Pikachu
| Pikachu | |
|---|---|
| File:Pikachu.png National Pokédex Arbok - Pikachu (#25) - Raichu Johto Pokédex Pichu - Pikachu (#21) - Raichu Hoenn Pokédex Pichu - Pikachu (#156) - Raichu | |
| Japanese name | Pikachū |
| Evolves from | Pichu (from Pokémon Gold and Silver onwards) |
| Evolves into | Raichu |
| Generation | First |
| Species | Mouse Pokémon |
| Type | Electric |
| Height | 1 ft 4 in (0.4 m) |
| Weight | 13.0 pounds (5.9 kg) |
| Ability | Static |
Pikachu (known as ピカチュウ (Pikachū) in Japanese) is one of the Template:Pokenum fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] Pokémon media franchise – a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. Pikachu is most famous for being the "face" of the Pokémon franchise, perhaps being the most widely recognised around the world. Its main purpose in the games, as with all other Pokémon, is to battle both "wild" Pokémon, untamed creatures that are encountered while players pass through various natural environments in the game, and to fight against "tamed" Pokémon owned by Pokémon trainers.
Pikachu is the most popular and notable Pokémon, and is generally regarded as the mascot of the Pokémon franchise, in the same way Link is the mascot of the Legend of Zelda series, or Mario is the mascot for the Super Mario franchise. It is obtainable in all of the Pokémon RPGs on Game Boy systems to date, with a prominent role in Pokémon Yellow. The protagonists of the Pokémon anime, the Pokémon Adventures, Electric Tale of Pikachu and the Ash & Pikachu manga all own a Pikachu.
"Pikachu" is a portmanteau of the words, pika, meaning to spark or meaning a sparkle of lightning in the Japanese language, and "chū", an onomatopoeia in the Japanese language for the squeak made by a mouse. Coincidentally, there also is a mouse-like lagomorph that makes its habitat in North America, known as a pika which may have have affected the North American name, Pikachu. The "Advanced Generation" drawing and sprite design of Pikachu was created by Ken Sugimori's team for its 2003 release on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.[2]
Biology
Pikachu are ground-dwelling rodents with an affinity for electricity and lightning. They live in forests and plains, and forage for berries. The glandular pouches residing in its cheeks allow it to charge up and store electricity in chemical form, which it can discharge in bolts of lightning or ball lightning to defend itself from attackers[3] (or attack its foe in a Pokémon battle), but it occasionally discharges electricity to roast a berry to make it tender enough to eat, or simply to keep from overloading.[3] (An inability to discharge electricity in this last way, which is caused by a strong magnetic field, leads to a flu-like illness.) A swarm of Pikachu working together can generate intense electric shocks, and the electro-magnetic forces exerted by the electric field can even conjure a thunderstorm.[3] Pikachu (also Raichu and Pichu) are smart[3] and have good senses of eye sight, smell and hearing.
Pikachu is yellow with brown stripes on its back, black-tipped ears, red cheeks, and has a lightning bolt-shaped tail. It lacks a typical 'natural' evolution but can be evolved via Thunderstone into Raichu. However, Pikachu is so cute that in the anime and various manga, most trainers choose to keep it from evolving. In Pokémon Yellow , the Game Boy Color game featuring the "Electric Mouse", Pikachu refuses to evolve: attempting to use a Thunderstone on it makes it cry and refuse. Also, in the second and third generations of the Pokémon games, Pikachu has an evolutionary predecessor, Pichu. Pichu, a baby Pikachu, evolves into Pikachu after establishing a friendship with its trainer.
A Pikachu's tail, which it often raises into the air to distract predators or attract other Pikachu, is an excellent conductor, to the point where a Pikachu can suffer lightning strikes to its tail without any difficulty.[3] A Pikachu can ground out electrical attacks to its body with its tail.
In the anime
Ash Ketchum's Pikachu
In the Pokémon anime, Pikachu was Ash Ketchum's first Pokémon. In the first episode of the Pokémon anime, Pikachu did not like Ash and shocked him with electricity every time Ash came near. However, by the second episode, Ash demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice himself for Pikachu, and they became fast friends. Pikachu soon established its dislike of being confined in a Poké Ball, and prefers to travel alongside Ash. In Pokemon: The First Movie, Pikachu attempts to revive a downed Ash with repeated thundershocks, to no avail; a grief-stricken Pikachu bursts into tears, which (along with the tears of all other Pokemon present) return Ash to life.
