In Lumiose City Pursuit! Later, when Professor Sycamore's Garchomp went crazy from one of Team Rocket's devices, Pikachu and Ash pursued her to get the device off and free her.

However, due to the fight damaging the tower, the ground Pikachu was standing on broke off, causing him to fall off. Ash immediately leaped in to save his friend, to the shock of many, including Serena.

They were both saved by a Mega Blaziken , who intercepted them in the air and put the two safely back onto the ground. In the next episode , they were finally able to withstand Noivern's Gust.

Later, using one of Clemont's inventions, they practiced avoiding Surskit's Sticky Web. After it broke, they used Froakie and its Frubbles instead to practice. Ash recalled Pikachu and substituted him for Fletchling. He was later called out again to battle Vivillon, who had beaten Fletchling. In A Conspiracy to Conquer! After Clemont attempted to use his "Automatic Pikachu Retrieving Device" to find Pikachu, it was revealed that Malamar had hypnotized Pikachu, making him one of Madame X's subordinates.

Ash got through to Pikachu, who started fighting Malamar's control. Afterwards, the Automatic Pikachu Retrieving Device burst in and rammed into Malamar, causing it to lose its control over everyone. After Malamar revealed its plans through Meowth, Pikachu attempted to attack it, but Malamar managed to escape.

In Climbing the Walls! It went up against his Tyrunt and ultimately defeated it, earning Ash the Cliff Badge. In The Bonds of Evolution! Gardevoir managed to dodge all of Pikachu's attacks and hit him hard with a Shadow Ball. The battle was then interrupted by Team Rocket. In Mega Revelations! Later , he battled Lucario in its Mega Evolved form. However, during the battle, Lucario lost control of its Mega Evolution and went berserk, forcing Ash to protect Pikachu.

In response, Gurkinn sent out his own Lucario to block the attack. Lucario then lost consciousness and the battle was called off. In Battling Into the Hall of Fame! Pikachu and the others initially had a hard time due to their opponents' great teamwork, but they eventually overcame this obstacle and defeated all three of their opponents, giving Ash, Serena, and Clemont the win and the spot on the Hall of Fame.

In Showdown at the Shalour Gym! In A Slippery Encounter! The two escaped after Goomy used the slime on its body to allow them to slip through the bars. However, their escape was noticed by Team Rocket, who gave chase.

The ensuing battle eventually ended when Ash had Pikachu blast Team Rocket off. Later, Pikachu informed Ash that Goomy wanted to go with them, allowing him to catch it.

In Good Friends, Great Training! Before the battle could start, however, he was grabbed by a mecha created by Team Rocket, but Sliggoo was able to save Pikachu. After Sliggoo evolved into Goodra to save Ash and Pikachu, and the crisis was resolved, they restarted their battle with Tierno and ultimately won. In The Moment of Lumiose Truth! He went up against his Bunnelby and ultimately defeated it. In Rivals: Today and Tomorrow! In A Frenzied Factory Fiasco! Pikachu managed to stop their van with his Thunderbolt, and Meowth challenged Pikachu to a one-on-one battle, which he accepted.

After Team Rocket got blasted off again, the group was invited by the grateful factory staff to a genuine tour of the factory. In Tag Team Battle Inspiration! When Serena called off the battle, Ash and Tierno decided to battle each other and Pikachu faced Blastoise, but the outcome of the battle was left unknown.

In All Eyes on the Future! This eventually allowed Frogadier and Talonflame to turn the attack against them and ultimately win the battle. In Dream a Little Dream from Me! Freaked out by this, Pikachu fled and ran into Meowth, who had also been pulled into the dream. Pikachu and Meowth then encountered a talking Squishy. Suddenly, a flaming ghost appeared and attacked them. They managed to escape, after which Squishy revealed a glimpse of its true strength to Pikachu and Meowth, motivating them to help Squishy get to its home so it could gain this strength.

On their way, they were attacked by the flaming ghost again and Pikachu decided to battle it. In the end, Pikachu, Meowth, and Squishy were awakened by Clemont's invention.

In Party Dancecapades! Eventually, they were trapped after landing in Slurpuff's Cotton Spore , which left them vulnerable to Inkay's Psybeam. With Eevee badly injured, Pikachu tried to battle alone, without much success. In A Meeting of Two Journeys! In Battling at Full Volume!

Serena's disguise as Ash works, and the battle was going fine until it was interrupted by Team Rocket, who intended to capture Pikachu and Spike. Fortunately, thanks to the medicine that Clemont and Bonnie had just bought, Ash managed to recover in time to stop Team Rocket and rescue his Pikachu and Spike with the help of Greninja.

