Lt. Surge's Raichu

Lt. Surge's Raichu
マチスのライチュウ Matisse's Raichu
Bag Poké Ball SV Sprite.png
Lt Surge Raichu.png
Lt. Surge's Raichu
Debuts in Electric Shock Showdown
Caught at Unknown
Evolves in Prior to Electric Shock Showdown
Gender Male[1]
Ability Static*
Current location With Lt. Surge
HOME025.png HOME026.png
This Pokémon spent an unknown number of episodes as Pikachu.
Voice actor Japanese English
As Pikachu N/A
As Raichu Urara Takano

Lt. Surge's Raichu (Japanese: マチスのライチュウ Matisse's Raichu) is Lt. Surge's main Pokémon in animation and in the games.

In animation

Pokémon the Series

Pokémon the Series: The Beginning

Raichu's battle against Ash's Pikachu

Raichu appeared in Electric Shock Showdown, where he was responsible for brutally defeating many opponents, as the Pokémon Center started to get crowded. This happened before Ash entered the Vermilion Gym. Later during Ash's arrival, Lt. Surge sent him out to Ash and his friends. Lt. Surge laughed at Ash for not making Pikachu evolve, thinking that evolved Pokémon are always better. This infuriated Ash and made Pikachu, also infuriated, want to battle Raichu.

In the battle, both sides started off with Thunder Shock, but Raichu's turned out to be more powerful, which weakened Pikachu drastically. Raichu then easily hit Pikachu with a combination of Mega Punch and Mega Kick before defeating him with a Thunderbolt. 

Raichu and Lt. Surge

Ash returned to the Gym for a rematch after Pikachu was healed. He ignored Lt. Surge's advice on evolving Pikachu into a Raichu. In the rematch, Raichu was able to hit Pikachu with Body Slam but Pikachu was able to use two new attacks, Agility and Quick Attack, which were both learned before the rematch. As Raichu evolved too fast, he never learned any speedy attacks. Pikachu took advantage of this by using his speedy attacks to confuse Raichu. Lt. Surge decided to cancel them by having Raichu use Thunderbolt on the field. However, Pikachu dodged it by using his tail. When Raichu was about to use Thunderbolt again, he ran out of electricity, which gave Pikachu the upper hand. Pikachu finished Raichu off with his tail attack before Raichu made full contact with Take Down. As Ash eventually defeated Lt. Surge in a rematch, it proved to him that evolved Pokémon were not always better.

Raichu reappeared in a flashback in the Japanese version of Pikachu's Goodbye, when Ash was recalling the fun times he had with Pikachu; and in another flashback in Bad to the Bone, where Raichu was defeated in a Gym battle by Otoshi's Marowak.

Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

Both Raichu and Lt. Surge reappeared in a flashback in Pika and Goliath!.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In Destination: Coronation!, it was revealed that Lt. Surge and Raichu left the Gym in the care of Visquez to go on a journey to become stronger.

Personality and characteristics

Raichu's attitude towards Ash's Pikachu almost completely mirrors Lt. Surge's attitude toward Ash. When they first meet Raichu, he didn't have a high opinion of Pikachu. However, after being defeated, Raichu grew to respect him. He was shown to be a powerful battler that often used his strength to the point of cruelty, sending Pokémon after Pokémon to the Pokémon Center. Due to evolving too fast, he never learned any speedy moves, which could put him at a disadvantage against a fast opponent.

Moves used

Lt Surge Raichu Mega Punch.png
Using Mega Punch
Lt Surge Raichu Body Slam.png
Using Body Slam
Move First Used In
Thunder Shock Electric Shock Showdown
Mega Punch Electric Shock Showdown
Mega Kick Electric Shock Showdown
Body Slam Electric Shock Showdown
Thunderbolt Electric Shock Showdown
Take Down Electric Shock Showdown
A shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

Pokémon Origins

In File 2: Cubone, Raichu was used by Lt. Surge in his Gym battle against Red. However, it was defeated off-screen.

GOTCHA!