In another first season episode (in Vermilion City), Pikachu, who is often rather independently minded, believed that it was strong enough without evolving and refused to evolve into a Raichu. In fact, in Ash's third gym battle in Vermillion City, Pikachu was successful in defeating a Raichu. To this day, Ash's Pikachu has participated in more gym battles than any of his other Pokemon.
Early in the series, Pikachu was given an operation to increase the strength of the electric sacs in his cheeks in order to beat the first gym leader, Brock. Despite this, when it cannot release its electricity Pikachu can also get a cold and lose control . Most notably, exposure to a magnetic field will cause Pikachu to get this cold. This has happened to Pikachu twice in the series, both times by Team Rocket: the first time, Pikachu was cured when the extra electricity was used in attacks against a group of Grimer and Muk, and in the second time, Pikachu was inadvertently cured by one of Team Rocket's battery robots, which subsequently overloaded and exploded. During the Hoenn arc, Ash trained Pikachu to use Iron Tail, which greatly improved its ability to fight Pokémon with resistance to Electric attacks. Several interesting storylines involving Pikachu are in "Pikachu's Goodbye" where Ash nearly released Pikachu into the wild to be with other Pikachu, Pikachu losing his memory in the final chapter of the Hoenn adventures and it temporarily joined Team Rocket, Pikachu getting injured at the beginning of the Hoenn arc and later getting corrupted by the recently-awakened Groudon.
Pikachu is the only Pokémon in Ash's huge party that has been with him in every series, although a Phanpy he rose from an egg joined him after he travelled around Hoenn. It is implied that Ash's Pikachu is male, but it is rarely addressed with a gendered pronoun. Also, many times Ash and Pikachu have been separated by cave-ins and explosions. Most of these times, Meowth is also separated from Team Rocket, and they usually end up working together to find their trainers.
Many of the Pokémon animated shorts with all-Pokémon dialogue have featured Pikachu as the main character, often as the main voice of reason. As such, Pikachu is often a leader, helping to break up conflicts among other Pokémon. In the second Pikachu Movie, it is revealed Pikachu lived in a large tree with many friends including an Elekid, a Snorlax and a trio of dancing Bellossom.
Pikachu typically eats a specially formulated pellet made by Brock. It also prefers fresh fruit, especially apples. Sometimes it is shown eating the same meal that his human companions are eating, in smaller portions. If ketchup is available on the table it would most often partake of it. In one case Ash's Pikachu kept the bottle and became slightly obsessed with it. This caused problems because a Scyther and an Electabuzz that were enraged at the color red were nearby.
Like most other Pokémon, Pikachu communicates only by saying syllables that are in its own name. Its most common sentence is "Pika-pika". When it wants to talk to Ash it says "Pika-pi," which sounds similar to "Satoshi", and calls Misty "Pikachupi" similar to her Japanese name of "Kasumi". It refers to Togepi as "Pipipi", probably because in Japanese, "pii" means "little". Pikachu is voiced by Ikue Otani in all versions of the anime, except in the first episode, entitled "Pokémon, I Choose You!", in which Rachael Lillis, the regular voice of Misty and Jessie of Team Rocket, provided the voice in cases where another character's voice overlaps Pikachu's.
Other Pikachu
In the Pokémon anime, many other Pikachu have also appeared. The most notable among these is Richie's Pikachu, with mussed hair on its forehead. This one is nicknamed Sparky (Leon in the Japanese original). Sparky, unlike Ash's Pikachu, is indifferent to being inside its Poké ball, but it is almost always shown outside, similar to Ash's Pikachu. In fact, every captured Pikachu in the anime has been shown spending most or all of its time outside of a Poké ball, even though this is not noted by any characters to be typical of the species.
