Pikachu: Best Moveset, Weaknesses & Counters, Stats, and Evolution

The world of Pokémon has been a growing phenomenon since 1996, when the first pair of video games came out in stores. Pokémon started off as a video game series and although new creatures are primarily introduced in the video games, the anime series has become as popular as the video games. As of December 2021, there are almost 900 individual Pokémon identified by the PokéDex and in this article, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about one of them – Pikachu.

Pikachu is an Electric-type Pokémon first introduced in Generation I of the core video games and is the mascot of the whole franchise. It is the first evolution of Pichu and can further evolve into Raichu when exposed to the Thunder Stone. It is weak only to Ground-type moves, and is super effective against Flying-, and Water-type Pokémon.

In this article, we are going to tell you all the information you’ll need if you want to breed a Pikachu in any of the games. You’ll find out about its type, its powers, its strengths and weaknesses, its evolutions, and its moves. We’re going to focus on both the core games, as well as other popular video games based on the Pokémon franchise.

Best moveset

In the Pokémon GO videogame, the best moves for your Pikachu are Thunder Shock and Wild Charge if you’re battling Pokémon in Gyms. Namely, this moveset gives you the highest total DPS and is, likewise, the best moveset for PVP battles. The official description for Thunder Shock reveals the following: “A jolt of electricity crashes down on the target to inflict damage. This may also leave the target with paralysis”; as for Wild Charge, the attack is described as follows: “The user shrouds itself in electricity and smashes into its target. This also damages the user a little.”

Weaknesses and Counters

As an Electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu is weak only against Ground-type moves, and is super effective against Flying- and Water-type Pokémon. It is immune to Ground-, and Electric-type moves. It receives normal damage from Normal-, Fighting-, Poison-, Rock-, Bug-, Ghost-, Fire-, Water-, Grass-, Psychic-, Ice-, Dragon-, Dark-, Fairy-type moves.

Powers and Abilities

Pikachu’s Stats, based on the most recent available data, are:

In Pokémon GO, Pikachu has a Base Stamina of 111, a Base Attack of 112, and a Base Defense of 96.

As for its abilities, they are:

• Static: The Pokémon is charged with static electricity, so contact with it may cause paralysis.
• Lightning Rod: The Pokémon draws in all Electric-type moves. Instead of being hit by Electric-type moves, it boosts its Sp. Atk. (Hidden Ability)

Evolutions

Pikachu was introduced in Generation I as the first stage of the Electric-type Pokémon Raichu but in Generation II, with the introduction of Baby Pokémon, Pikachu became the first-stage evolution of Pichu. In order to evolve your Pichu into Pikachu, you have to raise its Friendship to a certain level, which is not an easy task. Evolving Pikachu into Raichu is easy – you simply have to use the Thunder Stone on Pikachu and you’re done (if you use it in Alola, you’ll receive an Alolan Raichu). Pikachu, interestingly, also has a Gigantamax Form introduced in Generation VIII. Pikachu itself doesn’t have any Regional Variants, but Raichu does – in Alola, Alolan Raichu is a dual Electric- and Psychic-type Pokémon.

In Pokémon GO, Pikachu is also obtained by evolving Pichu, for which you need 25 Pichu Candy, and after that, it can further evolve into Raichu with 50 Pichu Candy. Alolan Raichu can only be caught in-game and not obtained through evolution.

Moves

As of Generation VIII, the movies that Pikachu can learn are:

• Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Pikachu
• Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Pikachu
• × indicates a move that cannot be used in Generation VIII

By leveling up

By TM

By transfer from another generation

In Pokémon GO, Pikachu can learn Thunder Shock, Quick Attack, and Present as Fast Attacks, and Discharge, Thunderbolt, Wild Charge, and Fly as Charged Attacks. Some of these attacks depend on when you caught and evolved your Pikachu, as they are event-only attacks.