In Seeing the Forest for the Trees! Eventually, Team Rocket tried to catch Pikachu, but when the despondent Pikachu tried to fend them off, they were underwhelmed by his power. After Ash returned at the end of the episode, an overjoyed Pikachu was able to quickly send Team Rocket blasting off. In the next episode , he participated in Ash's rematch against Wulfric and battled his Bergmite.

After defeating it, Pikachu faced off against Wulfric's Avalugg. Despite Pikachu's attempt to strategy, he was ultimately knocked out.

In Analysis Versus Passion! He was sent out against Sawyer's powerful Clawitzer , which he eventually defeated. Ash then recalled Pikachu, but later used him again to face off against Sawyer's Sceptile , who eventually knocked him out with Frenzy Plant. In Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted! He went up against Alain's Tyranitar and defeated it. Pikachu was then recalled but later used again to battle and defeat Alain's Metagross.

However , Pikachu was too exhausted to outmaneuver Charizard by that point, thus he was overpowered and knocked out. In A Towering Takeover! They were then ambushed by Celosia before her Drapion 's Confuse Ray hit them and knocked Ash unconscious. Pikachu attempted to protect his Trainer but eventually fell to Confuse Ray's effects as well and passed out. In the following episode , Pikachu watched when Ash and Greninja were hit by Team Flare 's miniature version of the Mega Evolution energy weapon in an attempt to control them.

However, Pikachu's voice got through to Ash, which enabled him and Greninja to freed themselves using Bond Phenomenon. After coming up with a strategy, in Forming a More Perfect Union! After the resurrection of the Giant Rock, which was now controlled by Lysandre, Pikachu, Greninja, and Alain's Charizard managed to destroy its control device, allowing Squishy and Z2 to destroy the Giant Rock.

In Till We Compete Again! During this, Dedenne ran off since he didn't want the group to split apart. Using his electricity, Pikachu and the group was able to find Dedenne and calm it down. After Serena departed, Pikachu participated in one final battle between Ash and Clemont, in which he faced Clemont's Bunnelby, just like their first battle, but the outcome was left unknown.

In the next episode , Ash's classmates held a surprise welcome party for him, where he and Pikachu participated in several challenges. During their lunch break, Tapu Koko appeared again and stole Ash's hat, prompting Ash and his classmates to follow it. Arriving in a forest, Tapu Koko challenged Ash to a battle, which he accepted. Tapu Koko eventually tapped Ash's Z-Ring, activating it and allowing Pikachu to perform Gigavolt Havoc , which destroyed a large part of the area but also caused Ash's Electrium Z to shatter.

Afterwards, Tapu Koko flew off again. In To Top a Totem! Alongside Rowlet , he first fought a Yungoos and Gumshoos. Afterwards, they faced a Totem Gumshoos. Despite its extreme strength, Pikachu outwitted Gumshoos with pure strategy and finished it off with Thunderbolt. This win earned Ash a Normalium Z. He faced Hala's Hariyama , and despite sustaining several hits, Pikachu performed Breakneck Blitz , which knocked Hariyama out.

In A Guardian Rematch! The next day, the two were greeted by Tapu Koko again and were challenged to another battle. Unlike their last battle, Pikachu managed to get a few hits on the guardian deity and performed Gigavolt Havoc again; this time, it was powerful enough to send Tapu Koko flying.

However, Pikachu was blasted off a cliff, prompting Ash to jump after him. The two were saved in time by Tapu Koko, who flew off afterwards. In The Ol' Raise and Switch!

As a result, Pikachu was given to Lillie , whilst Snowy went to Ash. Despite her lack of battle experience, Lillie was able to defeat Oricorio and touch Pikachu. Ash then proposed a battle against Lillie and Pikachu, to show them how strong he and Snowy had gotten together. In When Regions Collide! Ash's Electrium Z mysteriously turned into a Pikashunium Z , allowing the two to perform 10,, Volt Thunderbolt for the first time. In A Battle Hand-Off! Using his new move, Pikachu was able to trap Mimikyu, which allowed him and Ash to perform a Z-Move of their own.

This allowed Ash to qualify for Nanu 's grand trial. In Battling the Beast Within! Just then, a Shiny Tapu Koko from another dimension unleashed its own attack, creating a rift that transported Ash and Pikachu to the dimension's Ultra Ruin. They soon encountered a wild Guzzlord , which started chasing after the duo. However, they were saved by Dia and Zeraora. Pikachu faced off against Zeraora, but was overwhelmed by Zeraora's fast moves and quickly defeated.