Another notable Pikachu one named Puka (Michael in the Japanese version), a surfing Pikachu owned by a surfer named Victor. Puka has blue eyes instead of the usual black and also seems to have a harmony with the sea, and it's said that it glows a bright blue when it feels a powerful wave. Puka is over 20 years old (it is unknown whether such longevity is unusual for a Pikachu), and is noticeably larger than Ash's Pikachu (though still smaller than a Raichu). It also has somewhat frazzled hair on around the tips of its ears, which is probably a sign of its age (in a flashback to 20 years earlier, Puka is shown without this trait).
Many episodes of the anime have also featured other unnamed Pikachu. Among them is "Pikachu's Goodbye", in which a large group of wild Pikachu appeared, and in "Pokémon Emergency", a group of Pikachu are always hidden in the Viridian City Pokémon Center as their very own "Pika-Power Source", which was used when Team Rocket cut the power to the center. The footage of these Pikachu is later reused for a group of Pikachu aboard the SS Anne.
There is also an episode in which Ash is himself magically transformed into a Pikachu for the last few minutes. Pikachu tickles Ash, and the episode ends. In the following episode, Ash is still a Pikachu, but reverts to human form before the episode's actual plot starts. This form of Ash is nicknamed by some as "Satochu", a portmanteau of "Satoshi" and "Pikachu".
In general, Pikachu in the anime (including Ash's Pikachu) have only had their tails shown from the flat side, never its "razor side". Why this is, is never explained, but it may be merely because they're coincidentally drawn from particular angles only.
In the video games
In the video games, Pikachu is a typical low-level Pokémon, usually found around levels 3-6 in Viridian Forest, and around 25 in the Power Plant or Ruby & Sapphire Safari Zone. Players playing Pokémon Yellow have all but no choice whether or not to use it, as it will be their first Pokémon, and in the other games those who find one (typically it's a rather rare find) often use it as an early-to-mid-level Electric Pokémon.
Few players use Pikachu in competitive head-to-head play, however, because of its relatively low defense stats. It does see occasional play after Pokémon Gold and Silver, which added an item called the Light Ball. This item, when given to Pikachu to hold, doubles the stat that determines the power of its Electric attacks, making it useful in competitive play.
Pikachu is featured in Hey You, Pikachu!, Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Channel, and the Pokémon Pikachu. It also makes several appearances in Pokémon Snap, famously portraying the Surfing Pikachu sidequest in Pokémon Yellow.
Pikachu has also appeared in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee as a very agile and mobile playable character. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Pikachu's Skull Bash move was introduced, and its Quick Attack ability was upgraded so that it did a small amount of damage to opponents. Pikachu is also set to appear in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl.[4]
There has also been a special-edition Nintendo 64 game console featuring Pikachu as well as saying "Pikachu!" when Pokémon video games were started. This was released along with a game called Hey You, Pikachu!, in which you use a microphone to converse with the Pokémon. However, this didn't see release outside of North America and Japan because of lingual accent and localization problems.
Pikachu has also made cameo appearances in Pokémon Pinball, Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Pokémon Channel, Pokémon Trozei, Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Pokémon Dash and Pokémon Ranger: The Road to Diamond and Pearl. It has also played a role in various games for the Pokémon Mini Handheld.
In the Pokémon Trading Card Game
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectable card game first published by Wizards of the Coast in North America, in 1999. The concept is similar to that of a Pokémon battle in the video games in that each player takes turns to hit the opponent’s Pokémon. Most Pikachu cards are typical, Basic Pokémon cards, primarily used to play stronger cards, such as Stage-1 Pokémon, Raichu, and Stage-2 Pokémon, Charizard. Some Pikachu cards are similar in attack and defense (see picture) to other Basic Electric-types, such as Mareep and Electrike, but often have an advantage because of their popularity.
