Lt. Surge's Raichu
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.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
 Lt. Surge's Raichu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
In animation
Pokémon the Series
Pokémon the Series: The Beginning
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.
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 met, 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
|
|||||||
| 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 Pokémon the Series. 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 Pokémon the Series that he obtained his Raichu as a Pikachu.
In the core series
Traded to the player
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This Pokémon cannot be Shiny. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This Pokémon is obtained in a trade. Its level is equivalent to the requested Pokémon, and its moves may vary. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This Pokémon is either French or English in origin, depending on the language of the game. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pokémon Stadium series
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 | 
|
Lt. Surge | #0026 | 
|
Raichu♂ |
Electric
|
Ground
|
|
★★★★☆☆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 Jō 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 | 
|
Gym Heroes | 
|
81/132 | Kuchiba City Gym | ||
| Lt. Surge's Pikachu |
|
Gym Challenge |
|
84/132 | Leaders' Stadium |
|
|
| Lt. Surge's Raichu | |||||||
| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
| Lt. Surge's Raichu |
|
Gym Heroes | 
|
28/132 | Kuchiba City Gym | ||
| Lt. Surge's Raichu |
|
Gym Challenge | 
|
11/132 | Challenge from the Darkness |
|
|
| Lt. Surge's Raichu |
|
Pokémon VS |
|
053/141 | |||
- Raichu also appears in the card Secret Mission (Gym Heroes 118).
Artwork
|
|
| 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:
|
Trivia
- All of Lt. Surge's Pikachu and Raichu from Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2 have the exclusive move Surf.
- Raichu has an illegal move combination in Pokémon Stadium 2: Surf can only be obtained as a special move as a Pikachu from Pokémon Stadium, while Reversal can only be obtained by breeding.
- Raichu knowing Mega Punch and Mega Kick in Pokémon Yellow is a direct reference to the moveset it uses in the Pokémon the Series episode Electric Shock Showdown.
References
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Pikachu and Raichu.
| Lt. Surge's Pokémon | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On hand: | ||||||
| Adventures only: | ||||||
| Pocket Monsters only: | ||||||
|
This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |