Ash's Pikachu
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Ash's Pikachu (Japanese: サトシのピカチュウ Satoshi's Pikachu) is the first Pokémon obtained by Ash on his journey as a Pokémon Trainer.
History
Kanto and Johto
In the first episode of the Pokémon anime, Pokémon - I Choose You!, Ash woke up late the day he was supposed to go to Professor Oak's Laboratory to obtain his first Pokémon. When he arrived at the lab, the three available starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, had already been taken by other Trainers who arrived earlier. Seeing that Ash was disappointed, Professor Oak gave him Pikachu, who, at first, did not care at all for his new Trainer, constantly zapping him and anyone else nearby. He refused to go into his Poké Ball, and when Ash failed to catch a Pidgey, he laughed at him. However, by the end of the episode, Ash gained Pikachu's trust by protecting him from an attack by a flock of Spearow and rushing him to the Pokémon Center. Pikachu and Ash soon became inseparable. In Pikachu's Goodbye, Ash gave Pikachu his consent to remain in a forest filled with Pikachu, but Pikachu decided to stay by Ash's side.
In general, Pikachu as a species are not particularly powerful, but Ash's Pikachu is an anomaly, overcoming odds in battle numerous times. In Showdown in Pewter City, he defeated Brock's Onix with an Electric-type attack that triggered the sprinkler system causing Onix to be drenched in water, one of its weaknesses. In Electric Shock Showdown, Pikachu fought Lt. Surge's Raichu and lost. During a resulting hospital stay, he refused to become Raichu's equal by evolving via a Thunderstone (knocking it out of his Trainer's hand), and in the second battle, Pikachu overcame Raichu by using his superior speed. The same situation happened in Pika and Goliath! where Pikachu reaffirmed his decision not to evolve. In Pokémon Emergency!, Meowth remarked that Pikachu's power "far exceeds its evolutionary level". Ash's Pikachu has also defeated very powerful Pokémon that Ash's other Pokémon were unable to, such as Dragonite and Metagross. He has helped Ash win innumerable battles and Gym and League matches.
However, at times, Pikachu has lived up to his species' frail and brittle strengths, particularly in Gym battles where he was defeated with relative ease by his opponent; for example, he was overpowered very easily by Lt. Surge's Raichu, Sabrina's Kadabra, Blaine's Magmar, Bugsy's Scyther, Whitney's Miltank, Chuck's Poliwrath, Roark's Rampardos, Fantina's Drifblim, and Cress's Panpour. He also drew against Winona's Pelipper and Norman's Vigoroth, and struggled against Crasher Wake's Floatzel. Furthermore, he has lost twice to Trip's Servine, despite Trip being a starting Trainer and recently having obtained Servine.
Since Ash's first encounter with Team Rocket in Pokémon Emergency!, Pikachu has been pursued by the trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth. Throughout the series, it has been Jessie, James and Meowth's desire to steal this Pokémon from Ash and present him to their boss. To do this, they have come up with many schemes. Though they have tried and continue to try hundreds of times, every last one of their plots fail, usually with the help of Ash, his friends, other Trainers, an Officer Jenny, or even themselves (such as in the first episode of the Diamond & Pearl series).
Hoenn
Pikachu became the second non-legendary Pokémon to defeat a legendary Pokémon in the anime after Charizard, beating Brandon's Regice in Pace - The Final Frontier!, giving Ash his final Frontier Symbol.
Pikachu is also the only one of Ash's Pokémon to accompany him to the Hoenn and Unova regions, and was intended to be the only Pokémon to accompany him to Sinnoh before Aipom was discovered to have stowed away on the ship Ash was taking. Up until the capture of Dawn's Pachirisu, Pikachu was the only Electric-type Pokémon in the anime owned by a main character.
Even with his high level of electrical power, Pikachu has not stopped learning new attacks. Upon learning that Roxanne, the Rustboro Gym Leader used Rock types, Ash had Pikachu begin learning Iron Tail in All Things Bright and Beautifly!. After training hard, Pikachu finally perfected it in The Winner by a Nosepass, where he used it to defeat Roxanne's Nosepass and earn Ash his first Hoenn Badge. In addition to giving Pikachu an advantage over Rock types, Iron Tail has allowed Pikachu to defeat many powerful opponents. In May's Egg-Cellent Adventure, during a battle with Team Rocket, Ash ordered Pikachu to do a Quick Attack. Much to the surprise of Ash and his friends, the Quick Attack morphed into Volt Tackle which sent Team Rocket blasting off. Until Dancing With the Ducklett Trio!, it has been one of Pikachu's signature moves. Also in the same episode, Pikachu learned Electro Ball while battling a trio of annoying Ducklett. Not only that, Pikachu has used his Ability, Static, a few times in the anime.
