
Is Pikachu Good in Yellow Playthrough?
Your starter in Yellow. Pikachu follows you around and refuses to evolve with a Thunder Stone, so you're locked into base stats for the entire game. Electric handles Misty and every Water trainer along the way, but Brock is immune and the low defenses make physical hits dangerous. Carries through mid-game on type coverage alone, then falls behind at the E4 where opponents demand more power than Pikachu can deliver.
Brock's typing presses Raichu's defenses.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Lt. Surge's typing presses Raichu's defenses.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Giovanni's team hits Raichu's weaknesses hard.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Lorelei's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Starter
Pikachu is available as a starter at Lv 5.
Recommended Moves
- LV 8ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- LV 26ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Lt. Surge
- TM05NormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Celadon Department Store
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 41ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10
How to Get Pikachu in Yellow
Pikachu is your starter in Yellow, handed to you by Professor Oak in Pallet Town at level 5. This is the only one in the game, so there's no wild Pikachu to back it up.
1 location to catch Pikachu
How to Obtain Pikachu in Y
Step 1Pikachu ✓
Step 2Evolve into Raichu
Pikachu Weakness
Ground moves hit Pikachu for super-effective damage. Few weaknesses and 2 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 |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Pikachu Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Pikachu
Pikachu Evolutions
You'll evolve Pikachu into Raichu the traditional way. This Electric type doesn't breed despite having a chain ahead. The evolved forms gain up to 175 total stats over Pikachu. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Y Pikachu Best Moveset
The franchise mascot with 55 Attack and 50 Special behind the moves. MoveThunderbolt chips from a Special stat that Raichu improves to 90. Speed at 90 means going first, but every hit lands as small damage. Thunder Stone is the answer.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Thunder Wave
- Quick Attack
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Level-up moves are just the starting point for Pikachu. TMs unlock Normal and Fighting coverage and turn a straightforward STAB kit around Thunder and Thunderbolt into something with actual range.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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 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 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
All 22 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It keeps its tail raised to monitor its surroundings. If you yank its tail, it will try to bite you.
Pikachu Yellow Guide
For Yellow, you can run Pikachu through the first few routes without issues. 310 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.