By Matt
Even before I was a Quilava fan, the very first Pokemon I knew of was Raichu. That’s because when I was young, I remember going to an event hosted by my dad’s company. I was about 7 (or younger) and there were games you could play to get tickets. I saw a Raichu plush, and it stood out of the other prizes.
We had a whole day to do whatever we wanted, and so I was finally able to get the Raichu, thus making my love in Pokemon even stronger. Even though it’s only about 5 inches tall, it’s huggable and soft, and I bet in a few decades, it will become a collector’s item. Raichu, like Pikachu, is a Mouse Pokemon, and its ability is Static, which can cause paralysis (30% chance) to the opponent when Raichu gets hit by a physical attack. If you’re lucky enough to find it in the Pokemon Dream World, its new ability will be Lightningrod, which is sort of like Follow Me, but only with Electric-type moves. It won’t take any damage; it will take these attacks and raise its Special Attack by one stage.
You get Raichu by exposing a regular Pikachu to a Thunder Stone. Unlike natural evolution (by leveling), where you can press B to stop it, this stone will not be affected by button mashing. Its first egg group is Ground, and its second is Fairy (that made me crack up). This means it can breed with any Pokemon that are in these groups. Otherwise, catch a Ditto (which can be found in nearly every game) and make it a breeding partner. Some Pokemon have unique moves when they are in that stage. However, if you evolve Pikachu too early (like Lt. Surge did), it will not learn any of its good moves and will have to rely on TMs. Nasty Plot, which Pichu learns at level 18, will raise your Special Attack by two levels (making all special attacks 200% damage). This is the last move that Pichu learns, so now you don’t have to press B to stop its evolution (this is only if you feed it Vitamins and want to EV train it). Its best base stat is Speed, going into triple digits (100).
What I like about breeding Pichus from Raichus is that it doesn’t take too many steps to hatch. Unlike other favorites I have, like Buizel (about 8,000) and Lanturn (about 5,000), Raichu has 2,560 steps to hatch an egg. Something to look out for is Raichu’s Defense stat; at 55, it is very weak compared to its other stats. This is far from all its other stats, except HP, at 60, and should be heavily guarded.
Its weakness comes from only Ground-type moves, which is a mix of both physical and special moves. If you treat Raichu with care and attention, it will definitely reward you in battle, where you can take out many Pokemon with a single hit. And remember, proceed with caution when pitted against Pokemon that rely on physical attacks. Raichu rocks; enough said.
Tags: Nintendo DS, Pichu, Pikachu, Pokemon Black & White, Raichu