Lt. Surge's Raichu briefly appeared in GOTCHA!.

In the games

Raichu appears as Lt. Surge's Pokémon in all games he appears in. In Pokémon Yellow, it is his only Pokémon, much as in the anime. In other games it is not his only Pokémon, but it is always present. Lt. Surge's Pikachu that he has in the games is also shown below, since Surge said in the anime that he obtained his Raichu as a Pikachu.

In the core series

Pokémon Red and Blue Pokémon Yellow Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal
Spr 1b 025.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Pikachu Lv.18
ThunderShock
Electric
Growl
Normal
Thunder Wave
Electric
Quick Attack
Normal
Spr 1b 026.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Raichu Lv.24
ThunderShock
Electric
Growl
Normal
Thunderbolt
Electric
  --  
   
Spr 1y 026.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Raichu Lv.28
Thunderbolt
Electric
Mega Punch
Normal
Mega Kick
Normal
Growl
Normal
Spr 2c 026.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Held item:
None
Raichu Lv.44
Thunderbolt
Electric
Thunder
Electric
Thunder Wave
Electric
Quick Attack
Normal
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Gym battle Fighting Dojo rematch
Spr 3f 025.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Ability:
Static
Held item:
None
Pikachu Lv.18
Shock Wave
Electric
Thunder Wave
Electric
Quick Attack
Normal
Double Team
Normal
Spr 3f 026.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Ability:
Static
Held item:
None
Raichu Lv.24
Shock Wave
Electric
Thunder Wave
Electric
Quick Attack
Normal
Double Team
Normal
Spr 4h 026 m.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Ability:
Static
Held item:
None
Raichu Lv.51
Thunder Wave
Electric Status
Shock Wave
Electric Special
Quick Attack
Normal Physical
Double Team
Normal Status
Spr 4h 026 m.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Ability:
Static
Held item:
None
Raichu Lv.60
Thunderbolt
Electric Special
Grass Knot
Grass Special
Quick Attack
Normal Physical
Thunder Wave
Electric Status
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2
Pokémon World Tournament
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!
Kanto Leaders Tournament Type Expert/World Leaders Tournament Gym battle Rematch
Spr 5b 026 m.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Ability:
Static
Held item:
Bag Electric Gem Sprite.png Electric Gem
Raichu/ Lv.50
Thunderbolt
Electric Special
Focus Blast
Fighting Special
Signal Beam
Bug Special
Thunder Wave
Electric Status
Spr 5b 026 m.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Ability:
Static
Held item:
Bag Life Orb Sprite.png Life Orb
Raichu/ Lv.50
Volt Tackle
Electric Physical
Fake Out
Normal Physical
Focus Punch
Fighting Physical
Thunder Wave
Electric Status
026Raichu.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Raichu Lv.26
Thunderbolt
Electric Special
Quick Attack
Normal Physical
Double Kick
Fighting Physical
  --  
   
026Raichu.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Raichu Lv.57
Thunder Punch
Electric Physical
Iron Tail
Steel Physical
Brick Break
Fighting Physical
Quick Attack
Normal Physical

Traded to the player

HeartGold and SoulSilver
Location Player's Pokémon Traded Pokémon English
nickname
Japanese
nickname
Item Ability Nature English
OT
Japanese
OT
ID IVs
Saffron City Pikachu Pikachu Pikachu Pikachu
(foreign)*
Volty VOLTY Yellow Shard Yellow Shard Static Jolly Surge マチス
Matisse
33038 20/25/18/25/13/31

Pokémon Stadium series

Pokémon Stadium
Round 1 Round 2
026MSStad.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Raichu Lv.50-100
Thunder
Electric
Surf
Water
Body Slam
Normal
Thunder Wave
Electric
025MSStad.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Pikachu Lv.50-100
Seismic Toss
Fighting
Agility
Psychic
Double Team
Normal
Surf
Water
026MSStad.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Raichu Lv.50-100
Thunderbolt
Electric
Surf
Water
Body Slam
Normal
Thunder Wave
Electric
Pokémon Stadium 2
Round 1 Round 2
026MSStad.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Held item:
MiracleBerry
Raichu Lv.50-100
Thunderbolt
Electric
Thunder Wave
Electric
Seismic Toss
Fighting
Surf
Water
026MSStad.png
Type:
Electric Unknown
Held item:
Focus Band
Raichu Lv.50-100
Surf
Water
Reversal
Fighting
Thunderbolt
Electric
Thunder Wave
Electric

In the side series

Pokémon Masters EX

Main article: Lt. Surge (Masters) → Raichu

Lt. Surge forms a sync pair with Raichu in Pokémon Masters EX.

Dex Trainer NDex Pokémon Type Weakness Role EX role Base potential Availability
#004 VSLt Surge Masters.png Lt. Surge #0026 MastersIcon0026.png Raichu
Electric
ElectricIC Masters.png
Ground
GroundIC Masters.png
Masters Support.png ★★★★☆☆EX Battle Points

Pokémon Puzzle League

Raichu is one of Lt. Surge's three Pokémon in Pokémon Puzzle League.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Red, Green & Blue arc

Lt. Surge's Raichu debuted in Go for the Golbat during Surge's battle with Red.

Gold, Silver & Crystal arc

In Raising Raichu, Raichu was used to battle the Masked Man. Later, when Surge encountered the frozen Red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage, he used Raichu to power up his submarine's underwater laser. However, as the thawed Gyarados wasn't willing to fight him, but instead trying to break another block of ice at the bottom of the lake, Surge ended up using the laser on the ice block, which turned out to contain some of the gears of Gold and Silver, who had previously fought the Masked Man at the lake.

Raichu was also briefly seen in Hello, Lickitung, where Surge used his sharp tail as a warning for Morty to not to struggle against him, as well as in Yikes, It's Yanma!, where he was seen standing alongside Surge during the introduction of the Kanto and Johto Gym Leaders.

Pokémon Journeys

Raichu appeared in a fantasy in Destination: Coronation!.

Pocket Monsters HGSS Jō's Big Adventure

Lt. Surge's Raichu only appeared as a silhouette in JBA5 along with its Trainer and the other Kanto Gym Leaders as one of the obstacles must face.

In the TCG

Lt. Surge's Raichu has been depicted in in the TCG. The following is a list of cards involving either his Pikachu or Raichu.

Lt. Surge's Pikachu
Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.
Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card Type English
Expansion
Rarity # Japanese
Expansion
Rarity #
Lt. Surge's Pikachu Lightning Gym Heroes Common 81/132 Kuchiba City Gym    
Lt. Surge's Pikachu Lightning Gym Challenge Common 84/132 Leaders' Stadium Common  
Lt. Surge's Raichu
Card Type English
Expansion
Rarity # Japanese
Expansion
Rarity #
Lt. Surge's Raichu Lightning Gym Heroes Rare 28/132 Kuchiba City Gym    
Lt. Surge's Raichu Lightning Gym Challenge Rare Holo 11/132 Challenge from the Darkness Rare Holo  
Lt. Surge's Raichu Lightning       Pokémon VS Common 053/141
 


Artwork

KuchibaCityGymDeck.jpg Secret-Mission.jpg
Artwork from the
Kuchiba City Gym Theme Deck
Raichu and Lt. Surge

Merchandise

Kuchiba City Gym Deck

The second wave of decks leading up to the release of Leaders' Stadium were released on July 25, 1998. The first deck focuses on Gym Leader Lt. Surge and his predominantly Lightning-type Pokémon, and is named Kuchiba City Gym (Japanese: クチバシティジム マチス). The deck includes 60 main cards, four expansion cards, a coin, a rulebook, and Pokémon Gym Guide.

Product images:

KuchibaCityGymDeck.jpg
Kuchiba City Gym
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins
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The Sneak-Peek Tins


Trivia

References

  1. Confirmed via gender differences.

Related articles

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Pikachu and Raichu.

Project Anime logo.png This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.