In Hoenn, Pikachu learned how to surf. He also learned how to punch from Ash in The Punchy Pokémon. In Sinnoh, Ash used him during the Pokémon Ping Pong Tournament.
Sinnoh
In Sinnoh, he defeated Roark's Onix in the Oreburgh Gym rematch. Pikachu battled again in the Pastoria Gym battle, where he battled Crasher Wake's Gyarados and defeated it with a Volt Tackle to the face. He also battled Crasher Wake's Floatzel for a moment, allowing Buizel time to recover. In Shield with a Twist!, Pikachu lost to Fantina's Drifblim after a fierce battle.
Pikachu's next major battle after Fantina, was when he was used against Paul in Evolving Strategies!. First he went up against Magmortar; however, when he attacked with Quick Attack, he was burned by Magmortar's Flame Body and Pikachu was recalled. Later, he went up against Paul's very powerful Ursaring and paralyzed it with Static. This actually made things worse for Pikachu as being paralyzed activated Ursaring's Guts Ability, and Pikachu found himself completely outmatched by Ursaring's massive power and was defeated and thrown into Lake Acuity, taking him out of the match as well as injuring him. This defeat meant that Ash had to defeat Paul's remaining five Pokémon with only Chimchar.
Later, in Flint Sparks the Fire!, Pikachu battled Flint's Infernape, but he was defeated after a long fight.
In The Eighth Wonder of the Sinnoh World!, Pikachu battled against Volkner's Electivire and won, giving him his first victory over a Pokémon in the Electabuzz evolutionary line. However, he was defeated by Volkner's Luxray.
In the Lily of the Valley Conference, Ash used Pikachu in his battle against Paul in Familiarity Breeds Strategy!. He was used against Paul's Aggron, where he put up a good fight and weakened Aggron before he was recalled in place of Infernape. Pikachu was also used in the continuation of Ash's battle against Paul in A Real Rival Rouser!. He went against Paul's Froslass where he was seen having some trouble at first, but by the end, he was able to pull through and defeat Froslass with a powerful Volt Tackle attack. This gave Pikachu his first win against one of Paul's Pokémon and also gave Ash the lead in the battle. In Battling a Thaw in Relations!, he battled Paul's Electivire, but had trouble due to Electivire's Motor Drive Ability, and was soon defeated by a Brick Break. In The Semi-Final Frontier!, Pikachu was the last Pokémon chosen by Ash to battle Tobias in the semi-finals. Despite Ash losing five of his Pokémon, Pikachu tried his best to defeat Tobias's Latios. Almost none of the attacks hit or did any damage to Latios in the beginning, however, Pikachu finally managed to jump on top of Latios and used Thunderbolt several times before he was shaken off. As Pikachu was about to land, Latios used Luster Purge. Pikachu used Volt Tackle and Iron Tail, taking against the force of the Luster Purge. However, he was tied with Latios as both fainted. As Ash's last Pokémon also fainted, Tobias was crowned the winner of their battle.
Unova
Ash decided to just bring Pikachu to Unova with him, just like he did in Hoenn. In In The Shadow of Zekrom!, Pikachu had an encounter with Zekrom, which unaware by Ash, caused Pikachu to lose his ability to use Electric-type moves. Ash finally noticed this when Pikachu battled Trip's Snivy, losing in the process. In Enter Iris and Axew!, he regained his ability to use Electric-type attacks and was used in battle which led to the capture of Pidove. In Triple Leaders, Team Threats!, Ash used Pikachu in his Gym battle at the Striaton Gym, where he faced Cress and his Panpour. Even though he tried his best, Pikachu was just not as fast as Panpour and was defeated without landing a single hit despite the type-advantage. In A Battle for Club Champ!, he battled Trip's Tranquill, who had already taken out Ash's Oshawott and Tepig. He took a beating from multiple Aerial Aces, but showed Trip the power of his electrical attacks by defeating Tranquill with Volt Tackle. He then battled Snivy again, who by then had evolved into Servine. However, despite not being incapacitated, he was once again defeated. In Minccino-Neat and Tidy!, Ash used Pikachu in a battle against Bianca and her Pignite. Even though he had some trouble at first, Pikachu was able to pull through in the end and defeat Pignite with a powerful Volt Tackle.
