Ash's Pikachu: Difference between revisions

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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 ''[[BW019|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.
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 ''[[BW019|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.


In general, Pikachu as a species is not particularly powerful, but Ash's Pikachu is an anomaly, overcoming odds in {{pkmn|battle}} numerous times. In ''[[EP005|Showdown in Pewter City]]'', he defeated [[Brock's Onix]] with an {{type|Electric}} attack that triggered the sprinkler system causing Onix to be drenched in water, one of its weaknesses. In ''[[EP014|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 {{evostone|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 ''[[DP074|Pika and Goliath!]]'' where Pikachu reaffirmed his decision not to evolve. In ''[[EP002|Pokémon Emergency!]]'', {{MTR}} 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 {{p|Dragonite}} and {{p|Metagross}}. He has helped Ash win innumerable battles and [[Gym]] and {{pkmn|League}} matches.
In general, Pikachu as a species is not particularly powerful, but Ash's Pikachu is an anomaly, overcoming odds in {{pkmn|battle}} numerous times. In ''[[EP002|Pokémon Emergency!]]'', {{MTR}} remarked that Pikachu's power "far exceeds its evolutionary level". In ''[[EP005|Showdown in Pewter City]]'', he defeated [[Brock's Onix]] with an {{type|Electric}} attack that triggered the sprinkler system causing Onix to be drenched in water, one of its weaknesses. Ash's Pikachu has also defeated very powerful Pokémon that Ash's other Pokémon were unable to, such as {{p|Dragonite}} and {{p|Metagross}}. He was also the second of Ash's Pokémon to defeat a legendary Pokémon in battle, defeating [[Pyramid King Brandon|Brandon's]] [[Brandon's legendary golems#Regice|Regice]] to win the Brave Symbol. He later fought [[Tobias (Sinnoh)|Tobias']] Latios to a draw in the [[The Semi-Final Frontier!|the semi-finals]] of the [[Lily of the Valley Conference]]. He has helped Ash win innumerable battles and [[Gym]] and {{pkmn|League}} matches.
 
The possibility of evolving into Raichu was first raised in the episode [[EP014|Electric Shock Showdown]]. After suffering a crushing defeat by [[Lt. Surge's Raichu]], Nurse Joy presented Ash with a Thunder Stone. Ash allowed Pikachu to decide, but smacked it away with his tail, choosing to become stronger as he is, and defeated Raichu using its superior speed. In the Sinnoh region, Pikachu [[DP074|battled]] a Raichu belonging to a trainer named [[Sho]]. The two were evenly matched, until Raichu used [[Hyper Beam (move)|Hyper Beam]] to secure victory, a move Pikachu could not learn. At a Pokémon Center, Ash revealed that he kept the Thunder Stone he acquired in Vermilion City in case Pikachu changed his mind about evolving. Once again, Pikachu chose not to evolve, and defeated Sho's Raichu in a rematch with a combination of speed and spinning techniques learned from [[Dawn (anime)|Dawn]]. In the interim, [[Team Rocket trio|Team Rocket]] stole the Thunder Stone, as they also liked Pikachu to stay as he is.


However, at times, {{p|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 {{p|Scyther}}, [[Whitney's Miltank]], [[Chuck]]'s {{p|Poliwrath}}, [[Roark's Rampardos]], [[Fantina's Drifblim]], [[Cress]]'s {{p|Panpour}}, and [[Viola]]'s {{p|Surskit}}. He also drew against [[Winona]]'s {{p|Pelipper}} and [[Norman]]'s {{p|Vigoroth}}, and struggled against [[Crasher Wake]]'s {{p|Floatzel}}. Furthermore, he has lost twice to [[Trip's Serperior]], as a Snivy in ''[[BW001|In the Shadow of Zekrom!]]'' and a Servine in ''[[BW010|A Rival Battle for Club Champ!]]'', despite Trip being a starting Trainer and recently having obtained Serperior.
However, at times, {{p|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 {{p|Scyther}}, [[Whitney's Miltank]], [[Chuck]]'s {{p|Poliwrath}}, [[Roark's Rampardos]], [[Fantina's Drifblim]], [[Cress]]'s {{p|Panpour}}, and [[Viola]]'s {{p|Surskit}}. He also drew against [[Winona]]'s {{p|Pelipper}} and [[Norman]]'s {{p|Vigoroth}}, and struggled against [[Crasher Wake]]'s {{p|Floatzel}}. Furthermore, he has lost twice to [[Trip's Serperior]], as a Snivy in ''[[BW001|In the Shadow of Zekrom!]]'' and a Servine in ''[[BW010|A Rival Battle for Club Champ!]]'', despite Trip being a starting Trainer and recently having obtained Serperior.