starter Pokémon from Professor Oak, so Oak simply gave Ash the Pikachu he had found in the wild. Originally Pikachu's rebellious nature was emphasized, with it refusing to enter a Pokéball. But Ash and Pikachu's bond soon grew to the point where they were like best friends, although Pikachu never entered a Pokéball and always traveled at Ash's side. Ash continues to primarily use the same Pikachu throughout the series and throughout all his adventures in various lands. Other Pikachu occasionally appear, perhaps the most notable being Sparky, a Pikachu belonging to Ash's friendly rival Ritchie.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Red catches his troublemaking Pikachu early on and builds a strong bond with him in the Red/Green/Blue arc as well as with Yellow in the following Yellow arc when he teams up with Yellow to find the missing Red. Yellow later obtains her own female Pikachu by the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc, and the two have an egg together which is hatched by Gold.
• Ash also gets a Pikachu as a starter Pokémon in the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, but instead of being offered by Professor Oak, it is a wild Pikachu that Ash finds chewing on electric cables in his home. He is eventually able to earn its friendship, at which point it becomes about as useful as the anime Pikachu.

Trivia

• The name Pikachu is a combination of the Japanese words "pika", an onomatopoeia for electric sparking, and "chu", an onomatopoeia for a mouse's squeak.