On the morning that Ash was to start his Pokémon journey, he woke up late and by the time he reached Oak's laboratory, all of the beginner Pokémon were already taken. However,
Professor Samuel Oak did have one Pokémon left, a wild Pikachu. At first, Pikachu did not like
Ash Ketchum and would refuse to enter his PokéBall. He would often laugh at
Ash Ketchum's failures and refused to listen to him. However, after
Ash Ketchum proved his loyalty to Pikachu by protecting him from a flock of Spearow, and thus began to earn Pikachu's trust and respect. The two have since become best friends and Pikachu never leaves
Ash Ketchum's side.
Since the day Team Rocket first encountered Pikachu, it has been their sole goal to capture it. Day after day, their plan to capture Pikachu has been thwarted mainly due to Pikachu's amazingly powerful Thunderbolt that keeps on blasting them off.
On numerous occasions, Pikachu has made it evident that he is happy being a Pikachu and has no desire to evolve into a more powerful Raichu. It has proven time and time again that it is a powerful and worth opponent to any Pokémon that dares to battle it.
Gym Battle against Burgh's Leavanny
Ash's Pikachu was then sent out to battle
Burgh's Leavanny.
Burgh's Leavanny managed to tie up
Ash's Pikachu with
String Shot but unlike
Ash's Swadloon who was able to break free,
Ash's Pikachu ended up getting hit with a couple of
Leaf Storm attacks and a
Hyper Beam before it rolled into another of
Burgh's Leavanny's
Leaf Storm attacks to break the string off its body so it could attack. Freed from the
String Shot,
Burgh's Leavanny tried to tie it up again but
Ash's Pikachu managed to avoid it with its speed and then knocked
Burgh's Leavanny out with a combination of
Iron Tail and
Electro Ball.
Gym Battle against Elesa
Elesa's Emolga knocked out
Ash's Snivy and was then matched up with
Ash's Pikachu.
Ash's Pikachu made quick work of
Elesa's Emolga and knocked it out with one attack, its
Iron Tail.
Elesa's Tynamo was the last Pokémon that she used in her gym battle against
Ash Ketchum. It was matched up against
Ash's Pikachu who had just defeated her Emonga.
Ash's Pikachu had a hard time defending against the fast
Tackle attack that
Elesa's Tynamo kept hitting it with but
Ash's Pikachu used its
Thunderbolt to create a large dust cloud leaving only a small corridor for
Ash's Pikachu to focus on it and so
Elesa's Tynamo couldn't maneuver out of the way.
Ash's Pikachu one hit K.O'd
Elesa's Tynamo with a
Iron Tail. The loss gave
Ash Ketchum the overall victory.
Battle against Alder's Bouffalant
Ash Ketchum challenged
Alder to a battle and he accepted though he had been walking all night and was actually quite tired.
Alder sent out his Buffron to battle
Ash's Pikachu but just as the battle started,
Alder fell asleep standing up and didn't give any orders to his Buffron.
Alder's Bouffalant stood still as
Ash's Pikachu began hitting it with attack after attack until it
Alder's Bouffalant finally got mad at
Alder and charged at him and set him flying into a tree. After that,
Alder's Bouffalant no longer wished to battle and
Alder conceded the battle.
Gym Battle against Skyla
In
Skyla air battle simulation,
Ash's Tranquill was matched up against
Skyla's Unfezant and since her Pokémon was the highest evolved form, she determined that her Pokémon would be the winner in that match-up. In the actual gym battle,
Ash's Tranquill was up against
Skyla's Unfezant which was the match-up just after
Ash's Tranquill had defeated
Skyla's Swoobat.
Skyla's Unfezant proved to be stronger and faster than
Ash's Tranquill, so
Ash Ketchum recalled it and set out
Ash's Pikachu.
Ash's Pikachu had a definite advantage over
Skyla's Unfezant with its electric attacks and it quickly knocked it out with its
Electro Ball attack.
Just after
Ash's Pikachu ended up knocking out
Skyla's Unfezant,
Skyla's Swanna was sent out to battle against it.
