Pikachu: everything about Pokémon’s mascot

On February 27, 1996, Pokémon Red to Green were released in Japan with 151 creatures to catch. Pikachu holds slot #025 there, between Arbok and Raichu. Nothing destined him to embody the franchise : he doesn’t open the Pokédex, he isn’t one of the three starters, and he’s nothing like a Legendary. Yet he is the one who became the most famous of them all, and the franchise’s official mascot.

This page retraces that shift. It owes nothing to chance or to raw power : it rests on a design built to stay legible in a handful of pixels, on the choice the animated series made in 1997, and on three decades during which the franchise gave this single species games, forms and an iconography it has granted to no other.

Pikachu at a glance: his profile

These figures are for the ninth generation. The detailed entry — moves learned, catch locations region by region, alternate forms — can be found in the Pikachu #025 Pokédex entry.

Who designed Pikachu, and why he looks like a squirrel

These origins were only recounted on July 26, 2018 : GAME FREAK avoided crediting a Pokémon to any one person. Ken Sugimori, character design director, explains there that his creatures, pulled toward the menacing by the word “monster,” called for a counterweight: some of them had to be cute too.

Since he struggled to draw them, the studio — barely ten employees — turned to Atsuko Nishida, who also gave us the three Kanto starters. She never went through paper: Pikachu was born straight on screen, pixel by pixel, a round creature with no defined neck, close to a vertically stretched daifuku. That first draft was erased.

The instructions she received were about his place in the game: an Electric-type Pokémon with two evolutions, the last of which, Raichu, had to look powerful. The demand for something “cuter” came from Kōji Nishino, “supervisor of cute Pokémon”. It was in reworking him that Nishida started from a squirrel: a hamster swells its whole body to store food, while a squirrel fills only its cheek pouches — hence the electric cheeks.

The lightning-bolt tail makes the type readable at a glance; the two brown stripes on his back mean nothing: they fill in a back the player sees constantly in battle; the black tips of the ears are, by her own admission, “probably a leftover from when he was still completely round.” Since the Game Boy was monochrome, black and white were used as effectively as possible so that every part of the body stayed distinguishable ; yellow only arrived at the end of development, with Super Game Boy compatibility and one color per type. Sugimori drew the official artwork from it.

The name is Nishida’s: pika for the spark, chu for the sound, with no mouse in mind — Rattata already filled that role, and Satoshi Tajiri would later add the “Mouse Pokémon” category. To pick the designs that would fit on the cartridge, the team voted on printed models, on looks alone: Pikachu won hands down. Stocky in 1996, he would be stretched out to make animation easier; since the fourth generation, the female carries a V-shaped notch at the tip of her tail, the top half of a heart. Sugimori saw Clefairy as the ambassador of cute Pokémon: “Pikachu stole the spotlight from him.”

Pika, chu: what Pikachu’s name tells us

The Japanese name, ピカチュウ Pikachū, breaks down into two pieces: ぴかぴか pikapika, the onomatopoeia for electric crackling, and ちゅうちゅう chūchū, which plays up his cuteness. It was Atsuko Nishida, the designer behind his look, who came up with it, Ken Sugimori reports in the Pokémon.com developer profile. She explains it herself: “Since he is an Electric type, I thought of using the onomatopoeia for a spark; so, ‘pika.’”

The “chu” is trickier: in Japanese it is also the squeak of a mouse. Nishida nevertheless rules out the connection: she kept the syllable for its sound and for the creature’s size. One sentence closes the debate: “Originally, Pikachu wasn’t meant to be a mouse since Rattata already existed.” Poképédia likewise rules out the pika, the lagomorph.

The mouse came afterwards. His Pokédex entry files him under the category Mouse Pokémon, but it was Satoshi Tajiri who decided it when writing the descriptions; the animated series’ Pokédex introduces him this way: “The Mouse Pokémon. Electric type. It raises its tail to sense its surroundings. Pull on its tail and it may bite.” His evolution Raichu shares it with Rattata and Raticate.

