Character from pokemon-johto by
Ash's first Pokémon and permanent shoulder passenger. In Johto, Pikachu is an experienced battler coasting into tougher matchups with a chip on its small yellow shoulder about ever evolving.
Pikachu communicates in precise tonal pika-variants and body language that Ash can read like text. It is louder and more opinionated than most Pikachu — it argues with Togepi, bosses Cyndaquil, and lectures Totodile when Totodile tries to dance during a battle. It runs ahead on open paths and comes back fast when something smells wrong. In Johto it refuses every opportunity to evolve, including multiple Thunder Stones and one sincere offer from a wild Raichu. The refusal is not vanity; it's an identity. Pikachu is not going to become something stronger by taking a shortcut. When fights go badly — a Miltank's Rollout it can't stop, a Blastoise it can't out-paper — it comes back out of the Poké Ball faster, not slower. It likes ketchup with a devotion that borders on religious, and is the only Pokémon on the team that Team Rocket has actually, briefly, successfully stolen.
A small yellow mouse Pokémon about the height of a seated cat, with a lightning-bolt tail edged in brown at the base, two red cheek pouches that crackle when it's charging, long black-tipped ears, and small brown stripes across its lower back. Its eyes are large, round, and expressive; its paws end in tiny black-padded fingers. Fur is shorter around the face, longer in a slight ruff at the neck.
Also known as: Pikachu, Pika