Pikachu is the most iconic Pokémon of the entire franchise, hands down. As such, it has received many variations and homages throughout the years. These include its pre-evolution, Pichu, a slew of costumed forms, several copycat Pokémon (looking at you, Mimikyu), and Gen 7's Alolan Raichu.

While it seems most of Pikachu's costumes got lost in baggage claim, a few hats made it through. Pikachu's entire evolution chain made the journey to Galar as well, including the region exclusive Alolan Raichu. Here's the Pikachu low down in Sword & Shield.

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Finding Pichu and Pikachu

If you want to raise it all the way from a baby, Pichu is available in max raids. Players can find it in dens within Giant's Cap, Hammerlocke Hills, and Motostoke Riverbank. However, Pikachu is more readily attainable within Sword & Shield.

Pikachu can be found along Route 4 in all weather, or in the Wild Area amidst the Rolling Fields and Stony Wilderness during thunderstorms. Max raid dens in Giant's Cap, Giant's Mirror, Hammerlocke Hills, Lake of Outrage, and Motostoke Riverbank, also host Pikachu battles.

Pikachu Wearing Caps!

There are several unique forms of Pikachu wearing various hats that were initially exclusive to the Alolan region. Thanks to Pokémon Homehowever, these fashionable iterations can be transferred to Sword & Shield.

To celebrate the series' twentieth anniversary and the I Choose You! movie release, Sun & Moon introduced six variants of Pikachu wearing different versions of Ash's cap as mementos to the iconic duo's adventures throughout the years.

These variants consist of Ash's original cap along with the ones from Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola. Ultra Sun & Moon then brought Ash's hat from the twelfth movie to the game. As another homage to our eternally 10-year old hero and his non-evolving Pikachu, these cap-wearing Pikachu also cannot evolve.

Via youtube.com/ProsafiaGaming

Evolving Pichu

Pichu evolves into Pikachu by leveling up with a happiness value of 220. True to its lore since Gen 1, Pikachu can only evolve into Raichu when holding a Thunderstone upon leveling up.

For Pikachu to evolve into Alolan Raichu, players will have to catch a native Alolan Pikachu in Sun & Moon or Ultra Sun & Moon and transfer it to Sword & Shield via Pokémon Home. When players level this Pikachu while holding a Thunderstone, it will evolve into Raichu's Alolan form.

Electrifying Moves

Despite its popularity, Pikachu doesn't have outstanding stats, so it's best to play up its speed strength as much as possible with moves like Agility or Electro Ball. Any move that causes paralysis such as Spark, Discharge, or Thunderbolt is a good bet as well.

Players devout enough to find all variants of Cap Pikachu will no doubt be on a mission to find and catch 'em all, so be sure to check out TheGamer's master-dex for Sword & Shield!

Source: SerebiiTwinfinite, Bulbapedia

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