The name isn’t translated into any language, an anomaly: out of the thirty or so listed by Bulbapedia, it is identical in French, Spanish, German and Italian, and elsewhere a transcription of the Japanese. Cantonese is the only exception: there Pikachu was long called 比卡超 Béikāchīu, with an added 超 chīu, “super” — the name Hong Kong fans defended in 2016. The contrast is stark with the three Kanto starters : フシギダネ Fushigidane became Bulbasaur, ヒトカゲ Hitokage Charmander, リザードン Lizardon Charizard. Julien Bardakoff, translator of the first games, had proposed “Ronge-Hertz.”

The cry is an exception too. Ikue Ōtani has voiced Ash’s Pikachu since the first episode, aired in 1997, and her voice is carried over unchanged in the French version, except on one version of the early season 1 episodes. That cry made its way into the games: Pokémon Yellow Version reserves it for the player’s starter Pikachu, then the sixth, seventh and eighth generations make it standard, apart from Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

In 1996, Pikachu is just one number among a hundred and fifty-one

Pokémon Red to Green, the first two games, were released in Japan on February 27, 1996 on Game Boy, after first being announced for October 1995. Neither of the two would ever leave the archipelago: the Western versions are adapted from a third Japanese release, Pokémon Blue, published on October 15, 1996 and reserved for subscribers to the magazine CoroCoro Comics. These two founding games reached North America on September 28, 1998, then Europe on October 5, 1999.

There Pikachu carries the number 025, between Arbok and Raichu. He doesn’t open the Pokédex — 001 goes to Bulbasaur — and he isn’t among the three Pokémon given out by Professor Oak. He isn’t even version-exclusive. The boxes say as much: the one for Red shows Charizard, the one for Blue Blastoise. His base stats at the time added up to 260 points, against 395 for Raichu, and his Pokédex entry fits in a single sentence.

Out of 151 species, only 139 are obtainable per version. Pikachu himself can be found in just two places in the Kanto region. Viridian Forest first, on Route 2 between Viridian City and Pewter City, at levels 3 to 5: the tall grass there holds only five species, and Pikachu is the only one of the five whose rate, 5%, doesn’t change from one version to the other, while those of Weedle, Caterpie, Kakuna and Metapod flip. Then the Power Plant, on Route 10, at 25% and levels 20 to 24, a wasteland ruled by the Legendary Zapdos: getting in requires HM Surf, obtained in the Safari Zone after the sixth of the eight Badges. Players have named this hunt “the Viridian Forest Curse”.

None of these choices owe anything to the animated series, which would not begin in Japan until 1^st April 1997, thirteen months later. Atsuko Nishida — who also gave us Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle — had received only one brief: an Electric-type Pokémon with two evolutions. The planned third form, Gorochu, was cut for balance reasons, and Kōji Nishino explains that Pikachu made the ideal candidate because he was not one of the starter Pokémon. His yellow color was only settled at the end of development, for Super Game Boy compatibility: on Game Boy, the screen stayed monochrome.

In 1997, the animated series makes him a partner, not a tool

On the 1^st of April 1997, the first episode of the animated series sets up a situation the games had never written. Ash Ketchum, ten years old, from Pallet Town, breaks his Voltorb-shaped alarm clock and shows up at Professor Oak’s in his pajamas. The three starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, have already been claimed : all that is left is a Poké Ball marked with a lightning bolt, with a Pikachu inside. France discovered “Pokémon — I Choose You!” on September 5, 1999 on Fox Kids.

The Pokémon immediately refuses to go back inside and shocks anyone who comes near, Delia Ketchum included. Ash leaves Pallet Town dragging him on the end of a rope, rubber gloves on his hands. That episode would remain the only one in the whole series where Pikachu is inside his Poké Ball. The bond forms at the end: Ash steps between him and a flock of Spearow, and Pikachu, moved, unleashes a Thunder that scatters them.

That choice changes the grammar of the story. The Pokémon walks beside his Trainer, he says only the syllables of his own name — the intonation is enough to make them readable, “Pika-Pi” for Ash, “Pikachu-Pi” for Misty, “Pika-Chu” for Brock — and he can say no. In episode 7, he refuses to battle Misty ; in episode 14, he flicks away the Thunder Stone that Nurse Joy offers him at the Vermilion City Gym. Lt. Surge, for his part, had evolved his as early as he could: his Raichu never learned Agility or Quick Attack, and that difference in speed earns the Thunder Badge.