In Dancing With the Ducklett Trio!, a trio of Ducklett stole Ash's hat and Sandile's sunglasses. One of the Ducklett dropped an umbrella on Pikachu while he was about to use Thunderbolt. Pikachu was unable to release electricity because of it. While Sandile battled the three Ducklett, Pikachu joined the battle as well and after taking a direct hit from the Ducklett, Pikachu began releasing electricity and formed an Electro Ball and sent the Ducklett flying. Later on, he battled against the Sunglasses Sandile. Even though Sandile evolved into Krokorok, Pikachu used Electro Ball and sent Stone Edge right back at Krokorok and he was sent flying.
Ash used Pikachu in his third Gym battle against Burgh at the Castelia Gym in Battling For The Love of Bug-Types!. Pikachu went up against Burgh's Leavanny and after a tough battle, Pikachu was able to win it with a powerful Iron Tail and Electro Ball combo.
In Movie Time! Zorua and the Pokémon Knight! Pikachu played a movie role as Ash's assistant. He battled Iris's Axew in order to gain the power to defeat the villain and his assistant. He succeeded with a Thunderbolt-Electro Ball combo. He later defeated the villain and rescued the princess.
Ash used Pikachu in the final round in the Club Battle in Club Battle Finale: A Hero's Outcome! against Iris. Pikachu went up against Iris's Excadrill. Pikachu had a very hard time battling Excadrill, as Excadrill is part Ground and Pikachu's Electric moves would have no effect on him. Pikachu did surprisingly well, however. Unfortunately, Pikachu fainted first, and Iris won the tournament.
In Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym!, when Ash couldn't choose who to use after Palpitoad and Snivy fainted, Pikachu got fed up and zapped him, Ash then chose to use Pikachu in his Gym Battle against Elesa. He went up against her powerful Emolga, who even though she knew Attract, Pikachu beat her with a single Quick Attack. Later, Pikachu battled Elesa's Tynamo, who only knew Tackle, but was still very strong. Yet Pikachu was able to beat Tynamo with a powerful Iron Tail attack, winning Ash the Bolt Badge.
In Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 1, Pikachu teamed up with Cilan's Stunfisk to battle Tornadus and Thundurus. Stunfisk used his amazing jumping ability to get them both into the air so that they could launch a Thunderbolt—ThunderShock combination at the two legendary Pokémon. However, Pikachu was knocked off Stunfisk's back and his partner was then struck by a powerful Hammer Arm. Later in Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 2, Pikachu helped rescue the kami trio from Team Rocket. He used Thunderbolt on Dr. Zager's helicopter, joined by Roggenrola, Iris's Axew and Emolga and Cilan's Pansage to cause the forcefield prisons trapping the trio to break.
In An Amazing Aerial Battle!, Ash used Pikachu against Skyla's Unfezant after Tranquill was recalled. While Pikachu's Electric-type attacks were evaded, he was eventually able to intercept Unfezant's Aerial Ace attack with his Iron Tail. Pikachu then launched an Electro Ball and defeated Unfezant. Pikachu stayed in the battle to fight Skyla's last Pokémon, Swanna. Pikachu's Electric-type attacks were blocked by Swanna's Aqua Ring, defending against the type advantage Pikachu held over it. However, using the hoops that Skyla had used in her pre-battle show, Pikachu was able to jump with Quick Attack to hit Swanna. Eventually, Swanna was able to hit Pikachu with a powerful Hurricane and a brutal Brave Bird, after which Ash deemed Pikachu unable to battle, although he tried to continue.
