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are one of the fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar• Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. The purpose of Pikachu in the games, anime, and manga, as with all other Pokémon, is to battle both wild Pokémon—untamed creatures encountered while the player passes through various environments—and tamed Pokémon owned by Pokémon trainers. Pikachu is among the most recognizable of Pokémon, considering a Pikachu is one of the main characters in the ''Pokémon'' anime series. In the Pokémon universe Pikachu are mammals that have short, yellow fur with brown stripes on their backs, black-tipped ears, and an unusually shaped tail, resembling a lightning bolt. They are often found in forests, plains, and occasionally near electrical sources (such as power plants), on most continents throughout the world. Pikachu often travel in packs, and are rarely territorial, however, when threatened, a group can generate an intense electrical offensive, and the electro-magnetic forces exerted by the resulting field can even produce a short lived, localized thunderstorm.
Biological characteristics Pikachu are often found foraging for berries. Instead of climbing trees, they use small electrical jolts to release the berries from the tree, roasting them at the same time. It can also roast marshmallows on the tongue with electricity to make them dance. Pikachu have the ability to release electric discharges of varying intensity, at will, through glandular pouches residing in its cheeks. These glands allow it to store and release bolts of fabric or ball lightning to defend itself from attackers, to be used in battle, at the command from its trainer, or in self-defense in the wild. An inability to discharge electricity in this last way, as in the presence of strong magnetic field, leads to a chicken pox-like illness. Pikachu is yellow with brown stripes on its back, black-tipped ears, red cheeks, and has a thunder bolt-shaped tail. It evolves into Raichu via use of a Thunder Stone. Pikachu is so popular, however, that in the television anime series and various Pokémon-related manga publications, most trainers choose to keep it from evolving. For example, in Pokémon Yellow, Pikachu refuses to evolve as attempting to use a Thunderstone on it makes it cry and refuse. It is numbered as Pikachu's name may stem from the pika, a small rabbit with big ears and lots of energy. In the Pokémon 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 in the Ruby,Sapphire and Emerald Safari Zone. Players playing Pokémon Yellow will have Pikachu as 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. 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. game console was released, featuring Pikachu as well as saying "Pikachu!" when Pokémon video games were started. This was released along with the game Hey You, Pikachu!, in which you use a microphone to converse with the Pokémon. Pikachu has also made cameo appearances in Pokémon Pinball, Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Pokémon Trozei, Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Pokémon Dash and Pokémon Ranger. It has also played a role in various games for the Pokémon mini handheld games console. Pikachu is also one of the sixteen starters in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games. Pikachu has also appeared in a video of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl. It has also been shown in a pre-release image that Pikachu will appear in Pokémon Battle Revolution for Nintendo's upcoming Wii console.• In the Pokémon anime The ''Pokémon'' anime series and films are a meta-series of adventures separate from the canon that most of the Pokémon video games follow (with the exception of Pokémon Yellow, a game based on the anime storyline). The anime follows the quest of the main character, Ash Ketchum) travel around the fictitious world of Pokémon along with their Pokémon partners, Pikachu, Blaziken, Many of the Pokémon animated shorts with all-Pokémon dialogue have featured Pikachu as the main character. unlike Ash's Pikachu, is indifferent to being inside its Poké ball, but save for the first season, it is 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 is Pooka (Michael in the Japanese version), a surfing Pikachu owned by a surfer named Victor. Pooka has blue eyes instead of the usual black and also seems to have a harmony with the sea - it glows a bright blue when it feels a powerful wave. It is claimed that Pooka 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. 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 backup generator, 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. There is a special episode of Pokémon in which one Pikachu (not Ash's Pikachu) got captured by Skarmory leaving his little brother Pichu alone. After Skarmory captures Pichu, Pikachu apologized to Pichu for getting Pichu in the middle of getting captured. When the Go-Getters arrived, Pikachu told Pichu to open the treasure bag and the seed fell out. Pikachu kicked the seed to Squirtle. When Squirtle swallowed the seed, he got super speed. After defeating Skarmory, the Go-Getters saved Pikachu and Pichu. In Pokémon 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 (known in Japan as "Dengeki! Pikachu"), 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. In the Getto Da Ze manga, the main character Shuu owns a Pikachu, whom he communicates with because of a device called an In-Com. This Pikachu is very feisty and a little sarcastic. 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 Masato, May and Max in the English version. 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, Poliwhirl, and Stage-2 Pokémon, Charizard. Some Pikachu cards are similar in attack and defense (see picture) to other Basic Electric-types, such as Mareep, EX Legend Maker (as a secret card), and EX Holon Phantoms (appears twice). 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 the ''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 . Background Pikachu is arguably the most well-known Pokémon, and is regarded as the unofficial mascot of the Pokémon franchise. Pikachu are obtainable in all of the Pokémon video games to date, with a prominent role in Pokémon Yellow. The leading characters of many of the anime and manga series have all captured Pikachu, including Pokémon Adventures, and Magical Pokémon Journey. The name Pikachu is a portmanteau of the words, pika, an onomatopoeia in the Japanese language for a spark or a sparkle of lightning, and chuu, a Japanese onomatopoeia for the squeak made by a mouse. 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. Popular culture
Parodies Pikachu, as one of the most popular Pokémon, is often parodied. In the comic Hsu and Chan by Jeremy "Norm" Scott that appears in the magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly features a character named Chernobyl, a radioactive chipmunk that is a parody of Pikachu. Pikachu is also parodied in the Topps trading card series, Garbage Pail Kids. 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. Also, in The Cheat's Theme Song video, when the singer says "who's the guy that looks like The Cheat", a Pikachu flys by onscreen.• In the anime universe, "Stinko Man K: 20x6", The Cheat is turned into "Cheatball", a Pikachu parody, and only says his own name like a Pokémon. Cheatball debuted in the e-mail "trading cards". In the American clay animated series Robot Chicken, which spoofs on many TV shows and celebrities, made a spoof of what really happens in Pikachu's Pokéball and what he is really saying to Ash. Not only that, but another episode of Robot Chicken showed a Pikachu and a Squirtle conversing, with the Squirtle getting fed up of saying his own name. In the American animated series Drawn Together the character Ling-Ling is a direct parody of Pikachu. In the series Ling-Ling's job is "Battle Master" which is a mock of the way trainers use Pokémon to battle each other. | ||||||||||
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