History Characters / PokemonTheSeriesPikachu

* FlawlessVictory: ''All'' of Pikachu's battles against Meowth which didn't involve mechs or some other device were not only wins, but a one hit KO in his favour. It took until "A Frenzied Factory Fiasco", the ''878th'' episode of the show, for Meowth to finally get in at least a CurbstompCushion and break this humiliating streak.

* FlawlessVictory: ''All'' of Pikachu's battles against Meowth which didn't involve mechs or some other device were one hit KOs in his favour. It took until "A Frenzied Factory Fiasco", the ''878th'' episode of the show, for Meowth to ''finally'' get in at least a CurbstompCushion and break this humiliating streak.

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/IkueOtani[[note]]Rachel Lillis and Sabine Bohlmann also inconsistently dubbed over some lines in the first few episodes of the English and German dub respectively. Also, in the [=LatAm=] Spanish dub of episode 17, Claudia Motta did the voice-over of Pikachu's dialogue. [[spoiler: Voiced by Creator/KateBristol in the English dub of ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'' during the climax]].[[/note]]

** He's normally Badass, winning major battles quite often. He won Ash's battles against Lt. Surge, the Team Rocket trio (substituting for Giovanni as the Viridian Gym Leaders while borrowing his Pokémon), Luana, Drake, Whitney (against THAT Miltank, though not at first), Pryce (via a forfeit), Roxanne, Wattson (that was a CurbStompBattle), Tate and Liza, Juan, Lucy, Anabel, Brandon, Burgh, Elesa, Roxie, Trip, Viola, Grant, Korrina, Totem Gumshoos, Hala, Mimikyu (as part of the Thrifty Megamart trial), Hapu, and Guzma, let alone the fact he contributed to the wins against many other Gym Leaders, Totem matches, and League Matches with knock-outs. [[spoiler: He notably took down two of the three Pokémon in Ash's league victory in Alola, along with finishing off the exhibition battle against Professor Kukui and Tapu Koko]].

* TheRunaway: Pikachu temporally ran away in ''Betrayed, Bothered and Beleaguered!'' when he felt nucleated by Ash and felt he didn't care about him anymore.

* TheRunAway: Pikachu temporally ran away in ''Betrayed, Bothered and Beleaguered!'' when he felt nucleated by Ash and felt he didn't care about him anymore.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: He's defeated several Legendary Pokémon in his time, not to mention several psuedo-legendary Pokémon including Dragonite, Tyranitar, and ''three'' Metagross.

[-'''Series-wide:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesAshKetchum Ash Ketchum]] | '''Pikachu''' | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketTrio Team Rocket Trio]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketOrganization Team Rocket Organization]]\\

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: He's defeated several Legendary Pokémon in his time, not to mention several psuedo-legendary Pokémon including Dragonite, Tyranitar, and ''two'' Metagross.

* FinishingMove: Pikachu has never failed to defeat an opponent after using his 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt Z-Move, [[spoiler:including Tapu Koko in the Manalo Conference exhibition match against Professor Kukui.]]

* TheAce: Similar to Ash with his human companions in the XY series, Pikachu often appears as such to the team's Pokémon, being a highly competent battler, good natured and usually more level-headed than the others. Like any Pokémon, he can be playful and childlike, but when conflicts or dilemmas occur, he's usually TheReliableOne (where he's not being captured by Team Rocket anyway).

* UnskilledButStrong: When Pikachu achieves his massive Gigantamax form in [=SS013=], he's powerful but [[MightyGlacier cumbersome and slow]] in battle. Having to exchange his once [[LightningBruiser lightning fast attacks]] for brute-strength, he's now out of his element. Pikachu never uses the form again after this, and Gengar takes over as Ash's Gigantamax user.

** [[AndCallHimGeorge Pikachu doesn't take kindly to getting squeezed]], as Casey, Iris, Bonnie, and Lana's two sisters learned this the hard way. Delia's Mr Mime, known as ''Mimey'', seems to be the exception to this rule as in ''The Dream Continues!'' Pikachu and Mimey play happily together with Mimey holding Pikachu on his head and then swinging him like a baby in a swing! Hugging, it seems, is reserved for those who know ''not'' to squish him, such as the aforementioned Mimey, or Delia, or Ash.

* UnskilledButStrong: When Pikachu achieves his massive Gigantamax form in [=SS013=], he's powerful but [[MightyGlacier cumbersome and slow]] in battle. Having to exchange his once [[LightningBruiser lightning fast attacks]] for brute-strength, he's now out of his element.

Ash's first and ever-faithful Pokémon partner. Despite their first meeting being anything but friendly, Pikachu would go on to be Ash's longest-standing companion who has been with him every step of his journey. Unlike most of its species, Ash's Pikachu refuses to stay cooped up inside his Poké Ball for any period of time. Tropes involving Ash's Pikachu include:

* AdaptationalBadass: In the game series, Pikachu is a rather frail Pokémon with a good moveset and speed stat, [[FragileSpeedster but awful base stats and horrible bulk]]. Considering it's not even technically fully evolved, this is to be expected. In the anime, Ash's Pikachu has beaten legendaries like Regice and tied with Latios one on one and has withstood multiple powerful attacks from Pokémon, like Infernape and Dragonite. Attacks that Pikachu would never be able to survive in the game.