In Rocking the Virbank Gym! Part 2, Ash chose Pikachu as his final Pokémon in his Gym battle with Roxie and her strongest Pokémon, Garbodor. Using its extendable arms, Garbodor tried to use DoubleSlap on Pikachu, but the Electric Mouse Pokémon was too fast for the Trash Heap Pokémon, and trying to reach him with all his dodging only caused Garbodor's arms to accidentally get tied together, allowing Pikachu to land a hit with Quick Attack. Garbodor tried to use its tied-up arms as a whip, but Pikachu was easily able to dodge them every time and strike back with a Thunderbolt. When Pikachu tried to use Iron Tail, Garbodor swung its arms upwards, repelling Pikachu and untying the arms. After several misses with Gunk Shot, Garbodor grabbed Pikachu, swung him up high and hit him repeatedly with DoubleSlap while falling. After this, Garbodor fired another Gunk Shot, this time hitting and also poisoning Pikachu. Ash was getting discouraged, but thanks to the encouraging words from Iris and Cilan, he and Pikachu decided to keep on going, despite the poison. To Ash's luck, all the physical contact Pikachu made with Garbodor, had caused Pikachu's Static Ability to activate and paralyze Garbodor. Despite still being able to withstand a Thunderbolt, the Trash Heap Pokémon was unable to take a hit from the following Electro Ball, and was knocked out, making Ash victorious and earning him his eighth and final Unova Badge, the Toxic Badge, thus allowing him to enter the Unova League. After the battle, Roxie admitted her defeat, and gave Pikachu a Pecha Berry to cure him from the poisoning.
In Goodbye, Junior Cup - Hello Adventure!, Pikachu battled Dawn's Quilava in a friendly battle before Dawn left Unova for Johto. He was hit by a Swift attack before missing with Quick Attack, though he managed to dodge Quilava's Flame Wheel. Pikachu attempted both Electro Ball and Iron Tail, both of which were stopped by his opponent's Flamethrower. After their Quick Attack and Flame Wheel clashed in mid-air, Cynthia stopped the match.
In Meloetta and the Undersea Temple!, Ash battled Giovanni with Pikachu trying to protect Meloetta, but was defeated by his Persian and Giovanni successfully captured Meloetta, and took it, along with the imprisoned Ash and Pikachu, to the Abyssal Ruins. In the next episode, Pikachu managed to break Team Rocket's force field prison by striking it repeatedly with Iron Tail, freeing both Ash and himself. They made an attempt to reach Meloetta, but were sent flying by the attacks of Jessie's Woobat and James's Yamask. Luckily, they were safely caught mid-air and brought down by Ridley's Golurk. Later, during the battle against the mind-controlled Therian Forme Kami Trio, as Thundurus aimed a Thunder attack at Iris's Dragonite and Iris stepped in its way to protect her Pokémon, Pikachu jumped in, and absorbed the massive blast of electricity himself. This gave Pikachu a tremendous power boost, as seen later, when Ash told Pikachu to use Electro Ball on Team Rocket. The supercharged attack grew into amazingly massive proportions, inflicting notable damage on the Abyssal Ruins, sending Team Rocket flying, and freeing Meloetta. However, the blast also caused Giovanni to get a straight view at the Reveal Glass, causing its possessive powers to take over and corrupt his mind, sending the Kami Trio on a mindless rampage in an attempt to destroy Unova rather than conquer it. The possession was broken when Jessie, James, and Meowth pushed Giovanni out of the enchanted ring, breaking the spell. As Giovanni realized that it would be impossible to control the legendary Pokémon without Meloetta, he ordered a full retreat back to Kanto. Even while aboard the Team Rocket helicopter, Jessie and James couldn't help at admiring Pikachu's incredible powers. When Meloetta later left with Ridley, Pikachu was saying goodbye to it, along with Ash, Cilan, Iris, Cynthia, Axew, and the heartbroken Oshawott.
In Curtain Up, Unova League!, Ash chose to use Pikachu in the preliminary round of the Vertress Conference against Trip and his Serperior. Despite executing all his attacks perfectly, Serperior was able to dodge all of them with ease and knock Pikachu down with a powerful Dragon Tail. As the battle continued in Mission: Defeat Your Rival!, Serperior hit Pikachu with an Energy Ball and a barrage of Dragon Tails, before wrapping Pikachu in a tight squeeze. With great effort, Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt, but it proved useless, as Serperior simply stuck his tail into the ground, conducting the electricity away. As Pikachu was struggling to catch a breath and his face was turning purple, Serperior prepared to finish him off. Luckily, with some quick thinking from Ash, Pikachu was released from Serperior's grip by an Iron Tail. Before Pikachu could attack, however, he was once again hit by a Dragon Tail. As Serperior prepared for the next strike, Ash got an idea to use two moves at once to match Serperior's power, and had Pikachu to use Electro Ball and Iron Tail simultaneously. The attack combination collided with Serperior's Dragon Tail, causing a big explosion. As the smoke cleared, Serperior was still up and Pikachu was lying down, but Pikachu had, in fact, survived the attack and knocked out Serperior. Pikachu jumped in joy of winning the battle for Ash and leaped to his arms as the defeated Serperior fell down to the ground, much to Trip's shock and surprise.
In Cameron's Secret Weapon!, Ash chose Pikachu as his fifth Pokémon during his Full Battle against Cameron, sending him out to face Cameron's Samurott. Despite being in type disadvantage, Samurott was able to block Pikachu's Thunderbolt and Quick Attack with Razor Shell before striking back with a powerful Hydro Cannon. The Formidable Pokémon then attempted to strike Pikachu with Megahorn, which Pikachu was, however, able to dodge before striking with another Quick Attack, this time successfully avoiding Samurott's Razor Shell defense. Ash kept on attacking by telling Pikachu to use Iron Tail, followed by an Electro Ball, forcing Samurott to block it with Razor Shell. This gave Pikachu an opportunity to serve another blow with Iron Tail, defeating Samurott. Cameron then sent out his next Pokémon, Swanna, attempting to keep distance to Pikachu. The Electric Mouse Pokémon was able to avoid Swanna's first attack attempt, a series of Pluck, as well as Swanna was able to avoid Pikachu's initial Quick Attack. However, Pikachu didn't manage to dodge Swanna's following Wing Attack, taking a notable amount of damage. Despite of this, Pikachu was able to dodge Swanna's following BubbleBeam and Wing Attack before serving the finishing strike with Electro Ball. When Cameron decided to use Riolu, Ash saw that Pikachu was getting tired, and recalled him, replacing him with Unfezant. Later during the battle, Ash sent Pikachu out to face Cameron's newly evolved Lucario, which had just defeated Snivy, leaving Pikachu as Ash's last Pokémon. Pikachu started the round by launching a barrage of Quick Attacks, which all made a direct hits, until Lucario got its act together and hit Pikachu back with a Force Palm, causing heavy damage on him. This hit was then followed by a collision of Aura Sphere and Electro Ball, which was soon followed by a failed Force Palm attempt from Lucario, followed by a Circle Throw, which sent Pikachu flying high into the air. Despite of the thretening situation, Pikachu was able to land smoothly and hit Lucario with a fierce Thunderbolt, followed by an Iron Tail, which was countered by Lucario's own Copycat-Iron Tail. At this point, both Pokémon were struggling to get on their feet, which they eventually managed to do with their Trainers' encouragements. Drawing out the last drops of their strengths, Pikachu and Lucario fired another blasts of Electro Ball and Aura Sphere, respectively. This time, however, the collision didn't end in a draw, as Aura Sphere overpowered tired Pikachu's Electro Ball, and the Fighting-type move hit the Electric Mouse Pokémon, knocking him out and thus eliminating Ash from the Vertress Conference, placing him in top 8.
Personality and characteristics
Pikachu is extremely loyal to Ash, and while he is not always immediately trusting of strangers, he is generally friendly to humans and Pokémon alike. He acted as a guardian and big brother to Misty's Togepi, and has been seen mediating and even breaking up fights among other Pokémon, such as in Pikachu's Vacation. In Mewtwo Strikes Back, Pikachu, Meowth, and Meowth's clone were the only Pokémon not to participate in the giant battle; Pikachu stood motionless as his clone repeatedly slapped his face. Contrary to his distrusting nature, Pikachu took a liking to Misty very early in the series, and he has retained this liking of Misty throughout the series, such as when he was very happy to see her in The Scheme Team.
However, even Pikachu has had exceptions to this rule. In Pikachu Re-Volts, Pikachu was controlled by Butch and Cassidy, which caused him to become evil and disobey Ash's commands. During the Hoenn saga, Pikachu temporarily developed amnesia and sided with Team Rocket for a while. Later within the same series, Pikachu was possessed by the Red Orb and controlled by Groudon, nearly causing a disaster. On several occasions, Pikachu has developed an "electric flu" causing him to become overcharged, and extremely powerful. During these instances, Pikachu will sometimes accidentally let off electric outbursts which can be set off on anyone, including Ash. In all of these cases, Pikachu did not intentionally mean harm upon anyone.
