Is Pichu Good in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Playthrough?
Trophy Garden or Underground baby. Evolve through friendship into Pikachu, then Thunder Stone into Raichu if you want. Not worth the effort when Luxray and Magnezone exist.
Pichu trades roughly evenly with Roark's team.
Gardenia's typing presses Pichu's defenses.
Pichu trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Pichu trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Pichu trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Byron's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Candice's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Bertha's team hits Raichu's weaknesses hard.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Flint's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catch Pichu on Trophy Garden (walking, Lv 16, common).
You can usually obtain this item before you reach Byron.
How to Get Pichu in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
Pichu is available from mid-game routes onward at high spawn rates. 4 encounter spots give you plenty of options. Grab one early and it'll be ready to evolve or train by mid-game.
Where To Catch Pichu in BDSP
The path to Pichu starts with Pichu at Lv. 16-18 via walking encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
Step 1Pichu ✓Trophy GardenLv.16GrassRate 30%MorningTrophy GardenLv.16GrassRate 10%
Step 3Evolve into Raichu
Pichu Weakness
Pichu is weak to Ground. Few weaknesses and 3 resistances make the typing clean. Lightning Rod grants an additional Electric immunity, reshaping the matchup chart.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Electric, Flying, Steel |
What is Pichu Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Pichu
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Excadrill can KO Pichu with Earthquake (664-781%).
 Excadrill GroundSteel | B | |
Recommended Build AbilitySandrush ItemLeftovers NatureJolly Moves
Damage vs Pichu View Excadrill builds →Earthquake 2x664-781%KO Rapid Spin110-130%KO | ||
Pichu Evolutions
This is the baby stage. Pichu grows into Pikachu by leveling up. Want more? Breed the adults. Baby Pokemon sit in the Undiscovered egg group. Evolving adds up to 280 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
BDSP Pichu Best Moveset
20 HP across stats in the 15-40 range on an Electric pre-evo with hidden AbilityLightning Rod for Electric immunity. The moveset is non-functional at every level. Two evolutions from Raichu where 110 Speed and 90/90 offenses reach E-tier.
Best Build
Pichu best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Endeavor
- Fake Out
- Nuzzle
- Thunderbolt
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Pichu gets Charge and Disarming Voice exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Coverage across 7 types rounds out the picture alongside Thunder and Thunderbolt.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The electric sacs on its cheeks are still small. They cannot store much electricity yet.
It plays with others by touching tails and setting off sparks. This appears to be a test of courage.
Pichu Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Guide
For Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, you can run Pichu through the first few routes without issues. 205 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Pikachu as fast as you can.
Game Availability
Available in 20 titles since its debut in Gold & Silver, Pichu spans 9 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through catching or hatching as a base form in most mainline games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GSDebut
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves