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Overview
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- Pikachu has a unique niche in the fact that its offenses are doubled if it holds a Light Ball, which is basically the only reason to use it.
- Good Speed stat laying at base 90s lets it outspeed several Pokemon in the metagame.
- Lackluster movepool, but just enough coverage options Pikachu can profit from during battle.
- Pikachu is extremely frail with defenses laying at 40/50, and thus it can easily be revenge killed by priority.
- Pikachu has several illegal ability and movepool combinations, such as Lightning Rod + Extreme Speed.
- No real good ability, since Pikachu is not gonna take hits anyway Static does not provide very much utility.
- Pretty much outclassed by Raichu and Zebstrika because of their superior Speed, bulk, and movepool.
Physical Attacker
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name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Wild Charge / Volt Tackle
move 2: Icicle Crash / Extreme Speed
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Substitute / Iron Tail
ability: Lightning Rod / Static
item: Light Ball
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
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- Wild Charge is a powerful STAB move for Pikachu and hits Water-types such as Poliwrath for super effective damage, but does induce some recoil.
- Volt Tackle is a secondary option for more power than Wild Charge, but more recoil, and is also illegal with Extreme Speed
- Icicle Crash has good power and hits Ground-types immune to Electric very hard, such as Marowak and Golem.
- Extreme Speed is a powerful priority attack which can pick off weakened foes, but is illegal with Volt Tackle.
- Knock Off is a great utility move which removes the opponent's item after use, which can be useful against item-reliant Pokemon. For example, hitting Marowak on the switch in with Knock Off is very useful, as its Attack will be halved due the loss of Thick Club.
- Substitute can be used in the last slot to prevent Pikachu from getting revenge killed easily.
- Iron Tail is a last option in the fourth slot for great power, and it hits Pokemon such as Aurorus and Piloswine for good damage.
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- Lightning Rod is the primary ability of choice as it provides an immunity to Electric-type attacks.
- Static should be used if Extreme Speed is ran, as running Extreme Speed + Lightning Rod is illegal.
- Light Ball is one of the very few reasons to use Pikachu, as it doubles both its offensive stats.
- Max Attack for hitting as hard as possible, Max Speed + Jolly for speed tying base 90s such as Mr. Mime.
- Pikachu-Belle should always be used with this set as the other formes cannot learn Icicle Crash.
- If Grass Knot is ran, make sure to use a Naive nature as Jolly will cut its damage output.
Usage Tips
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- Pikachu can be sent in to revenge kill slower Pokemon after a teammate has fainted, or pick off weakened foes with Extreme Speed.
- Pikachu can be sent in to break through several physically defensive Pokemon such as Pelipper and Poliwrath after a teammate has fainted.
- Pikachu should be carefully with using Wild Charge or Volt Tackle, as these will wear it down very quickly due to its low HP stat.
- Substitute up on the predicted switch if it is ran, as it prevents Pikachu from being checked easily.
Team Options
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- Pokemon that can switch into Ground-type attacks for Pikachu, such as Pelipper, Solrock and Haunter, make for good partners.
- Physical wallbreakers such as Swords Dance Leafeon make good partners to weaken physical walls for Pikachu which it can't get past itself..
- Slow Volt Switch or U-turn users, such as Rotom-F and Lumineon can provide a safe switch in for Pikachu and thus are very good choices.
- Teammates such as Throh that can beat common priority users such as Kecleon, Purguly and Mightyena are considered good teammates too.
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- Pikachu-Rock-Star can be used because Meteor Mash is a decent move, but lacks good coverage. The other Pikachu formes have no niche.
- Agility is an option to boost Pikachu's Speed and lets it outspeed faster Pokemon such as Sneasel and beat them, but it finds a hard time setting up.
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**Gourgeist**: All formes of Gourgeist can take Pikachu's attack with ease and stall it out, or beat it with a STAB attack.
**Ground-types**: Ground-types such as Golem, Marowak and Piloswine can easily OHKO Pikachu with their STAB attacks. They former two must be wary of Icicle Crash though as well as of Grass Knot, and Golem and Piloswine must be wary of Iron Tail, too.
**Priority**: As Pikachu is extremely frail, strong priority users such as Mightyena, Pawniard, and Kecleon, are good checks to Pikachu.
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf users such as Haunter, Tauros, Mr Mime, and Sawsbuck, but also faster Pokemon such as Sneasel, can all outspeed Raichu and KO it with a STAB attack. They all hate Extreme Speed, though.
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