** Throughout ''Sun and Moon'', Pikachu's habit of using its [[ShapingYourAttacks electricity as a solid object]] is given a subtle yet strong focus. This eventually manifests as Electro Ball morphing into Electroweb, which upon learning how to control it gave Pikachu a very versatile support move that can pin down enemies, be a defensive barrier, or even be used as a springboard. This becomes a key factor against [[spoiler:Silvally and Tapu Koko]].

* ADayInTheLimelight: The 8th generation series premiered with an origin story of how Pikachu spent its life in the wild before being caught, including its evolution from Pichu to Pikachu.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: It's defeated several Legendary Pokémon in its time, not to mention several psuedo-legendary Pokémon including Dragonite, Tyranitar, and ''two'' Metagross.

* FinishingMove: Pikachu has never failed to defeat an opponent after using its 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt Z-Move, [[spoiler:including Tapu Koko in the Manalo Conference exhibition match against Professor Kukui.]]

** Similar to Ash when it comes to helping others [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself who don't want it]]. He similarly has to be forced not help to Goodra in his war with Florges, while Hawalucha has to dissuade him from helping Noibat in it's fight with a Breloom.

* NoodleIncident: Though the first episode of Journeys finally revealed some of his backstory and how it evolved from a Pichu, it still failed to tell us anything about why it grew to hate humans so much, as well as how it ended up with Professor Oak in the first place.

* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: Despite Pikachu originally being hailed as uncommonly powerful, his actual strength is wildly inconsistent, with the single most infamous example of this being Pikachu losing to Trip's starter Pokémon Snivy who hadn't fought a single battle in its life at the beginning of the BW arc after tying with a [[OlympusMons Latios]] at the end of the DP arc. That's also failing to mention his many other feats, like grabbing Lance's Dragonite by its antennae and tossing it to the ground. He ''is'' generally portrayed as an above average battler, but he rarely gets any exceptional feats in battle until the end of each saga.

Ash's first and ever-faithful Pokémon partner. Despite their first meeting being anything but friendly, Pikachu would go on to be Ash's longest-standing companion who has been with him every step of his journey. Unlike most of its species, Ash's Pikachu refuses to stay cooped up inside its Poké Ball for any period of time. Tropes involving Ash's Pikachu include:

* AudienceParticipation: Pikachu manages this in [=XY092=] while it wasn't chosen for Ash's double battle with Olympia, Pikachu did help Ash keep track of when the Future Sight from Olympia's two Meowstic would strike by using its tail as a makeshift timer, thus eventually allowing Frogadier and Talonflame to turn the attack against them, and ultimately win the battle.

%%Zero Context examples are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

** He's normally Badass, winning major battles quite often. He won Ash's battles against Lt. Surge, the Team Rocket trio (substituting for Giovanni as the Viridian Gym Leaders while borrowing his Pokémon), Luana, Drake, Whitney (against THAT Miltank, though not at first), Pryce (via a forfeit), Roxanne, Wattson (that was a CurbStompBattle), Tate and Liza, Juan, Lucy, Anabel, Brandon, Burgh, Elesa, Roxie, Trip, Viola, Grant, Korrina, Totem Gumshoos, Hala, Mimikyu (as part of the Thrifty Megamart trial), Hapu, and Guzma, let alone the fact he contributed to the wins against many other Gym Leaders, Totem matches, and League Matches with knock-outs. [[spoiler: He notably took down two of the three Pokemon in Ash's league victory in Alola, along with finishing off the exhibition battle against Professor Kukui and Tapu Koko]].
*** For particular cuteness, see Pikachu in Ash's hat in the opening to ''Battle Frontier''. Never has a Pokemon looked more huggable or squishable or kissable or just plain freaking adorable!

* DidntThinkThisThrough: In addition to the NiceJobBreakingItHero moment mentioned below, he once tried to eat an entire apple whole, resulting in him choking and requiring Ash and co. to take him to a hospital.[[note]]There wasn't a Pokemon Center around for miles[[/note]]
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: It's defeated several Legendary Pokémon in its time, not to mention several Psuedo-legendary Pokemon including Dragonite, Tyranitar, and ''two'' Metagross.

** Reversed in some regards. Both Ash and Pikachu have a CoolBigBro attitude towards their team mates, however, since younger less experienced Pokemon were inducted to the main cast much earlier on in the anime than human ones, it was Ash who adopted this trait after Pikachu.

* LetsGetDangerous: In Alola, like Ash, he seems to have relaxed into a more playful overenthusiastic mood and spends a lot of the new competitions and situations acting like a FishOutOfWater. When a threat or battle occurs however, we are reminded that Pikachu is by far the strongest and most experienced Pokemon of the entire class[[note]]with Kiawe having both the second (Charizard) & third (Turtonator) strongest and experienced [[/note]].

