
Is Raichu Good in FireRed & LeafGreen Playthrough?
Raichu is what Yellow never let you have: the Pikachu line at full power. AbilityStatic carries over, still paralyzing on contact. Handles Misty and provides strong Electric coverage against Lorelei and Lance's Gyarados. The Speed and offense boost from evolving matters in every late-game fight. Use the Thunder Stone whenever you're ready.
Brock's Pokemon outpace and outclass Pichu here.
Pikachu has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Lt. Surge's typing presses Pikachu's defenses.
Erika's typing presses Raichu's defenses.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Raichu has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Raichu trades roughly evenly with Giovanni's team.
Raichu resists most of Lorelei's coverage and hits back hard.
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 Terry's team.
Catch Pikachu on Viridian Forest (walking, Lv 3-5, rare).
- After Brock
- TUTORNormalMega Kick12075%5
- After Lt. Surge
- TM34ElectricShock Wave90100%20
- TM28GroundDig80100%10
- LV 26ElectricThunderbolt135100%15
- LV 41ElectricThunder16570%10
- After Koga
- TM01FightingFocus Punch150100%20
- After Giovanni
- TUTORNormalDouble-Edge120100%15
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody Slam85100%15
- TM42NormalFacade70100%20
You can usually obtain this item before you reach Erika.
- STARTING (Lv 24)
- LV 24ElectricThunderbolt135100%15
- After Brock
- TUTORNormalMega Kick12075%5
- After Lt. Surge
- TM34ElectricShock Wave90100%20
- After Erika
- TM25ElectricThunder16570%10
- TM15NormalHyper Beam15090%5
- After Koga
- TM01FightingFocus Punch150100%20
- After Giovanni
- TUTORNormalDouble-Edge120100%15
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody Slam85100%15
- TM42NormalFacade70100%20
How to Get Raichu in FireRed & LeafGreen
Thunder Stone on Pikachu. No wild Raichu in FRLG. You'll need to find or buy the stone, and Pikachu itself only lives in two areas.
Catch Pikachu at any of these 2 spots to eventually evolve into Raichu.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
How to Obtain Raichu in FRLG
The path to Raichu starts with Pichu at Lv. 3-26 via walking encounters. 1 catchable stage total, with locations listed for each one below.
Step 1Breed Pichu from PikachuBREEDINGAvailableLeave Pikachu with a compatible partner at the Four Island Pokemon Day Care to receive a Pichu egg. Requires the Rainbow Pass to access Four Island.HOME TRANSFERNot TradeablePokemon HOME on Switch FireRed & LeafGreen is permanently deposit-only — once it launches, Pichu can be sent from this game into HOME, but never transferred in.
Step 2Catch or Evolve Pikachuor evolve from Pichu (Step 1)
Step 3Raichu ✓
Raichu Weakness
Type-wise, Raichu takes extra damage from Ground. Not many exploitable gaps in the Electric typing defensive chart. Lightning Rod grants an additional Electric immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Raichu's special bulk (base 80 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| 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
What is Raichu Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Raichu
In FireRed & LeafGreen, Tyranitar can KO Raichu with Earthquake (150-177%). Blissey's Ice Beam hits Raichu for 34-41%.
S | ||
Recommended Build AbilitySand Stream ItemLeftovers NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Raichu View Tyranitar builds →Rock Slide56-66% Earthquake 2x150-177%KO | ||
S | ||
Recommended Build AbilityNatural Cure ItemLeftovers NatureModest Moves
Damage vs Raichu View Blissey builds →Ice Beam34-41% | ||
A | ||
Recommended Build AbilityKeeneye ItemLeftovers NatureCareful Moves View Skarmory builds →
| ||
Raichu Evolutions
Raichu evolved from Pichu's chain using an evolution item. It's a non-standard trigger, so check the details below. Breed this form to get Pichu eggs (quick to hatch). The evolution from Pichu pushed Raichu to 475 total stats. Sp.Atk saw the largest single gain at +55. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Raichu to get Pichu eggs easily using 27 partners from the Fairy and Ground egg groups. Notable egg moves include Bide, Charge, Double Slap and 4 more.
FRLG Raichu Best Moveset
90 Sp. Atk at 100 Speed fires MoveThunderbolt from the special side where all Electric moves land. AbilityStatic paralyzes on contact. The moveset hits fast as a pure Electric attacker, though the lack of coverage options means Ground types shut it down completely.
Best Build
Raichu best EVs are Speed and Sp. Atk
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Thunder
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Bide and Charge aren't available any other way for Raichu, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Thunder and Thunderbolt for solid options.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Reminder Moves
Base Stats
Its electric charges can reach even 100,000 volts. Careless contact can cause even an Indian elephant to faint.
Its long tail serves as a ground to protect itself from its own high-voltage power.
Raichu FireRed & LeafGreen Guide
Raichu is obtained in Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen by evolving Pikachu using a Thunder Stone.
Game Availability
Available since Red & Blue, Raichu appears in 23 games spanning 10 generations. Beyond its original form, it gained an Alolan form in Generation 7.
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 7SMAlolan

Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM

Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE

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