Is Pikachu Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
Not a starter in Gold and Silver. Pikachu is a rare encounter and doesn't show up until later. Electric coverage matters against Johto's Water trainers, but Mareep is available much earlier and evolves into Ampharos, which outclasses Raichu in every way. Pikachu is a nostalgia pick, not a practical one.
Pikachu has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Pikachu has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Pikachu trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Pikachu has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Pikachu trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Pikachu trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Pikachu has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's typing presses Pikachu's defenses.
Lt. Surge's typing presses Pikachu's defenses.
Sabrina's typing presses Pikachu's defenses.
Erika's typing presses Pikachu's defenses.
Pikachu trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Pikachu trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with 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 resists most of Will's coverage and hits back hard.
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.
Catchable
Catch Pikachu on Route 2 (walking, Lv 4, rare).
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 Brock.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 47)
- LV 47ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner
- 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
How to Get Pikachu in Gold & Silver
Easy to miss. Pikachu only appears on Kanto Route 2, rare in the grass there, and nowhere else in either game. That single spot is the whole map, so breed once you finally catch one.
Wild Pikachu may be holding when caught:
Berry (2% chance) A self-restore item. (10HP, HOLD)1 location to catch Pikachu
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Where To Catch Pikachu in GS
- Step 1Breed Pichu from PikachuBREEDINGAvailableLeave Pikachu with a compatible partner at the Goldenrod Pokemon Day Care to receive a Pichu egg.
- Step 3Evolve into Raichu
Bring the right balls: check Pikachu catch odds in the Gold & Silver Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Pikachu in Gold & Silver
Pikachu sticks to a single patch of grass on Route 2 here, so plant yourself there and cycle through encounters; a bred pair chases the same shine if you'd rather hatch eggs. Compare Shiny Pikachu odds across every game
Shiny Pikachu Evolution
3 Forms
Gold & Silver Shiny Pikachu Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is Breed w/ Shiny Parent, about 1 in 64 on each try.
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 Gold & Silver 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.
GS Pikachu Best Moveset
Held ItemLight Ball doubles the Sp. Atk stat, turning 50 into an effective 100 that powers MoveThunderbolt at genuinely threatening levels. 90 Speed goes first against most of the mid-tier. Fragile at 35 HP, but the damage output with Light Ball compensates. The item transforms Pikachu from mascot to legitimate attacker.
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
Base Stats
This intelligent POKéMON roasts hard BERRIES with electricity to make them tender enough to eat.
It raises its tail to check its surroundings. The tail is sometimes struck by lightning in this pose.
Pikachu Gold & Silver Guide
Yes. Wild Pikachu in Gold & Silver 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.
In Gold & Silver, Pikachu has 300 BST and evolves into Raichu. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
Yes. Pikachu is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Pikachu becomes available after the main story is complete in Gold & Silver.
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 · Gold & SilverGold & Silver Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Gold & Silver Tier List