** Pikachu also has a... thing... for Orange juice too.

* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: In the episode "Wherefore Art Thou, Pokemon", while searchng for a female Nidoran, [[QuiveringEyes he catches sight]] of a tree full of delicious looking fruit. He then [[ActingUnnatural pretends to keep calling out for the Nidoran while conspiciously inching towards the tree]].

* StrongAndSkilled: Despite being a GlassCannon, Pikachu more than makes up for the amount of raw power he dishes out, which has been capable of beating Legendaries. Being with Ash for the entire series, he is also Ash's most [[ExperiencedProtagonist experienced Pokemon]] who had received extensive training to hone his skills.

** Pikachu ''adores'' Orange Juice.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the game series, Pikachu is a terrible Pokémon with awful base stats and horrible bulk. Considering it's not even technically fully evolved, this is to be expected. In the anime, Ash's Pikachu has beaten legendaries like Regice and tied with Latios one on one and has withstood multiple powerful attacks from Pokémon, like Infernape and Dragonite. Attacks that Pikachu would never be able to survive in the game.

%% Zero Context examples are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

[-'''Series-wide:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesAshKetchum Ash Ketchum]]''' | '''Pikachu''' | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketTrio Team Rocket Trio]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketOrganization Team Rocket Organization]]\\

[-'''Series-wide:''' '''Ash Ketchum''' | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesPikachu Pikachu]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketTrio Team Rocket Trio]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketOrganization Team Rocket Organization]]\\

[-'''Series-wide:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesAshKetchum Ash Ketchum]] | '''Pikachu''' | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketTrio Team Rocket Trio]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketOrganization Team Rocket Organization]]\\

** Recent beginnings downplay this. The beginning of the Kalos anime pitted him against the Ground-type Bunnelby, but he still handled Team Rocket fairly easily. The Alola anime showed him and Ash having difficulty with some sample competitions, but they were nothing like actual Pokémon battles. And in ''Journeys'', he still could easily beat Team Rocket single-handedly despite them having a revolving-door of mix-and-match mook Pokémon at their disposal, and only had slight difficulty with Scorbunny due to unfamiliarity before ultimately beating it easily.

* VagueAge: The distinction is unclear for Pokémon in general, but it's especially unclear whether Pikachu is considered an adult or child. He's intelligent and frequently act as a mediator between other Pokémon. He's also quite excitable, playful, and gets caught up in Ash's enthusiasm very easily. In ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'', [[spoiler: his speaking voice]] implies that he's a child, but there's never been a real answer. [[=SM126=]] also hints that Pikachu is a child, or at least young; In the narrator's translation, he refers to himself using "boku", a pronoun typically used by young boys. Rowlet also the uses the same pronoun, lending further credence to Pikachu being a young Pokémon.

* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: Despite Pikachu originally being hailed as uncommonly powerful, his actual strength is wildly inconsistent, with the single most infamous example of this being Pikachu losing to Trip's starter Pokémon Snivy who hadn't fought a single battle in its life at the beginning of the BW arc after tying with a [[OlympusMons Latios]] at the end of the DP arc. That's also failing to mention his many other feats, like grabbing Lance's Dragonite by its antennae and tossing it to the ground.
** Only the ''XY'' Saga averts this, as Pikachu rarely loses battles, and if he does, it's either against Gym Leaders or against Kalos League rivals. In said league, [[spoiler:Pikachu wins two battles in the semi-final and final match, respectively, before being taken out by the rival's strongest Pokémon. Even better, in the final match, Pikachu defeats ''two'' pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, Alain's Tyranitar and Metagross]].
** ''SM'' would later avert this with Pikachu largely being fairly competent for most of the series. At the start of the series it went against a Legendary pokemon. [[spoiler:By the season finale, it beat said Legendary in a Z-move clash.]]
** Averted even further in Journeys. For starters, its first battle is a raid battle against a Lugia, where it does way more damage to it than all the other Pokemon battling it. In the very next episode, it easily defeats both a Gyarados and Tyranitar from Team Rocket's reserves. It single-handedly wins most of Ash's battles in a Battle Frontier tournament. And for most of Ash's early battles in the World Coronation Series, it's next to completely unstoppable.

* SuperSpeed: First showcased in the Vermillion Gym and stayed that way since. It even enabled him to learn Volt Tackle!

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In "[[Recap/PokemonS1E46AttackOfThePrehistoricPokemon Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon]]", Team Rocket's dynamite was seconds from going off with him, Ash, and Team Rocket a few feet away. In a moment of panic, Pikachu attempted to stop the fuse by blasting the dynamite with a Thunderbolt. [[OhCrap The look on his face]] immediately afterward shows that he [[DidntThinkThisThrough had forgotten that electricity and explosives are a bad mix]].