Pikachu has been seen in at least eleven incarnations in Pokémon Trading Card Game sets released in North America, and that number increases to nineteen when including both mainstream releases and limited edition promotional cards. The expansion sets Pikachu cards are found in are the Base Set (as well as Base Set 2), Jungle, Gym Heroes (As Lt.Surge's Pikachu), Gym Challenge (As Lt. Surge's Pikachu), Neo Genesis, Expedition, Skyridge, EX Sandstorm, EX Team Magma VS. Team Aqua, EX Firered & LeafGreen, EX Emerald, EX Legend Maker (as a secret card), and EX Holon Phantoms.[5]
Pikachu cards are often sought after because of their wide appeal and often unavailability. Although most Pikachu cards are Common variety (see picture), meaning that they can be found very often in booster packs of cards, promo cards were only available by purchasing tickets for Pokémon movies. An often overlooked error in the original Base Set Pikachu design (see picture) was known as the "Red-Cheeked Pikachu." The name came from the mouse's mis-coloured cheeks that were supposed to glow yellow from the protruding electric sparks. This error was later fixed in the Base Set 2 version.
In the manga
A Pikachu has appeared in every Pokémon manga series as of 2005. In Pokémon Adventures, Red, the "first protagonist" of the Pokémon Adventures series, captures a mischievous Pikachu causing trouble for the people of Pewter City which became one of his main Pokémon from there on. After Red goes missing two years later, his Pikachu teams up with Yellow, the "fourth protagonist" of the series, to find him. Yellow is accompanied by Pikachu throughout the Johto saga, as well as her own Pikachu, Chu Chu.
In the Magical Pokémon Journey manga, Hazel, the main character of the series, obtained a Pikachu as her first Pokémon. Although Hazel's task is to capture Pokémon for a scientist, her and Pikachu often fall into trouble because of their joint scatterbrained personalities. This Pikachu, along with Hazel's other main Pokémon, Clefairy, re-appears in the spin-off series, Pokémon Chamo-Chamo Pretty.
In the Electric Tale of Pikachu series, often referred to as the series, Ash's Pikachu was originally a feral Pokémon he caught chewing on wires in his walls. This manga follows the storyline of the Pokémon anime, featuring Ash, Misty and Brock alongside Pikachu battling Team Rocket. This series was released in four volumes called The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Pikachu Shocks Back, Electric Pikachu Boogaloo and Surf's Up Pikachu and respectively.
Pikachu also stars in the Ash & Pikachu manga series, another to closely follow the Pokémon anime. Unlike in the Electric Tale of Pikachu, Professor Oak gave Pikachu to Ash as his first Pokémon, rather than Ash finding him in the former. Another difference between the two is that Ash and Pikachu continued to follow the anime storyline, leading Ash and Pikachu to Hoenn, being accompanied by Haruka and Matosho, May and Max in the English version.
Cultural impact
Pop culture
- Pikachu appeared in a "got milk?" ad in 1999.
- The phrase "Pika-pika" is often considered funny, particularly to Japanese speakers' ears. The Japanese expression "pika-pika hikaru" means stroke of lightning; it is also used to denote a small bald spot on the very top of the head still surrounded by hair. "Pika-pika" can also mean "shining" or "shimmering" and denotes the electric element of Pikachu.
- Since 2001, a Pikachu character balloon has been featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- In The Simpsons, after watching too much TV, Bart Simpson has strange visions of television characters surrounding him, one including Pikachu.
Parodies
- The Comedy Central series Drawn Together features a Pikachu parody named Ling-Ling.
- The character The Cheat from Homestar Runner is also sometimes considered to be a Pikachu parody, although he was created before Pokémon was imported to America. The Brothers Chaps modified his design to give him more resemblance to a Pikachu after the Pokémon anime made its debut.
- Pikachu is parodied in Topps trading card series Garbage Pail Kids.
References
- Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue, Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2, Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
- Notes
- ^ “Pokemon Franchise Approaches 150 Million Games Sold" PR Newswire. URL accessed on March 27, 2006.
- ^ Pokémon Sapphire information Amazon.com. URL accessed on March 27, 2006.
- ^ a b c d e The in-game Pokédexes of the Game Boy series (A copy of them from pokémondungeon.com) URL accessed on March 27, 2006.
- ^ Super Smash Bros. Brawl screenshot gallery Ign.com. URL Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ Pikachu TCG Deck Dex Psypokes.com. URL accessed on April 31, 2006.
- Books
- Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0439154049.
- Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 130206151.
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed Version & Pokémon LeafGreen Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 193020650X
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1930206585