The voice has never changed: Ikue Ōtani has voiced Ash's Pikachu since 1997 and in every episode of the series, the French version included, with the single exception of one version of the earliest episodes of season 1, Indigo League, where Guylaine Gibert plays the part.

Pokémon the Series ends in 2023, after twenty-five seasons and twenty-three movies, without Pikachu ever evolving. Yet he knocks out Leon's Cinderace and then his Charizard back to back at the Masters Eight Tournament, which earns his Trainer the title of Monarch of the World Coronation Series. A partner that never evolved takes the world title. The follow-up, Pokémon Horizons: The Series, starts over with different protagonists and a different Pikachu, Friede's.

Pokémon Yellow: the Special Edition that lines the games up with the series

In Japan, the game isn't called "Yellow" but Pocket Monsters Pikachu : there, the Pokémon's name replaces the color in the title. Released on September 12, 1998, it only reached Europe on June 16, 2000, about eight months after Red and Blue. The box art carries the words Special Pikachu Edition, and the label traveled: the full English title is Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition, the German one Pokémon Gelbe Edition: Special Pikachu Edition — the color stays, but the Pokémon's name is added to it.

No starter to choose: Professor Oak catches a wild level 5 Pikachu in front of the player, then hands it over. After the first battle against the rival, this Pikachu refuses to go back into its Poké Ball and follows the player on foot on screen. This is the birth of the walking companion Pokémon, and it is the only one in the game to get it: a direct transposition of the refusal put up by Ash's Pikachu in the series.

The personality follows. This Pikachu flatly refuses to evolve, even with a Thunder Stone — the scene from episode 14, where Nurse Joy offers Ash one after the battle against Lt. Surge. Yellow also introduces the very first friendship gauge in the series : you can read your Pikachu's mood, and a Pikachu that is happy enough is worth a Bulbasaur, given by Melanie in Cerulean City.

The rival, for his part, grabs the Poké Ball holding Eevee, whose evolution depends on the first two duels: Vaporeon if the player loses at the lab, Jolteon if the player wins at the lab and then on Route 22, Flareon otherwise. So the rival's partner does evolve, where the player's flatly refuses any evolution at all. The same mirroring in Vermilion City: Lt. Surge now fields only a level 28 Raichu, just like in the anime, even though Raichu is absent from the game and can only be obtained by trade.

Right down to the sound: Junichi Masuda described how Ikue Ōtani's voice had been reshaped into a cry the Game Boy was able to produce. That cry only comes out of the player's own Pikachu, with the other Pikachu keeping the original one. The details are in the feature on Pokémon Yellow, whose framework was taken up again in 2018 by Let’s Go, Pikachu! to Let’s Go, Eevee!.

From Pichu to Raichu: the family line where Pikachu stays in the middle

Pichu doesn't exist in the first generation: this Baby Pokémon of the Electric type, 0.3 m and 2 kg, arrives with Pokémon Gold and Silver, released on November 21, 1999 in Japan and April 6, 2001 in Europe. It is one of the eight baby Pokémon of the second generation and hatches from a Pikachu or a Raichu, with no incense needed.

Its evolution rests not on level but on Friendship : 160 points, 220 before Sword and Shield, then a level-up. And that gauge was born with Pikachu: as early as Pokémon Yellow, the player could check the mood of the Pokémon walking behind them, with no consequences, and the mechanic only spread to every species starting withGold and Silver. Episode LV001 puts it on screen with an orphaned Pichu taken in by a mother Kangaskhan, and it evolves in recognition of the love it received.

At the top end, nothing followed: an evolution of Raichu, Gorochu, was cut from the original games in the name of balance, according to Ken Sugimori. That leaves the Thunder Stone, where a single touch is enough: the call is permanent. Raichu wins across the board (60/90/55/90/80/110 against 35/55/40/50/50/90), but the Light Ball doubles Pikachu's Special Attack, and its Attack since the fourth generation, while doing nothing for Pichu or Raichu. Some games lock that refusal in: the starting Pikachu in Yellow, the Partners in Let’s Go and Gigantamax Pikachu are all incapable of it.

