Is Raichu Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
Requires a Thunder Stone on Pikachu, which is already rare in Gold and Silver. Ampharos does everything Raichu can do and doesn't need a stone or a rare catch. Skip Raichu unless you specifically want one for the novelty.
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.
Catch Pikachu
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 Raichu in Gold & Silver
Raichu is a Thunder Stone away, never a wild catch. Zap a Pikachu and you are done, though Pikachu itself only turns up on one Kanto route here, so the bottleneck is finding the pre-evolution.
Wild Raichu may be holding when caught:
Berry (2% chance) A self-restore item. (10HP, HOLD)Catch Pikachu at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Raichu.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8How to Obtain Raichu in GS
- Step 1Breed Pichu from PikachuBREEDINGAvailableLeave Pikachu with a compatible partner at the Goldenrod Pokemon Day Care to receive a Pichu egg.
- Step 3Raichu ✓
How to Get Shiny Raichu in Gold & Silver
Raichu forms only under a Thunder Stone, so you hunt its shine as a Pikachu, and Route 2 is the one patch of grass where Pikachu appears before you apply the stone. Compare Shiny Raichu odds across every game
Shiny Raichu Evolution
3 Forms
Gold & Silver Shiny Raichu 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 Raichu in the Gold & Silver Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Raichu Weakness
Type-wise, Raichu takes extra damage from Ground. Not many exploitable gaps in the Electric typing defensive 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
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Raichu Weak Against
Good
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 16 partners from the Fairy and Field egg groups. Notable egg moves include Bide, Double Slap, Encore and 2 more.
GS Raichu Best Moveset
90 Sp. Atk fires MoveThunderbolt solidly, and 100 Speed goes first against most of the field. Held ItemLeftovers adds recovery, but Held ItemLight Ball Pikachu now hits at the same Sp. Atk while Jolteon outpaces it entirely. Functional Electric attacker caught between the alternatives.
Best Build
Support Moveset
- Thunder
- Surf
- Encore
- Thunder Wave
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Bide and Double Slap aren't available any other way for Raichu, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Zap Cannon and Thunder 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.
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
23 of 29 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
When its electricity builds, its muscles are stimulated, and it becomes more aggressive than usual.
If the electric pouches in its cheeks become fully charged, both ears will stand straight up.
Raichu Gold & Silver Guide
Yes. Raichu is not available during the main story. It can only be obtained after entering the Hall of Fame. Raichu becomes available after the main story is complete in Gold & Silver.
In Gold & Silver, Raichu plays as a pivot. It outspeeds most threats, so it can pressure opponents before they move. Thunder is the primary attack.
Yes. Alolan Raichu is a regional variant with different typing and a reworked stat spread. Introduced in Gen 7. Plays completely differently from the original.
Game Availability
Available since Red & Blue, Raichu appears in 22 games spanning 9 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 7Let's Go
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
Explore
Where to go next after Raichu.
Keep playing · Gold & SilverGold & Silver Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Gold & Silver Tier List