Pikachu and Zeraora engaged in another battle, which attracted the attention of Guzzlord. After the Ultra Beast 's arrival, the group lured it to the Ultra Wormhole that it emerged from in the past. After trapping Guzzlord with Electroweb, Pikachu and Zeraora attacked the immobilized Ultra Beast in an attempt to send it back through the Ultra Wormhole but failed. Afterwards, Pikachu and Zeraora had one more battle to create another dimensional rift, which took Pikachu and Ash back home.

In A Grand Debut! In The Dealer of Destruction! In Battle Royal ! In The Wisdom Not to Run! In Final Rivals! He then went up against what seemed to be Gladion's Lycanroc , but turned out to be Zoroark in disguise. In A Full Battle Bounty! To save Pikachu from being defeated, Ash withdrew him from the battle and sent out Melmetal to replace him.

In From Z to Shining Z! The two Z-Moves clashed, with Pikachu's attack eventually overpowering Tapu Koko's, defeating it and making Ash the winner of the exhibition match.

In Serving Up the Flute Cup! Pikachu was fairly evenly matched against his opponent, but eventually, he was able to defeat Mightyena, ending the battle and giving the victory to Ash. His attacks were ineffective, forcing Ash and Pikachu to run, but unexpectedly, they stumbled upon glowing cracks on the ground, from which Dynamax energy poured out and caused Pikachu to Gigantamax too.

Initially, Pikachu had trouble moving around in his new, giant form, but soon got used to it. Afterwards, Pikachu returned to normal as well. Later, Ash used Pikachu in a battle against Leon and his Charizard.

In Destination: Coronation! Pikachu first went up against Visquez's Raichu, but started to get overwhelmed. As such, Ash chose to withdraw Pikachu and send out Gengar in his place. Ash later sent Pikachu back out to face Visquez's Electrode, which had just defeated Gengar. Despite Electrode initially having the upper hand, Pikachu was eventually able to defeat it. However, upon receiving the knockout blow, Electrode's Aftermath activated, but Pikachu used Electroweb just in the knick of time to protect himself, leading to only Electrode fainting.

As such, Ash won the battle, leading to his World Coronation Series ranking shooting up to 3, In Betrayed, Bothered, and Beleaguered! When Delia came to visit the Cerise Laboratory , Pikachu slept with her for the night and later decided to follow Delia to Pallet Town. Mimey followed along in an effort to stop him.

During their journey, Pikachu defended Mimey from a group of Spearow. After arriving in Pallet Town, Pikachu changed his mind and wanted to go back to Ash, but he was surprised to see that his Trainer was already in Pallet Town. In Octo-Gridlock at the Gym! After slowing down Hitmontop's movements with Electroweb, Pikachu was able to defeat him. Next, he went up against Grapploct , but he was overwhelmed by its Octolock and defeated soon after.

In the next episode , Pikachu was taken out of the fight when Eternatus launched a Dynamax Cannon that penetrated through the entire Hammerlocke Stadium.

Later, after Ash had defeated Chairman Rose with the help of his newly evolved Lucario , Pikachu assisted Leon in stopping Eternatus from attacking Galar.

With the assistance of Zacian and Zamazenta , Pikachu, Lucario, and Cinderace combined their powers and weakened Eternatus until it collapsed. Goh then caught Eternatus and sealed it away, putting an end to the Darkest Day. However, Pikachu was soon defeated, and Ash sent out Lucario to replace him. Pikachu managed to bind Rotom with Electroweb, but just when he was about to use Thunderbolt on it, Volkner switched it out for Electivire, whose Motor Drive rendered Thunderbolt useless.

After fighting against Electivire for a while, Pikachu was recalled and replaced with Lucario. Eventually, Ash decided to finish the match by using 10,, Volt Thunderbolt. The Z-Move proved to be too much for Electivire's Motor Drive to absorb, leading to it being defeated and thus giving Ash the victory.

While Pikachu managed to land several Iron Tails on Alcremie, some of Alcremie's cream got stuck on Pikachu's tail, softening his blows. Pikachu then started growing as well, becoming big enough to swallow an entire G-Max Finale cream projectile whole, much to Opal's shock.

At first, everyone assumed that Pikachu had Gigantamaxed as well, but when Ash called for a G-Max Volt Crash and Pikachu didn't attack, it turned out that Pikachu had just eaten all the cream Alcremie had created with the G-Max Move and grown giant and fat as a result. As such, the battle was subsequently called off.