As shown in a handful of episodes, the first being Showdown at Dark City, Pikachu has a special fondness for ketchup, but he will eat and enjoy almost any other human or Pokémon food. A running joke in the anime also seems to be the destruction of a female character's bike with one of Pikachu's Thunderbolts at the beginning of each series, which then causes her to follow Ash for the remainder of the series. This has happened to Misty, May, and Dawn so far, but did not happen to Iris, since she doesn't have a bike. Instead, Pikachu shocked Iris herself.
Pikachu, like his Trainer, is always happy to battle. He often tries his very best, but when he loses, he doesn't complain or feel bad about himself, especially when Ash reassures him. Ash and Pikachu are almost identical personality-wise, and thus are the perfect match for one another, and most others agree, with the exception of Burgundy, who in A Connoisseur's Revenge! said that Ash had a terrible relationship with all of his Pokémon, though this is more due to her inexperience in determining relationship.
Moves used
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| An × shows that the move cannot be legitimately known by this Pokémon in the games. | |||||||
| A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves. | |||||||
Moves improvised
- Leer was first seen in The School of Hard Knocks. When Giselle called for Cubone to use Leer, Ash told Pikachu to "Leer right back" by making funny faces. He later used Leer in Hour of the Houndour; however, this was the actual move, albeit, an anime move error still.
- An attack where Pikachu stored electricity in his tail similar to Slam was used to defeat Lt. Surge's Raichu in Electric Shock Showdown. A similar move, referred to as "Shocking Tail" by the MC, was used to defeat Drake's Ditto in Hello, Pummelo!.
- Rocket Punch was a move that Pikachu used while "boxing" Anthony's Hitmonchan in The Punchy Pokémon. Pikachu glowed red and shot off his boxing gloves, leaving off a trail of smoke. Once the smoke disappears, Pikachu still has his boxing gloves on and flies towards Hitmonchan at high speed.
- Thunder Armor was a one-time technique in the episode Solid as a Solrock, Pikachu is seen using Thunder on himself while riding Ash's Swellow. This increased their attack power greatly, and they easily overpowered their opponents.
- Spin, originally made by Dawn and first used by her Piplup and Buneary, was also used by Turtwig and Aipom to avoid attacks in the episode O'er the Rampardos We Watched!, where he was able beat Roark and obtain the Coal Badge.
- Swift-Quick Attack was a combination of Aipom's twirling Swift and Pikachu's Quick Attack that was used in A Stand-Up Sit-Down!. Aipom would use a twirling Swift that spins in the air and then Pikachu would jump in the Swift with Quick Attack and as he runs, the Swift stars would be surrounding the white light from the Quick Attack.
- Volt Tail, a combination of Volt Tackle and Iron Tail, was used in Pika and Goliath! against Sho's Raichu and once again in The Semi-Final Frontier! against Tobias's Latios.
- Counter Shield can be used by Pikachu by utilizing Thunderbolt, similar to Ash's Buizel and Infernape who can do the technique with their own moves.
- Hydro Volt Tackle is used as a finishing blow against Team Rocket in Memories are Made of Bliss!. It is a combination of Pikachu's Volt Tackle and Dawn's Piplup's Hydro Pump creating a massive Electric-Water shot that sent Team Rocket blasting off.
- Thunderbolt-Electro Ball is a combination used to power up Electro Ball, first seen in Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight"!. Ash has Pikachu use Electro Ball, then tells him to use Thunderbolt on it to significantly increase the size and power of Electro Ball.
- Massive Electro Ball was a stronger variation of Electro Ball that Pikachu used in Unova's Survival Crisis!. Pikachu got a hit from Thundurus's Thunder attack while defending Iris. Later, when Ash told Pikachu use Electro Ball, the supercharged attack grew into incredibly massive proportions, thus inflicting great damage on the Abyssal Ruins after it was launched.
- Electro Iron Tail was a move combination Pikachu used to defeat Trip's Serperior in Mission: Defeat Your Rival!. First Pikachu forms an Electro Ball on his tail, and then uses Iron Tail, slamming both the Electro Ball and Iron Tail into the opponent at the same time, dealing a notable amount of damage.
In the games
- Main article: Red's Pikachu (game)
In the main series, Red's Pikachu is noticeably based on Ash's Pikachu: not only does Red receive it from Professor Oak after his rival, Oak's grandson, takes the last starter Pokémon in Pokémon Yellow, but it follows Red around rather than being kept in a Poké Ball. In Generation II and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Pikachu is the highest-leveled member of Red's team when he is encountered at Mt. Silver, and the highest leveled Pokémon owned by a Trainer in the entire series excluding battle arenas. His moves, notably in HeartGold and SoulSilver, are the four moves most used by Ash's Pikachu at the time of the games' release.
A Japanese event distributed an in-game representation of Ash's Pikachu via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and at participating Japanese McDonald's locations which was held from July 15th through August 10, 2010. This Pikachu was distributed at participating American Toys 'R' Us locations from January 30 to February 13, 2011, and Canadian Toys 'R' Us locations from February 9 to February 20, 2011. Unlike Ash's Pikachu, this Pikachu does not reject the Thunderstone, and can be evolved at any time. Pikachu was one of Ash's three Pokémon in Pokémon Puzzle League. The Pikachu in the Super Smash Bros. series may be based on Ash's Pikachu.
| Pokémon Info | Trainer Memo | Battle Moves | Ribbons | ||||||||||||
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 PIKACHU
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♂ | Dex No. | 0025 | Naughty nature. | Electric | Volt Tackle | 
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| Lv. 50 | Type | Steel | Iron Tail | ||||||||||||
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Electric | Pokémon Event | Normal | Quick Attack | |||||||||||
| OT | Ash | Apparently had a | Electric | Thunderbolt | |||||||||||
| ID No. | 01301 | fateful encounter at | This Pokémon was available in the United States and Canada in 2011. | ||||||||||||
| Item | Ability | Lv. 50. | |||||||||||||
 Light Ball
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Static | ||||||||||||||
| The date this Pokémon was received is determined by the date on the DS when it was obtained from the Poké Mart. | |||||||||||||||
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In the manga
In the Ash and Pikachu manga
Ash's Pikachu is a starring character in the Ash and Pikachu manga series, which is based on the Johto saga of the Pokémon anime.
In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
Ash's Pikachu is a starring character in the manga series The Electric Tale of Pikachu, which is loosely based on the Pokémon anime. Pikachu appears in every chapter of the manga.
Like in the anime, Pikachu was Ash's first Pokémon. However, Ash did not receive Pikachu from Professor Oak - instead, he finds Pikachu under the floorboards of his home, chewing on wires to eat the electricity. His mother asks him to take Pikachu outside, but when Gary Oak taunts Ash about how he has not yet become a Pokémon Trainer, Ash decides to keep Pikachu as his first Pokémon.
Like in the anime, Pikachu was originally unwilling to obey Ash, but after Ash protects Pikachu from a flock of wild Spearow and a Fearow, Pikachu gains respect for Ash, and after Ash defeats Brock, he is named Jean Luc Pikachu (Japanese ジャン＝リュック ピカチュウ Jean-Luc Pikachu).
Later on, when Ash is in a Gym battle with Misty, Pikachu is petrified by the sight of her Gyarados and does not battle, while in his Gym battle with Sabrina, it is easily bested by her Abra.
Pikachu likes Misty and greets her enthusiastically whenever she appears, often ignoring Ash in the process.
Moves used
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In the Magical Pokémon Journey manga
Ash's Pikachu, along with Ash, Misty and Brock, makes a cameo appearance in the bonus chapters at the end of every volume of the Magical Pokémon Journey manga series. In the bonus chapters, Ash and friends have mistakenly wandered into the Magical Pokémon Journey world and are trying to return back to the world of the anime, encountering many unusual situations along the way, including encounters of aspects of the Magical Pokémon Journey canon which are different in anime canon.
Ash's Pikachu shows a video to Pikachu of him bouncing a Poké Ball on his head in One Hundred Fifty-One.
In the movie adaptations
As Ash and Pikachu have appeared in every Pokémon movie to date, likewise, Pikachu is a main character in every Pokémon movie manga adaptations.