Alola reshuffles the deck: the Alolan Raichu, born in the seventh generation, is the only Electric and Psychic type Pokémon; smaller and lighter (0.7 m and 21 kg), it has its own stats and a signature Ability, Surge Surfer, which doubles its Speed on Electric Terrain. The Pokédex puts the change down to the local diet, to the pancakes of the region that introduced regional forms ; it makes its tail levitate through telekinesis and surfs on it, hence its nickname of "land surfer".

The family line also has one unique case, the Spiky-eared Pichu, exclusive toHeartGold to SoulSilver, named after the three spikes on its left ear: always female, it can neither evolve, nor be traded, nor be transferred, the game explaining this through an encounter with Celebi.

The day Pikachu turned down the Thunder Stone

It all plays out in EP014, "Electric Shock Showdown", broadcast in Japan on July 1, 1997 and in France in 1999, in the first season of the series. In Vermilion City, Ash, Misty and Brock find some twenty battered Pokémon at the Pokémon Center, all beaten by Lt. Surge, the local Gym Leader. He shows off his Raichu and explains that he evolved it as soon as it was a Pikachu. The first battle is one-sided: Pikachu's attacks are useless, Raichu's devastating.

Healed at the Pokémon Center, Pikachu is offered Nurse Joy's Thunder Stone. Ash leaves the decision to him, and Pikachu sends the stone flying with a flick of his tail — a contact too brief to trigger the evolution. Meowth, acting as interpreter, translates the refusal: Pikachu wants to fight again, but as a Pikachu. Brock then finds the flaw in Lt. Surge's strategy, and the rematch is won on speed: Pikachu unveils Agility and Quick Attack, moves Raichu never learned because it evolved too early, then plants his tail in the ground to take Thunderbolt without damage.

The win brings in the Thunder Badge, the third of Kanto, and the first one Ash takes by beating a Gym Leader outright : in Pewter City, his win over Brock's Onix owed everything to the water from the sprinkler system set off by his own discharges. The episode makes Pikachu the first Pokémon in the animated series to beat its own evolution, the first on Ash's team to refuse to evolve and the only one who could actually do it through an evolution stone. Ten years later, DP074 "Pika and Goliath!" replays the scene: Pikachu pushes away that same Thunder Stone, which Ash had kept just in case.

Staying at the middle stage comes at a narrative price. Pikachu beats opponents far above him — Drake's Dragonite and the Orange League trophy, Brandon's Regice, Korrina's Mega Lucario — but every new region resets him to zero. The most literal case opens the Unova season : a bolt from Zekrom strips him of all his Electric moves, and he falls to the Snivy that Trip has just received. The loss is never final: Pikachu will end up beating Trip's Serperior, the evolution of that same Snivy.

Cosplay, caps and Gigantamax: the catalog of Pikachu's forms

The first alternate form is Cosplay Pikachu, exclusive to Pokémon Omega Ruby to Alpha Sapphire, the Hoenn remakes released on November 28, 2014 in Europe. Always female, marked with a black heart at the tip of her tail, she is handed over at level 20 by a Breeder after a first entry in a Contest Spectacular: Rock Star for a male player, Pop Star for a female player.

Her five costumes — Pikachu Rock Star, Pikachu Belle, Pikachu Pop Star, Pikachu, Ph.D. and Pikachu Libre — each correspond to a Contest condition and are changed in the dressing room. Each costume brings a move Pikachu doesn't learn naturally, such as Flying Press for Pikachu Libre, whose only other user is Hawlucha. In exchange, she can neither evolve, nor breed, nor be Shiny. Pikachu Libre is playable in Pokkén Tournament.

The eight Cap Pikachu take up Ash's caps saga by saga: Original Cap, Hoenn Cap, Sinnoh Cap, Unova Cap, Kalos Cap, Alola Cap, then Partner Cap and World Cap. None of them can be caught: the PIKACHU20 code in Europe in the fall of 2017, a QR code from the movie I Choose You!, a run of codes in 2020. In the core games, they are exclusively male, immune to the Thunder Stone and unable to breed, and they swap Catastropika for their own Z-Move, 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt.

