Is Pikachu Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Trophy Garden gives Pikachu access around mid-game. AbilityStatic paralyzes on contact, but Luxray fills the Electric slot better and shows up far earlier through Shinx on Route 202. Raichu needs a Thunder Stone and still falls short of Luxray.
Pikachu has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Pikachu trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Pikachu trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Crasher Wake's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Fantina's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up 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 has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Lucian's team.
Raichu resists most of Mars's coverage and hits back hard.
Raichu resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catchable
Catch Pikachu in Trophy Garden (walking, Lv 18, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM34ElectricShock WavePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 215
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Lost Tower
- LV 26ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Fantina
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Iron Island
- LV 37ElectricDischargePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- LV 45ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Catch Pichu
Catch Pichu in Trophy Garden (walking, Lv 16, common).
Recommended Moves
- From Start
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- After Gardenia
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Lake Valor
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- TM34ElectricShock WavePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 215
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Amity Square
- After Fantina
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Iron Island
- After Volkner
- TM57ElectricCharge BeamPower 75Accuracy 90%PP 10Prize for defeating Volkner
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Pikachu to Raichu
Pikachu evolves into Raichu with a Thunder Stone. You can usually obtain this item before you reach Crasher Wake.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 30)
- LV 30ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Gardenia
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Lake Valor
- TM34ElectricShock WavePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 215
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM52FightingFocus BlastPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Pikachu in Diamond & Pearl
Pikachu lives in the Trophy Garden behind the Pokemon Mansion, an uncommon level 18 catch. It is the one reliable Sinnoh home for the mascot, with no scattered route spawns to back it up.
Wild Pikachu may be holding when caught:
Oran Berry (50% chance) Held: Consumed at 1/2 max HP to recover 10 HP.
Light Ball (5% chance) Doubles Pikachu’s Attack and Special Attack. Breed on Pikachu or Raichu: Pichu Egg will have Volt Tackle.1 location to catch Pikachu1 location to catch Pichu
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 3Catch Pichu at any of the 1 location below, then level it up with high friendship — it evolves into Pikachu.
Badge 3Where To Catch Pikachu in DP
To get Pikachu, start by catching Pichu through walking encounters at Lv. 16. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- 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 Diamond & Pearl Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Pikachu in Diamond & Pearl
Pikachu scampers around the Trophy Garden, so a solid PokeRadar chain in that grass pins its shiny. Compare Shiny Pikachu odds across every game
Shiny Pikachu Evolution
3 Forms
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Pikachu Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is PokeRadar Chain at full boosts, about 1 in 200 on each try. Tune it below.
PokeRadar Chain: Chain shaking-grass patches without breaking the combo. The rate peaks at a chain of 40.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 22-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 58-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 139-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 460-- | -- |
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 Diamond & Pearl 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 |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
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 35 partners from the Fairy and Field egg groups. Notable egg moves include Bide, Charge, Double Slap and 7 more.
DP Pikachu Best Moveset
Doubling both Attack stats is new for Held ItemLight Ball this generation, which means MoveVolt Tackle finally hits as hard physically as MoveThunderbolt does specially. The moveset can go either direction now. 90 Speed is decent, but 35 HP means one unresisted hit ends everything.
Best Build
Pikachu best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Volt Tackle
- Thunderbolt
- Quick Attack
- Grass Knot
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Don't skip the egg moves. Pikachu picks up Bide and Charge only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Volt Tackle and Thunder while coverage across 7 types 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. 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
30 of 32 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Reminder Moves
Transfer Moves
Event Moves
Base Stats
It lives in forests with others. It stores electricity in the pouches on its cheeks.
If it looses crackling power from the electric pouches on its cheeks, it is being wary.
Pikachu Event Distributions
In Diamond & Pearl, Pikachu is a dependable Mystery Gift returnee, distributed time and again.
Ash's PIKACHU!HeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Secret GiftDiamondPearlNot shiny
Pikachu gift (OT NZone)HeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Pikachu gift (OT TCGWC)DiamondPearlNot shiny
Pikachu's Present!DiamondPearlNot shiny
Pikachu That Learned Present!DiamondPearlNot shiny
Pikachu That Learned Present!HeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Pikachu That Learned Present!HeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Birthday Commemoration GiftHeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Birthday Commemoration GiftHeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Sleeping Pikachu GiftHeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Moving Commemoration GiftHeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Secret GiftDiamondPearlNot shiny
Pikachu Special Gift!HeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlNot shiny
Everyone's Friend PikachuDiamondPearlPlatinumNot shiny
Pikachu Diamond & Pearl Guide
Yes. Wild Pikachu in Diamond & Pearl can hold Oran Berry (50%) or Light Ball (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Oran Berry.
For Diamond & Pearl, 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 · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List