Tag: pikachu

What does a completely black pikachu mean? I just hatched one and his eye color is blue; it’s so pretty. I hope this means good luck, I really want to keep him on my team.

It either means your pikachu is melanistic or due for a very strange, somewhat violent life. Not that the latter is a bad thing, of course. Or it isn’t a bad thing if you’re an aspiring pokémon master who also happens to be an anarchist with supernatural abilities.

That … sounds oddly specific. —LH

Yeah, I’m not quite sure where that came from either. —Bill

My brother and I both adopted a pair of sibling Pikachus we found on our ranch when we were small. Mine has now long evolved into a Raichu. When my brother returned from his stay in the Alola region, his Pikachu had evolved too, except it looks completely different from the Raichu I have, with a rounded physique and the ability to float?! He told me it might have something to do with the diet of his Pikachu during its stay in Alola. Something about sweets? I’m so confused!

Your brother is not that far off. You see, your raichu evolved into a standard form, whereas your brother’s evolved into the Alolan variation. To be more specific, certain pokémon, such as pikachu, are capable of evolving into different forms in the region of Alola than the forms they attain anywhere else. In most cases, this has to do with the unique environment of the Alola region itself.

However, pikachu’s evolution into the half-psychic Alolan raichu has less to do with the environment specifically and more to do with the fact that the pancakes of that region really are about as powerful as natives say they are.

After the recent addition of Mimikyu to our house, our Pikachu decided to somehow cut down the curtains in the living room to join in with the fun. I find this incredibly cute and supportive for her new friend, but I think she’s starting to go too far – because she shocks anyone who tries to remove it from her. Please help. We’ve went through three pairs of curtains in the past month.

Have you considered switching to blinds?

Bill. —LH

When I suggest bribery, you don’t say a word, but when I suggest switching to blinds, you do. I see how it is. —Bill

On a serious note, anonymous, consider giving both your mimikyu and your pikachu something more interesting to engage them. Specifically, mimikyu sometimes enjoy scratching posts, as this allows them to hone their claws while indulging in their more imp-like tendencies. Your pikachu may switch to this as well if you can get your mimikyu to prefer this to the curtains. Alternatively, old rags or even bubble wrap and old cardboard boxes can be effective distractions, although be sure to keep watch and avoid letting your pikachu chew on the bubble wrap.

Either way, I also highly recommend considering blinds as opposed to curtains.

Why is pikachu classified as a mouse pokemon as opposed to rabbit with those ears? And why is RATtata a mouse pokemon too?? Who decides these names and why wouldn’t I be surprised if it was you?

When it comes to pikachu, actually, it does strongly resemble a mouse in both aesthetics (past its long ears) and behavior, especially when it comes to its habit of burrowing into walls and biting into the wires inside. Likewise, pikachu generally move about much like mice by scurrying instead of hopping, and they organize themselves into mouse-like nests instead of rabbit-like warrens. In every way, pikachu actually is a mouse-like pokémon; it’s just that its ears have evolved to be a bit longer due to their secondary function of detecting electricity in the air in conjunction with their tails.

As for rattata, that … is actually an excellent question, as they very clearly rats instead of mice. It could very well have to do with the larger raticate’s tendency to battle its own preevolution with incredible viciousness, much like how their mammalian counterparts often hunt and consume mice.

Either way, I assure you, highly qualified pokémonologists are responsible for giving each pokémon their names and official designations, and in any case, I was only responsible for dratini … which I named when I was eight. Just in case you were thinking of judging me for giving dratini a name that amounts to “mini dragon.”

When my my raichu (alolan) was a pikachu it seemed my mimikyu was really shy around it but now that Peaches (my raichu) has evolved they’re best friends. Mimikyu even rides on Peaches tail! Is this normal behavior? Are mimikyus typically at odds with pikachus?

While it’s true all mimikyu are envious of pikachu, how they express that varies from mimikyu to mimikyu. Some are at odds with pikachu and display violent behavior in the vicinity of one (even going so far as to engage in intense battle with them on sight), but others may prefer to watch pikachu from afar or shyly befriend them in order to understand them. It’s very much like human jealousy, really. Some people befriend the people they envy or respect, and others spend much of their lives allowing their jealousy to fester into toxicity. Naturally, the latter isn’t exactly the best outlook for one’s psyche, and as such, it may be prudent to help your mimikyu find a healthy way to manage their frustration should you find yourself training a mimikyu of the more violent, negative variety, but if you find yourself training a mimikyu of the positive variety, you may be pleasantly surprised that it will do perfectly well around a pikachu teammate.

In other words, what you’re describing sounds perfectly normal, anonymous. Your mimikyu is evidently the type that deals with their envy by building understanding. It’s good to hear that your mimikyu gets along so well with your raichu! May their relationship only strengthen from here onwards.

Pikachu? (Part II)

Togedemaru
The Roly-Poly Pokémon
Type: Electric/Steel
Official Registration #: 777
Entry: Contrary to popular belief, not a round, pointy pikachu. However, this pokémon’s pointy hairs are as just as sensitive to electricity as its mouse-like counterpart. Each hair is an individual lightning rod capable of collecting electricity from the atmosphere and of releasing this stored electricity upon contact. Likewise, when agitated, togedemaru can raise and stiffen these hairs, creating an additional, needle-like line of defense. It is, in other words, just slightly ill-advised to pick this pokémon up.