The Gigantamax Pikachu, made official in a video on October 16, 2019, takes back the look of a first-generation Pikachu, bigger and chubbier, with a third stripe and a tail over twenty meters long. All of its Electric moves become G-Max Volt Crash, and the gene that gives it this power keeps it from evolving. It is picked up at the Meetup Spot from two children, if the console holds a save file for Let’s Go, Pikachu! ; the mechanic is covered in detail in the feature on Galar's giant phenomenon.

The Partner Pikachu of the Kanto remake released on November 16, 2018 posts a base stat total of 430 against 320, refuses to evolve and learns four exclusive moves: Zippy Zap, Floaty Fall, Splishy Splash and Pika Papow, the middle two nodding to the Flying Pikachu and Surfing Pikachu of the distributions of the day. The line stays open: Pokémon Pokopia, released on March 5, 2026, adds the Pale form, whose only known specimen, Pikapâle, no longer produces electricity after giving too much of it away to its ailing loved ones.

Pikachu in battle: 320 stat points, and a Light Ball to make up for it

On paper, Pikachu doesn’t hold up. Its base stats — 35 HP, 55 Attack, 40 Defense, 50 Special Attack, 50 Special Defense and 90 Speed — add up to 320 points, an average of 53.33, while Raichu posts 485. And that is already the raised version: through the fifth generation, it capped out at 300.

Its two Abilities are both deterrents. Static paralyzes an opponent that hits it with a contact move 30% of the time — including a Ground-type Pokémon, otherwise immune to Electric moves. Lightning Rod, its hidden Ability, draws Electric moves onto itself, neutralizes them and gives it a one-stage Special Attack boost.

It all comes down to one item. The Light Ball, introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver, doubles Pikachu’s Special Attack, and its Attack as well since the fourth generation: at level 100, its maximums of 229 and 218 climb to 458 and 436. Neither Pichu nor Raichu benefits from it. The other species-exclusive items settle for a single stat: the Thick Club doubles the Attack of Cubone and Marowak, the Deep Sea Tooth that of Clamperl. In Gold, Silver and Crystal, you could only get it by transferring the starter Pikachu from Pokémon Yellow ; since X and Y, 5% of wild Pikachu hold one.

Volt Tackle, the signature move only its family learns, sets the record straight: Electric, physical, 120 power, 100 accuracy, with recoil equal to a third of the damage dealt. Since Pokémon Emerald, it goes throughbreeding : a Pikachu or Raichu parent left at the Day Care has to hold the Light Ball, and the Pichu that hatches from the Egg knows the move. Two exceptions: Pokémon Legends: Arceus, where the tutor at the Jubilife Village dojo teaches it for 3,000 P, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A, where it is learned at level 99.

The rest of the arsenal revolves around paralysis: Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt (90 power) and Thunder (110, with 70 accuracy, dropped to 50 under harsh sunlight). Quick Attack, with +1 priority, goes before any move of normal priority; Iron Tail, a Steel-type move, deals neutral damage to Ground-type Pokémon, the only type Electric cannot hit and Pikachu’s single weakness. Pikachu itself can no longer be paralyzed since the sixth generation — and it does not Mega Evolve , whereas Raichu has had two Mega Evolutions since Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

When Pikachu takes top billing

One item even predates the first game: the pedometer Pokémon Pikachu, released in Japan on March 27, 1998, in which the Pokémon earns watts with every step. Six months later, Pokémon Yellow Version gives it a whole game of its own — the franchise’s first "third version", covered above. It even sets aside a mini-game for it, "Pikachu’s Beach", hidden on Route 19, which calls for a Surf that Pikachu does not normally learn; and since the player’s Pikachu refuses the Thunder Stone, Raichu can only be obtained there by trading.

Twenty years later, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! (November 16, 2018) turn it into a Switch remake: the partner travels on the player’s shoulder, learns four exclusive moves from Zippy Zap to Pika Papow and cannot evolve : 45 HP and 80 Attack instead of 35 and 55. See Kanto with a Pokémon GO twist.

