Is Pikachu Good in Crystal Playthrough?
The Odd Egg from the Day Care couple can hatch a Pichu, making Electric-type access possible before Crystal's first gym. Pichu needs friendship to evolve though, and Pikachu's stats still leave it fragile. The Goldenrod move tutor teaches MoveThunderbolt to other Pokemon, giving them coverage against Lance's Gyarados without committing a slot to Pikachu.
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
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 Pikachu in Crystal
Pikachu is mostly a Game Corner prize in Crystal, costing 2,222 coins in Celadon. There's a single rare wild one on Route 2, but with odds that thin, the coins are the reliable way in.
Wild Pikachu may be holding when caught:
Berry (2% chance) A self-restore item. (10HP, HOLD)2 locations to catch Pikachu1 location to catch Pichu
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Catch Pichu at any of the 1 location below, then level it up with high friendship — it evolves into Pikachu.
Badge 1Where To Catch Pikachu in C
Pichu is your first catch on the way to Pikachu. You'll find gift and walking encounters from Lv. 4-25 across 3 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Pikachu ✓Route 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.
Bring the right balls: check Pikachu catch odds in the Crystal Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Pikachu in Crystal
Pikachu's fastest shiny in Crystal comes from the Day-Care Man's Odd Egg, which hatches a shiny Pichu at just 1 in 7. Raise that Pichu's friendship to evolve it into Pikachu. Compare Shiny Pikachu odds across every game
Shiny Pikachu Evolution
3 Forms
Crystal Shiny Pikachu Calculator
4 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.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
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.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Pikachu in the Crystal Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Pikachu Weakness
Ground moves hit Pikachu for super-effective damage. 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 Pikachu Weak Against
Good
Pikachu Evolutions
Sitting between Pichu and Raichu, Pikachu is part of a chain that requires an evolution item. Not your typical level-up setup. So far, Speed got the biggest boost (+30 from Pichu). The final form adds another 185 stats on top. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Pikachu to get Pichu eggs easily using 16 partners from the Fairy and Field egg groups. Notable egg moves include Bide, Double Slap, Encore and 2 more.
C Pikachu Best Moveset
With Held ItemLight Ball doubling Sp. Atk to an effective 100, MoveThunderbolt hits at genuinely competitive power from 90 Speed. Remove the item and the stats collapse back to mediocrity. The entire competitive value lives and dies with one held item.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Thunder
- Quick Attack
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Don't skip the egg moves. Pikachu picks up Bide and Double Slap only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Zap Cannon and Thunder while Normal and Fighting coverage and more adds range.
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
22 of 27 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Reminder Moves
Base Stats
When it is angered, it immediately discharges the energy stored in the pouches in its cheeks.
Pikachu Crystal Guide
Pikachu costs 2,222 Coins in Crystal. Earn coins by playing the slot machines on the Game Corner floor or buying them at the counter (1,000 coins for ₽10,000).
Yes. Wild Pikachu in Crystal can hold Berry (2%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Berry.
For Crystal, you can run Pikachu through the first few routes without issues. 300 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Raichu as fast as you can.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Red & Blue, Pikachu has appeared in 22 titles over 9 generations. Along the way, it received a Gigantamax form in Generation 8, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
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 8SwShGigantamax
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 Pikachu.
Keep playing · CrystalCrystal Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Crystal Tier List