Mimikyu
The Disguise Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Fairy
Official Registration #: 778
Entry: Contrary to its own belief, not a cuter, more likable pikachu. In fact, as adorable as this pokémon’s pikachu costume is, the actual form of this creature is most definitely not a pikachu. DO NOT ENGAGE.

My pikachu is the son of my fathers raichu, and has become extremely depressed since it’s passing. He barely eats or drinks and has become very listless, not even hopping on my shoulder to join me when I leave the house. What should I do? :(

It’s incredibly important to bond with your pikachu as much as possible. Don’t be smothering or overprotective, of course, but be there for him. If he’ll allow you to do so, pet him and hold him. Some grieving pokémon take especially well to physical contact, as it makes your bond with them literal: you’re essentially telling them that you’re there and that they aren’t alone. To this end, yes, you’ll need to spend much more time with your pikachu, even if he doesn’t seem to respond to you at first. Even just an extra half an hour a day will be of immense help to him.

Also, don’t be afraid to use a little positive reinforcement as well. If your pikachu likes a particular type of toy, buy more of that toy and give him one whenever eats. Show him affection for coming close to his food bowl or water bottle, and whenever he responds to you in a positive manner, give him a bite of his favorite types of treats.

Toys are also excellent distractions, as odd as this may sound. It’s simply that giving your pikachu a means to keep his mind occupied whenever you’re unable to sit with him helps him avoid dwelling on how much he misses his father, which in turn will allow his mind to heal. It’s very much like how humans sometimes find ways of distracting themselves when they’re faced with grief so they don’t dwell on their hurt and allow it to dominate their psyches.

Speaking of, try to enforce your pikachu’s daily routine as much as possible. Like toys, routines are excellent distractions, and they establish a sense of normalcy in a pokémon’s life. If your pikachu is fed at a certain time every day, be sure to feed him at that time. If he trains at another time, don’t let that hour go by without training.

Most importantly, remember that pokémon are very sensitive to their trainers’ emotions. If you’re strong, calm, and patient for and with your pikachu, this will help him remain calm and open up to you. Yes, this means the grieving process will take a lot of effort on your part, but you need to show you care and that your pikachu can rely on you when he needs you. So have patience and do everything you can to remind him that you love him and that he’s not alone.

Best of luck, anonymous.

Any pokemon can decide that they dont want to evolve, but I’ve heard this is most common with Pikachu. Is this true and why? I’d have guessed it would be eevee because it has the biggest decision to make out of any pokemon.

It’s true, but no one is quite sure why, especially given the fact that no other pokémon with stone-based evolutions have similar aversions. Even when the evolution in question wouldn’t result in a massive power boost (as in the case with jigglypuff and clefairy), if given the choice of whether or not to evolve, those pokémon would jump at the chance to do so. For that reason, scientists believe that it doesn’t have anything to do with the stone itself.

Given how common evolution is in the pokémon world, it’s unlikely that it’s due to the fear of evolving, either. Certainly, some pokémon have a sense of trepidation about evolution, given how drastically it alters their form (and sometimes, by extension, their minds), but at the same time, most pokémon see evolution the same way we humans see growing up and becoming an adult. When you’re a small child, you look forward to that change and all the freedoms it represents. As an adult, it’s entirely possible to become disenchanted, but the point is, when you’re a child, you very likely dream about what it would be like to be an adult. So to a lower stage pokémon, being fully evolved represents freedom and power, and many pokémon that can evolve dream of that … except pikachu.

Personally, my theory is that it has a lot to do with the pokémon that don’t see evolution as a pleasant experience. Pikachu is certainly rare in that the opinion is prevalent among their species, but there are certain individuals in every species that openly resist evolution. In many of these cases, these individuals simply see themselves as being perfect as they are. Thus, to them, evolution in part forces changes they don’t want on them, but more importantly, it also represents giving in and admitting that they feel they need to change. You could even say that resisting evolution is an act of rebellion—a way of showing later-stage evolutions that they can reach their potential without needing to change a thing about them.

As for eevee, the urge to resist evolution is actually rare because of that choice. To an eevee, evolution is a massive part of their identities; being an eevee is merely the introduction stage before they find out for themselves who they are. Some eevee know right away which evolution they wish to be, and thus, much of their time may be spent preparing for evolution. Others who don’t quite know take pride in the fact that they have a choice. They take their time deciding, and they value that choice highly. Certainly, there are a few individuals who find the abundance of choices highly intimidating, but these individuals are by and large rare. Overall, eevee generally find the choice itself to be both exciting and a vital part of being a member of their evolutionary family. A cultural identity, if you will.

I got my pikachu in Johto, if I were to evolve it in Alola would it become an alolan raichu or be a normal raichu because it isn’t originally from Alola?

Unfortunately, should you be hoping for a psychic raichu, the truth is that Alolan raichu are the byproducts of adaptive evolution. That is to say, the pikachu of Alola simply have a slightly different genetic code than Johtonian pikachu (or, for that matter, any other), so pikachu brought to Alola will always evolve into the non-psychic variation. To that same end, pikachu brought out of Alola to other regions will always evolve into the psychic variation.

Thus, to answer your question, a pikachu born in Johto will only evolve into non-psychic raichu.