Three other titles make up the "Pikachu" series, all developed by Ambrella : Hey You, Pikachu! (Nintendo 64, 1998), never released in Europe and therefore without a French title, whose microphone recognizes about two hundred words; Pokémon Channel (GameCube, 2004), where you build a television channel with Professor Oak, your Pikachu at your side; and Pokémon Dash (Nintendo DS, 2005), a race in which it is the only playable Pokémon.

Creatures, Inc. is behind the next two series. PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure (2010) and then PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond (2012) put you in Pikachu’s shoes: it sets out to recover the shards of the shattered Sky Prism, then to rescue Piplup from Darkrai. Detective Pikachu flips the formula: here you play Tim Goodman, while the Pokémon who talks and runs the investigation gets around on its hind legs. Its first episode, on the 3DS eShop in 2016, stayed exclusive to Japan ; its three chapters open the full-length 2018 version, followed by Detective Pikachu Returns (Switch, 2023).

Pikachu cards, from Base Set to the auction record

The first trading card series comes out in Japan on October 20, 1996 and does not reach France until November 18, 1999, ten months after North America. This Base Set holds 102 cards, published for the West by Wizards of the Coast. Pikachu carries the number 58/102 and a common rarity, not rare: the cards are ordered by descending rarity, then by type, then alphabetically by their English names, which leaves it far behind the holographic Charizard 4/102.

The card is a modest one — 40 HP, a Fighting-type weakness — but it is illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita, and its English version was first printed with red cheeks instead of yellow, a mistake corrected later on. On the Japanese version it is number 035 and the cards are not numbered: the "58/102" is a Western invention.

The most coveted Pikachu card has never been sold. Its official name is Pokémon Illustrator ; the nickname "Pikachu Illustrator" simply comes from the Pikachu in the artwork, where it is holding a drawing of Charmander — an image by Atsuko Nishida, who created the original designs of both Pokémon. It rewarded the winners of three contests run by the Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic between 1997 and 1998, and remains the only card in the game to show the category "Illustrator" instead of "Trainer".

Only 39 copies were officially awarded; two more, never handed out, resurfaced in 2020. In 2013, a copy graded PSA 9 sold for 100,000 dollars. On February 16, 2026, a PSA 10 went for 16,492,000 dollars at Goldin Auctions: the most expensive collectible card ever sold at auction, Pokémon or otherwise.

Since Base Set, Pikachu has appeared on more than 240 different cards, from the Wizards Promo, XY, SM, SWSH and SV series to the McDonald’s Collections. In 2021, the Celebrations expansion, marking the game’s 25th anniversary, closes the loop: its Pikachu 005/025 is re-illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita after the Base Set card. The rules, the rarities and the series are covered in detail in the Pokémon Trading Card Game guide.

Pikachu on the big screen and in the Smash Bros. ring

A Pokémon movie is by definition an animated feature set in the world of the anime, with Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu: all twenty-three films released to date feature it. In Japan, several were preceded in theaters by a short film centered on the Pokémon themselves, a series that now numbers twenty-seven. Three of them were released in France: Pikachu's Vacation on April 5, 2000, Pikachu's Rescue Adventure on December 20, 2000 and Pikachu & Pichu on June 13, 2001, which introduces Pichu.

Two moments stand out. In the first feature, Mewtwo creates a clone of Ash’s Pikachu, "Pikachutwo". And in the twentieth movie, I Choose You!, Pikachu speaks the human language for the first time — no episode and no movie had ever done it before.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu stands apart: it is the franchise’s first live-action film. Announced in July 2016, shot in London from January to May 2018, it opened in France on May 8, 2019. Ryan Reynolds voices the detective with the crooked cap in the original version, Pierre Tessier in the French one, alongside Ikue Ōtani in both cases. Reynolds also plays Harry Goodman, the father of Tim Goodman. Its 451 million dollars make it the franchise’s highest-grossing film at the box office, and the fifth most lucrative video game adaptation of all.

In Super Smash Bros., Pikachu has been there since 1999, where it is the only Pokémon among the eight starting fighters. It has never had to be unlocked: the only Pokémon among the fifteen starters in Melee, then available right away in Brawl, on 3DS and Wii U, and in Ultimate, where its Pikachu Libre costume can be selected. Jigglypuff also runs through all five games, but always as an unlockable except on Wii U, and Pichu only appears in Melee to Ultimate.