Pikachu's attempt at ensnaring Grapploct in an Electroweb proved unsuccessful, as it was able to use its stretchy tentacles to strike him through the web with a Close Combat. As such, Ash chose to recall Pikachu.

In the next episode , Pikachu was called back to the battlefield to face Bea's Hawlucha. By improving on a strategy he had used against both Lt.

Surge and Visquez, Ash was able to repel Hawlucha's Sky Attack , while also dealing damage to it, allowing Pikachu to subsequently defeat it with a super effective Thunderbolt. Next, Pikachu faced Grapploct again, but wound up being ensnared by an Octolock once more, and was defeated soon afterwards. 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 and Alola, Kanto!

During the Hoenn saga, Pikachu temporarily developed amnesia and sided with Team Rocket for a while. 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 mean harm upon anyone. A running joke in the anime also seems to be Pikachu using Thunderbolt at the beginning of each series to accidentally destroy a female companion's bike or unintentionally shock the companion 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. Most others agree, except for Burgundy , who in A Connoisseur's Revenge! Though rare, the two can still butt heads at times. When they first met, Pikachu would shock Ash with electricity out of vitriol. While being zapped by Pikachu still happens regularly for poor Ash, it's usually when he angers his buddy such as when Ash rubs and pulls Pikachu's cheeks , or by accident when Ash grabs Pikachu's tail by mistake.

In general, Pikachu as a species are not particularly powerful, but Ash's Pikachu is a notable 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. He has helped Ash win countless battles and Gym and League matches.

The possibility of evolving into Raichu was first raised and discussed in the episode Electric Shock Showdown. After suffering a crushing defeat by Lt. Ash allowed Pikachu to decide, but he refused, having decided to become stronger as he is, and defeated Raichu by using superior speed.

In the Sinnoh region, Pikachu battled another Raichu belonging to a trainer named Sho. The two were not only even matches in power but, unlike before, also in speed; ultimately Raichu used Hyper Beam to secure victory, a move Pikachu could not learn.

Once again, Pikachu chose not to evolve and defeated Sho's Raichu in a rematch with a combination of speed, power, and spinning techniques learned from Dawn. During this event, Team Rocket stole the Thunder Stone, as they also wanted Pikachu to stay as he is. 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.

In addition, Pikachu tends to noticeably struggle when an opponent hinders his mobility in some fashion, such as when the aforementioned Panpour stopped Volt Tackle with a Mud Sport that covered the battlefield, when Burgh 's Leavanny impared his speed and accuracy by immobilizing his tail with String Shot , when the icy battlefield of Viola's Surskit threw him off balance in the first battle, or when Wulfric 's Bergmite prevented him from using Quick Attack by numbing his legs with Icy Wind.

Sometimes, they succeed with nets, cages, capsules or one of their mechas , but most of the time their plans always failed by Ash and his friends or something else involved. Whenever Pikachu gets released from their trap and reunites with Ash, he sends Team Rocket blasting off with his Electric attacks. Most of the time, in this case, his Thunderbolt.

Sometimes, Pikachu sends them away even when he didn't get stolen. On other occasions, he battles them with Ash. Even with his high level of electrical power, Pikachu has not stopped learning new attacks.

In addition to giving Pikachu an advantage over Rock types, Iron Tail has allowed Pikachu to defeat many other powerful opponents. Much to the surprise of Ash and his friends, the Quick Attack morphed into an imperfect Volt Tackle which sent Team Rocket blasting off.

Upon mastering the move in The Green Guardian , it became one of Pikachu's most distinctive techniques, to the point of garnering Paul 's interest, up until Dancing With the Ducklett Trio! In addition to his repertoire of moves, Pikachu has used his Ability, Static , a few times in the anime, has an affinity for Z-Moves , and is capable of Gigantamaxing.

Brock imitation from Snow Way Out! Squirtle imitation from Kanga Games. Bulbasaur imitation from Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden. Ash imitation from The Stun Spore Detour. Psyduck imitation from Stantler's Little Helpers. Lickitung imitation from Stantler's Little Helpers. Togepi imitation from For Crying Out Loud. Charizard imitation from For Crying Out Loud.

Noctowl imitation from The Screen Actor's Guilt. Cyndaquil imitation from The Screen Actor's Guilt. Totodile imitation from The Screen Actor's Guilt. Seviper imitation from Gotta Dance! Cacnea imitation from Gotta Dance! Meowth imitation from Gotta Dance! Torchic imitation from Gotta Dance! Mudkip imitation from Gotta Dance! Treecko imitation from Gotta Dance! Lotad imitation from Gotta Dance!

Turtwig imitation from Mass Hip-Po-Sis! Scolipede imitation from The Bloom Is on Axew! Azumarill imitation from The Pirates of Decolore! Axew imitation from Team Rocket's Shocking Recruit! Sharpedo imitation from Alola to New Adventure! Blacephalon imitation from Twirling with a Bang! Some of Pikachu's speech is consistent enough that it seems that some phrases mean something. In Stealing The Conversation! For instance, Pikachu always uses "Pikapi" when referring to Ash notice that it sounds somewhat similar to "Satoshi".

Other speech includes:. His moves, notably in HeartGold and SoulSilver, are the four moves most used by Ash's Pikachu at the time of the games' release. The Pikachu in the Super Smash Bros. Like Ash's Pikachu, these Pikachu are always male and cannot evolve. In the Americas, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, it was distributed via a QR Code that was given to those who attended screenings of the 20th movie.

Adventure in the Maze! It appears as an opponent during the Grand Rush set 4. Any Pichu whose Eggs were obtained during this time would also be wearing this hat upon hatching. Unlike in the core series, this special form is obtainable in both genders and can be evolved , with the cap being retained upon evolution.

Like the Original Cap Pikachu in this game, these Pikachu could be Shiny, male or female, and could evolve into Raichu. It appears as an opponent during the first Super Tag set. When the player used these pucks, Pikachu would appear in-game wearing Ash's Kalos hat. This meant our animators and our CFX team had to rely on incremental movements to convey feeling, character and comedy rather than distinctive motions or grand gestures.

It was underground, however, where lighting posed the biggest challenges. The scene was shot at Warner Bros. We ended up rebuilding the entire set and rig in CG, to ensure a note-perfect match. Sometimes it is shown eating the same meal that his human companions are eating, in smaller portions. As seen in the episode, Showdown in Dark City , Pikachu's favorite "food" is ketchup. In this case Ash's Pikachu kept the bottle and became slightly obsessed with it.

This caused problems because a Scyther and an Electabuzz that were enraged at the colour red were nearby. Scyther accidentally cut the bottle, spilling the ketchup, causing Pikachu to cry.

Its most common sentence is "Pika-pika". When it wants to talk to Ash it says "Pika-pi," which sounds similar to " Satoshi" the name of his trainer in the Japanese version. In one episode, it is stated that Pikachu feels that Ash makes rash choices sometimes. This statement is made by Anabel, after talking to Pikachu. Throughout the series, there's a running gag involving Pikachu zapping the bike of the female protagonist.

It first destroyed Misty's bike, which she used as an excuse to travel with Ash, then when Ash went to Hoenn, Pikachu destroyed May's bike. Most recently Pikachu destroyed Hikari's bike while defending itself from her Pochama.

While the first actually had worked as part of the plot in order to add Misty to the main group, the laters were more of a reference to the original and served exclusively for comedy purposes, having no real influence in the story, other than forcing the female protagonist to walk instead of ride her bike. The most notable among these is Richie's Pikachu, with mussed hair on its forehead. This one is nicknamed Sparky Leon in the Japanese original.

Puka has blue eyes instead of the usual black and also seems to have a harmony with the sea - it glows a bright blue when it feels a powerful wave. It is claimed that Puka is over 20 years old it is unknown whether such longevity is unusual for a Pikachu , and is noticeably larger than Ash's Pikachu though still smaller than a Raichu.

It also has somewhat frazzled hair on around the tips of its ears. Many episodes of the anime have also featured other unnamed Pikachu. At the beginning of the next episode, "As Clear as Crystal! After Skarmory captures Pichu, Pikachu apologized to Pichu for getting Pichu in the middle of getting captured. When the Go-Getters arrived, Pikachu told Pichu to open the treasure bag and the seed fell out.

Pikachu kicked the seed to Squirtle. When Squirtle swallowed the seed, he got super speed. After Red goes missing two years later, his Pikachu teams up with Yellow, the "fourth protagonist" of the series, to find him.

This Pikachu is very feisty and a little sarcastic. Another difference between the two is that Ash and Pikachu continued to follow the anime storyline, leading Ash and Pikachu to Hoenn, being accompanied by Haruka and Masato, May and Max in the English version. Some Pikachu cards are similar in attack and defense see picture to other Basic Electric-types, such as Mareep, and Electrike, but often have stronger promo cards, giving them an advantage, because of their popularity.