Moves used
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In the TCG
Ash's Pikachu is featured in the Pokémon Trading Card Game as a Pokémon 
. The following is a list of related cards.
| Ash's Pikachu Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
| Pikachu
|
|
Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 012/022 | ||||
| Pikachu LV.X
|
|
DPt-P Promotional cards | 043/DPt-P | ||||
Trivia
- Pikachu is Ash's only Electric-type Pokémon and was the only Electric-type owned by a main character in the anime until the capture of Pachirisu by Dawn.
- Despite multiple main characters currently owning Electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu is still the only one of them which is a member of an evolution family.
- For DP013, Professor Oak's lecture is about Ash's Pikachu. He writes this Pokémon senryū about him: パートナー サトシとピカチュウ いいかんじ Partners Satoshi and Pikachu: a pleasant feeling.
- Pikachu was the first of Ash's Pokémon to habitually disobey him. Other Pokémon that would do so, and are better remembered for their disobedience than Pikachu, are Primeape and Charizard.
- Pikachu is the second Pokémon in the entire anime series to have managed to defeat a legendary Pokémon, which he did by defeating Brandon's Regice in Pace - The Final Frontier!.
- Pikachu is also the only Pokémon in the entire series that has been able to defeat two legendary Pokémon, being able to take out Brandon's Regice in Pace - The Final Frontier! and Tobias's Latios in The Semi-Final Frontier!, although in the latter case, it was a sacrificial win, as Pikachu knocked himself out in the process.
- In Where No Togepi Has Gone Before! it was confirmed that Pikachu is male.
- Pikachu's gender had already been assumed male in the dub, where male pronouns such as "he" were used to refer to Pikachu.
- The first time Pikachu's gender difference was pointed out was in Beauties Battling for Pride and Prestige!, where Pikachu was disguised as a female by sticking a heart-shaped piece of paper on his tail.
- Pikachu is the only Pokémon of Ash's to be used in every Gym battle in a region.
- In Latin America, Cartoon Network has a "Biografía Toon" (Toon Biography) segment, which consists of biographies and histories of cartoon characters. This segment has done a two-part feature on Ash's Pikachu. According to the segment, Pikachu is the result of an experiment conducted by Professor Oak and allegedly destroyed the lab where he was created in a momentary loss of control.
- An Elite Coverup! has been the only time when Ash does not use Pikachu against an Elite Four member.
- Pikachu seems to have a talent for mimicking Pokémon, as seen from his performance during a cosplay competition. He will occasionally use pantomime to specify what he is talking about. He can contort his face and his ears to imitate Ash, his Turtwig, Wobbuffet, among others. This capability of Pikachu's was also featured during part of the credits of Gotta Dance.
- Pikachu is the first evolved Pokémon Ash obtained, although at the time Ash obtained Pikachu, he did not yet have a pre-evolved form.
- Pikachu has used moves introduced in every generation except for Generation IV.
Pikachu's language
Some of Pikachu's speech is consistent enough that it seems that some phrases actually mean something. (In Stealing The Conversation!, Team Rocket refers to this language as "PikaSpeak," however, this most likely isn't official.) For instance, Pikachu always uses "Pikapi" when referring to Ash (notice that it sounds somewhat similar to "Satoshi"). Other speech includes:
- Pi-Kachu: He says this during the sponsor spots in the original Japanese, Pochama (Piplup)
- Pikachu-Pi: Kasumi (Misty)
- Pika-Chu: Takeshi (Brock), Kibago (Axew)
- Pikaka: Hikari (Dawn)
- PiPiPi: Togepy (Togepi)
- PikakaPika: Fushigidane (Bulbasaur)
- PikaPika: Zenigame (Squirtle), Mukuhawk (Staraptor), Goukazaru (Infernape) or Gamagaru (Palpitoad)
- PiPi-kachu: Rocket-dan (Team Rocket)
- Pi-Pikachu: Get da ze! He says this after Ash wins a Badge, catches a new Pokémon or anything similar.
- Pikachu may not be the only one to use this phrase, as other Pokémon do this as well. For example, when Iris caught Emolga, Axew said Ax-Axew (Ki-Kibago in the japanese).
- Pika-Pikachu: He says this when referring to himself.
- Chaa: Anything he says happily or excitedly.
Related articles
- For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Pikachu.
- Episodes focusing on Pikachu
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