Skyla had been watching her grandpa's battle videos and noticed that he used the move
Aqua Ring to defend against Electric attacks. She used that same defense against
Ash's Pikachu which nullified its Electric attacks. It's
Iron Tail also couldn't hit it so high in the air.
Ash Ketchum then noticed the rings in the air and Pikachu jumped up on them and managed to hit
Skyla's Swanna but not directly.
Ash's Pikachu was now up in the air though and
Skyla's Swanna had the advantage there and it quickly knocked
Ash's Pikachu out with a powerful
Brave Bird attack.
Battle Against Trip's Serperior at the Isshu League
Ash's Pikachu participated in the Isshu League in the preliminary match where it is was matched up against
Trip's Serperior.
Cilan noted that
Trip's Serperior speed and its attack power had leveled up quite a bit too since the last time they saw it. The match was pretty one sided for a long time as
Ash's Pikachu wasn't able to counter its speed and ended up getting wrapped up. After using
Iron Tail on the ground to get loose,
Ash's Pikachu used a combination attack of
Iron Tail and
Electro Ball to one hit KO
Trip's Serperior. As a result,
Trip was eliminated from the Isshu League and
Ash Ketchum advanced to the next round.
Z-Move Gigavolt Havoc
Tapu Koko is the guardian deity of Melemele Island. It watched
Ash Ketchum a couple times during his first day in Alola. After the battle with Skull Gang, he spotted it but no one else did. Later that night, it appeared again and
Ash Ketchum followed it.
Tapu Koko presented Ash with a Z-Ring which he accepted.
It appeared at the Pokémon School the next day and took Ash's hat. He quickly followed it into the forest where
Tapu Koko challenged Ash to a battle.
Tapu Koko is a Pokémon that is positively brimming with curiosity and ever since the olden days, there have been instances of it challenging islanders to Pokémon battles or to Alolan sumo wrestling matches.
Ash's Pikachu battled it and difference in power between the two was initially too big.
Tapu Koko then came and activated the Z-Ring and the Electric-Z on
Ash Ketchum's arm but he didn't have the slightest clue what he was supposed to do. He managed to fire off Sparking Gigavolt which
Tapu Koko was able to defend and then fled the battle.
Melemele Island Pilgrimage Grand Trial battle vs Hala's Hariyama
During the Grand Trial battle against
Ash's Pikachu,
Hala's Hariyama used Fake Out to set up Knock Off in a manner that came as a complete surprise to
Rotom Pokédex.
Professor Kukui thought it was a magnificent combo. Pikachu tried to counterattack with Electro Ball but it didn't work.
Ash Ketchum instructed
Ash's Pikachu to use Quick Attack and run circles around Hariteyama until it used Iron Tail on its legs to create a combo attack of their own.
Ash's Pikachu won the match by using the Z-Move Breakneck Blitz which knocked out Hariyama and gave
Ash Ketchum the win in the Melemele Island Pilgrimage Grand Trial battle!
Alola Pokémon League semifinals
In the second match of the Alola Pokémon League semifinals,
Guzma's Golisopod had a rematch battle against Pikachu. Ash changed up the tactics from their last battle and they managed to get a Thunderbolt hit right to the gut of Golisopod, finally taking down its defense. With both Pokémon having taken a lot of damage, Pikachu used the Z-Move Gigavolt Havoc but Golisopod withstood it. Determined to win the match, Pikachu's Iron Tail landed the final blow to defeat Golisopod, sending Ash to the Alola League finals.
Alola Pokémon League Finals
In the Alola League finals,
Gladion's Zoroark was sent out in disguise with an illusion as Lycanroc. After a Thunderbolt from Pikachu, the illusion failed and
Ash Ketchum realized he was fighting a Zoroark.
Gladion thought there was nothing that could outmaneuver Zoroark’s Never-Ending Nightmare Z-Move but Pikachu countered with Breakneck Blitz and both Pikachu and Zoroark were knocked out at the same time.