Pokemon Yellow Starter: Pikachu
Pikachu is your only starter in Yellow, and it never evolves while it's your starter. It's a hard road: it wins only 2 of the 13 boss fights we rate, and 7 are Tough or Bad. The other three Kanto starters are free Lv 10 gifts, waiting in Cerulean City, on Route 24 and in Vermilion City.
Pikachu's Stats and Evolution in Yellow
Pikachu
electricLv 5, Oak's Pokemon Lab, Pallet TownEvolution
Never evolves as your starter. Other Pikachu evolve with a Thunder Stone.
Base statsPikachu
Gen 1 has one Special stat, so this chart has five points.
- Total
- 260
| Boss | Result and score out of 100 |
|---|---|
| Brock | Tough, 35.6 |
| Misty | Good, 63.8 |
| Lt. Surge | Bad, 26.0 |
| Erika | Tough, 37.2 |
| Koga | Even, 56.8 |
| Sabrina | Tough, 42.7 |
| Blaine | Tough, 42.4 |
| Giovanni | Tough, 29.7 |
| Lorelei | Good, 60.9 |
| Bruno | Even, 46.5 |
| Agatha | Even, 50.7 |
| Lance | Even, 46.9 |
| Blue | Tough, 41.4 |
Wins 2 of 13
- Strong
- Good
- Even
- Tough
- Bad
- Score 50
How to Get Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Eevee
Yellow hands out all three Kanto starters for free at Lv 10, so one save can hold the whole set. The Celadon Mansion Eevee is the same species your rival starts with.
Yellow Boss Fights, Rated for Pikachu
13 fights in story orderLt. Surge only uses one Pokemon in Yellow, a Lv 28 Raichu, and it's Pikachu's only Bad fight. Brock's Onix is Tough before that. Misty and Lorelei are its two wins.
Each cell is that starter's rating for the fight, scored 0 to 100. Tap a row for the boss team.
Ratings come from our matchup model: your starter's form, level, moves and stats at each fight against that boss team. Not a tier list.
| Boss |  Pikachu |
|---|---|
| Gyms · 8 | 1 won · 6 Tough |
Tough35.6 | |
Good63.8 | |
Bad26.0 | |
Tough37.2 | |
Even56.8 | |
Tough42.7 | |
Tough42.4 | |
Tough29.7 | |
| Pokemon League · 5 | 1 won · 1 Tough |
Good60.9 | |
Even46.5 | |
Even50.7 | |
Even46.9 | |
Tough41.4 |
Blue's Champion team depends on your two early rival battles. The row rates the team the counts use (his Vaporeon team, the hardest of the three); open the row to see each team and its rating.
Best Team for Pikachu in Yellow
5 teammates for Pikachu · all obtainable in YellowStarmie, 1st among Yellow teammates in our ranking, leads Pikachu's team, with Lapras 5th and Haunter 6th. Lapras is a gift on Silph Co 7F. Clefable and Parasect both start in Mt. Moon, so two teammates are on hand before Misty.
- BrockTough 36
- Lt. SurgeBad 26
- ErikaTough 37
- SabrinaTough 43
- BlaineTough 42
- GiovanniTough 30
- BlueTough 41
This team wins 12 of 13 boss fights. It wins 6 of Pikachu's 7 Tough or Bad fights; it doesn't win Brock.
Between them, the team resists every type Pikachu is weak to.
- Clefable
normalGood or Strong in 7 of 12 fights after you catch it
Where: Mt. Moon B2FWhen: Before Gym 2 (Misty)Level: Lv 9 to 13
- ErikaGood 62
- GiovanniGood 60
- BlueGood 58
- Parasect
bug
grassThe only teammate that wins Lt. Surge and Sabrina, where Pikachu is Tough or Bad
Where: Mt. Moon B1FWhen: Before Gym 2 (Misty)Level: Lv 9 to 11
- Lt. SurgeGood 62
- ErikaGood 66
- SabrinaGood 70
- Haunter
ghost
poison6th of 63 Yellow teammates in our boss-fight scores
Where: Pokemon Tower 3F, rareWhen: Before Gym 5 (Koga)Level: Lv 20 to 25
You catch it as Haunter.
- KogaStrong 75
- GiovanniGood 60
- BrunoStrong 79
- Starmie
water
psychic1st of 63 Yellow teammates in our boss-fight scores
Where: Pallet Town, with the Super RodWhen: Before Gym 5 (Koga)Level: Lv 5 to 10
- BlaineStrong 77
- GiovanniStrong 75
- BlueGood 62
- Lapraswater
ice5th of 63 Yellow teammates in our boss-fight scores
Where: Silph Co 7F, a giftWhen: Before Gym 6 (Sabrina)Level: Lv 15
Doesn't evolve.
- BlaineStrong 73
- GiovanniStrong 72
- BlueGood 60
Every teammate is a wild catch or a gift in Yellow, with no trading between games. It counts only for fights after you can catch it, and an evolution only once you can reach its item. Rare means under 1 in 10 wild encounters there. Teammates are ranked by how they do in the boss fights after you catch them, and a late catch ranks lower because it misses fights. At least two of the five join before a quarter of the boss fights are done. Every teammate is in the top third of that ranking. No two of the six (your starter and its five teammates) have exactly the same typing, and no type appears on more than two of them or hits more than two for super effective damage. The six always include a physical attacker, a special attacker, a fast Pokemon and a bulky one. Wins in your starter's Tough or Bad fights count extra, and legendary and mythical Pokemon are left out. Scores come from the Boss fights model, for the teammate's form at that fight.
Key Moves for Pikachu in Yellow
Thunderbolt comes at Lv 26, right at our Lt. Surge checkpoint, and Pikachu is still rated Bad there. Thunder follows at Lv 41. Each of Pikachu's Yellow moves has its level on Pikachu's Yellow page.
| Lv | Move | Type | Category | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electric, Special, power 40 | electric Special | Special | 40 |
| 8 | Electric, Status | electric Status | Status | None |
| 15 | Normal, Status | normalStatus | Status | None |
| 20 | Normal, Physical, power 80 | normal Physical | Physical | 80 |
| 26 | Electric, Special, power 95 | electricSpecial | Special | 95 |
| 33 | Psychic, Status | psychicStatus | Status | None |
| 41 | Electric, Special, power 120 | electricSpecial | Special | 120 |
In Gen 1 to 3, a move's type decides if it is physical or special.
More Yellow guides
Raichu gets a Yellow page of its own, for a second Pikachu you evolve with a Thunder Stone. Anything else you're weighing for the team is on the best Pokemon in Yellow list.
Starters in other games
Red and Blue give you the choice Yellow doesn't, and Squirtle is the top pick there. Let's Go Pikachu takes Yellow's idea further, with Pikachu as your partner in that version.