Pikachu (Japanese: ピカチュウPikachu) is a Pokémon that belongs to Red and is Clefairy's cousin in the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga and related manga series. Along with Clefairy, he is one of Red's closest Pokémon.
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When Brock was a Pokémon Trainer, he caught Pikachu along with various other Pokémon and added Pikachu to his collection. Later, when Brock became a Gym Leader, Pikachu was one of the Pokémon that was displayed in the Pewter Gym, where Pikachu officially made his debut.
Pikachu in his debut
After Red drags Clefairy into the Pewter City Gym to face Brock's Onix, the two had learned of Brock's collection and that Clefairy's cousin Pikachu was also a part of it. The news had enraged Clefairy and had given him the courage to face Onix in battle, which Clefairy later wins by drawing his picture onto Onix's tail, causing Onix to chase after its tail and become dizzy, and is finished off as Clefairy smashes a fallen pillar on its head. By winning the battle, Pikachu was granted freedom from Brock's collection and joined Red's team.
With Red
PM series
Kanto
After Red got Pikachu from Brock's collection, he went camping with Red and Clefairy. As Red and Clefairy were fighting over a piece of fish that Clefairy was saving for the next day, it went inside Pikachu's mouth and was eaten whole. Clefairy grabbed Pikachu and used him as a fishing rod despite Red warning them not too since Pikachu's electricity could harm the fish. True to Red's word, Pikachu's electricity zapped the whole lake and several fish went flying out. Later, he went chasing after a Mew who took the Moon Stone from Red.
Pikachu continues his travels with Red and Clefairy in Johto.
PMRS series
In Something Happened!! Let's Go After Pikachu!! of the Pokémon Ruby-Sapphire series, Ruby finds Red's Pikachu and wanting one for himself, decides to steal Pikachu away by bribing Clefairy with food and swapping Pikachu with a Poké Ball containing his Treecko. Clefairy panics when Red and his Tyrogue return, and goes to great lengths to try to disguise Treecko as Pikachu and to lie about Pikachu's actual location. While Clefairy leaves to go retrieve Pikachu himself, Treecko tells Red the truth about what really happened, and the other three leave to also get Pikachu back. Clefairy manages to find Ruby's house and distracts him while dressed in a half-woman and half-man disguise. While Ruby is distracted by confusion, Red and Treecko breaks through the house's window and rescues Pikachu from Ruby's possession.
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Pikachu traveled to the Unova region along with Red and Clefairy where he crashed into a bush. After Pikachu brushed himself off, he noticed some unseen Pokémon and a Patrat told him that he arrived in Unova.
Personality and characteristics
Unlike most Pokémon in the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga series, which are capable of speech, Red's Pikachu unusually cannot speak, and instead uses pantomime to communicate. Pikachu is often shown to be the opposite of his cousin Clefairy. While Clefairy is typically rude and full of dumb ideas, Pikachu is much more intelligent, well-behaved and generally more capable. This has sometimes been the source of rivalry between the two Pokémon, leading to fights.
According to Clefairy, Pikachu shocks people to show when it's happy, a fact that Red is not too fond of.
A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.
In the anime
Pikachu with Red and Clefairy
Pikachu appeared along with Red and Clefairy in the anime episode Lights, Camerupt, Action!. The three characters appeared in one of Ash's favorite films. Much like the manga, it appears to be the only Pokémon around that isn't able to talk.
Pikachu and Clefairy are stated to be cousins. This is actually possible according to video game canon as Pikachu and Clefairy both belong to the Fairy Egg Group. However, this was not known when the manga was originally published, as Pokémon Gold and Silver had not been released yet.