
Is Pichu Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Crystal's Odd Egg is the fastest way to get Pichu, arriving before the second gym. Gold and Silver required breeding from a Pikachu you probably didn't have. The early access is nice, but Pichu still needs friendship to evolve and Pikachu's stats still aren't worth the investment.
Pichu trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Pichu has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Pikachu trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Raichu resists most of Morty's coverage and hits back hard.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Raichu resists most of Pryce's coverage and hits back hard.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Gift
Pichu is given to you as a gift on Route 34 at Lv 5. Hatch Odd Egg received from Day-Care Man (random). Hatch the Odd Egg received from the Day-Care Man on Route 34. The Egg randomly hatches into one of seven baby Pokemon, with a 14% chance of being Shiny.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 5)
- LV 5ElectricThunder ShockPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 30
- After Falkner
- TM39NormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20Union Cave
- After Bugsy
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a fisherman in a house at Lake of Rage
- After Lt. Surge
- TM07ElectricZap CannonPower 150Accuracy 50%PP 5Gift from the Power Plant manager after returning the Machine Part
- TUTORElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
Evolve Pichu to Pikachu
Pichu evolves into Pikachu with high friendship. Friendship is usually high enough before you reach Whitney.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM41ElectricThunder PunchPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Department Store
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- After Morty
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Olivine City
- LV 26ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a fisherman in a house at Lake of Rage
- LV 41ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- TM07ElectricZap CannonPower 150Accuracy 50%PP 5Gift from the Power Plant manager after returning the Machine Part
Evolve Pikachu to Raichu
Pikachu evolves into Raichu with a Thunder Stone. You can usually obtain this item before you reach Morty.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- TM41ElectricThunder PunchPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Department Store
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- After Morty
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Olivine City
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- After Lt. Surge
- TM07ElectricZap CannonPower 150Accuracy 50%PP 5Gift from the Power Plant manager after returning the Machine Part
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner prize (7500 coins)
How to Get Pichu in Crystal
Pichu only hatches from the Odd Egg the Day-Care Man gives you on Route 34. Which baby you get is random, so Pichu is one of several possible results from that single egg.
Wild Pichu may be holding when caught:
1 location to catch Pichu
How to Obtain Pichu in C
Pichu is the chain's first catch. You'll find gift and walking encounters from Lv. 4-25 across 3 total spots in the chain.
Step 2Catch or Evolve into PikachuRoute 2Lv.4GrassRate 5%Morning/dayCeladon City - Game CornerLv.25Game Corner PrizeLimitedPurchase: 2,222 coinsor evolve from Pichu (Step 1)
Step 3Evolve into RaichuBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Pichu egg.
How to Get Shiny Pichu in Crystal
Pichu is the fastest shiny in Crystal: grab the Odd Egg from the Day-Care Man on Route 34 and hatch it, and a shiny Pichu pops out at 1 in 7. Compare Shiny Pichu odds across every game
Shiny Pichu Evolution
3 FormsCrystal Shiny Pichu Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Breed w/ Shiny Parent, about 1 in 64 on each try.
Odd Egg: Accept the Odd Egg from the Day-Care Man on Route 34. Each baby has its own shiny chance of 1 to 3 percent, fixed when you take the egg, so save first and reset until it hatches shiny.
Breed w/ Shiny Parent: Eggs inherit stats from a shiny parent, so about 1 in 64 hatch shiny. A shiny Ditto helps every egg, and any other shiny parent (the red Gyarados works) helps only eggs of the opposite gender.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 7-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 19-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 45-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 147-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
For time estimates and charm math, open the Crystal shiny odds calculator with Pichu already selected.
Pichu Weakness
Pichu is weak to Ground. Few weaknesses and 3 resistances make the typing clean. Just 1 weak spot to worry about, which keeps teambuilding straightforward.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Electric, Flying, Steel |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Pichu Weak Against
GoodPichu 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
C Pichu Best Moveset
Baby Electric pre-evolution. Stats too low for any format. Pikachu with Held ItemLight Ball is the competitive destination, two stages of evolution away.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Thunderbolt
- Detect
- Rain Dance
- Thunder
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Pichu gets Bide and Double Slap exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Normal and Steel coverage and more rounds out the picture alongside Zap Cannon and Thunder.
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.
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
19 of 24 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It is unskilled at storing electric power. Any kind of shock causes it to discharge energy spontaneously.
Pichu Crystal Guide
For Crystal, 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 19 titles since its debut in Gold & Silver, Pichu spans 8 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 7Let's Go

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
Explore
Where to go next after Pichu.