In Pokkén Tournament, Pikachu and Pikachu Libre are two separate fighters with 570 HP: one rated "Standard", balanced between close range and long range, the other "Speed", with the advantage over "Power" fighters. That wrestler is not an invention of the fighting game : it is one of the five outfits of the Cosplay Pikachu from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the only one that teaches it a Fighting-type move, Flying Press.

What Pikachu has become outside the franchise

Since 2001, Pikachu has marched in New York’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, where four giant balloons have followed one another. The first, "Flying Pikachu", flew from 2001 to 2005; after the M&M’s balloon accident at the 2005 edition, it was the Pikachu balloon that served as the test balloon in Times Square, at rush hour, to test the wind. Next came a Pikachu with glowing cheeks chasing a Poké Ball (2006), another wearing a green scarf and holding a snowman made in its own likeness (2014), then Pikachu and Eevee on a sled inspired by a Poké Ball (2021).

On March 15, 2014, adidas, kit supplier to the Japanese national soccer team, announces a deal with Nintendo that makes Pikachu and ten other Pokémon — from Meowth to the Kanto starters and those from Kalos — the official mascots of Japan's national team for the 2014 World Cup. On November 28, 2017, Foreign Minister Tarō Kōno handed Pokémon, represented by Pikachu, and Hello Kitty the letters naming them special envoys for the "EXPO 2025 OSAKA, KANSAI, JAPAN": Japan was in the running at the time against Greater Paris, Yekaterinburg and Baku.

In Japan, the event is called the "Pikachū Tairyō Hassei-chū!". From August 9 to 17, 2014, a thousand Pikachu were announced in the Minatomirai district of Yokohama, from Pacifico Yokohama to the Landmark Tower. The 2017 edition added a Pikachu Carnival Parade there, on August 14 at 6 p.m.

The mark spreads well beyond the franchise. In 2008, Japanese researchers named "pikachurin" a protein involved in carrying electrical signals from the eye to the brain, a nod to his lightning-fast movements; four animal species bear his name, including the yellow spider Alistra pikachu. In France, he even turns up in comics: you will find him in volumes 7, 13 and 14 of Legendaries, and in the very first panel of the first volume of Legendaries Origins, where he chases a butterfly.

That status even rubs off on the rules of the spin-off games: in Pokémon GO, Professor Willow offers Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, but Pikachu joins the lineup if you walk around a bit.

Thirty years in eighteen dates

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In short

On paper, Pikachu is still an ordinary species in the Kanto Pokédex: an Electric-type No. 025, a simple stage between Pichu and Raichu. His stat sheet is not what explains what he became.

Three other things do. A design, first: cheeks charged with electricity and a lightning-bolt tail are enough to make him recognizable at any size, with no caption needed. A role, next: the cartoon makes him the hero's partner, and Pokémon Yellow imports that choice into the games. And an accumulation, finally: exclusive forms, versions carrying his name, a presence in movie theaters and in the card game.

The rest of the Pokédex holds creatures that are more powerful, rarer and more spectacular. None of them has had to carry the entire franchise.

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Pikachu in the store

The Pikachu collection brings together 197 products, by far the largest set in the store devoted to a single species. Its center of gravity is textiles and the home, not the collector's display case. The towels make up the best-stocked section with fifteen designs, beach towels included, ahead of the throw blankets and the socks, at eleven each. The rest of the volume is split between ties, underwear, lunch bags, rugs and duvet covers.

That spread comes down to the character himself: a yellow silhouette that reads as a flat shape at any size sits just as well on fabric as on an object a few centimeters across. That is what explains the number of small formats — pins, keycaps, earrings, necklaces, keychains — where the plush and the figure have only one product each. Decor follows the same logic, with ten wall stickers, four posters and five puzzles. The school section, for its part, comes down to pencil cases, backpacks and mouse pads.

All of these sections overlap in the Pikachu collection, which gathers the 197 products in one place.

See all Pikachu products

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Explore the Pokémon universe

This page is part of a series of guides covering the whole Pokémon universe:

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Frequently asked questions about Pikachu