Pikachu may be cute and lovable, but its consistent use across the entire Pokémon franchise has left Raichu without much to its own name.
Pikachu wasn’t always intended to be the Pokémon series’ mascot, but once it was bestowed the title, one Pokémon’s prospects were irrevocably ruined: Raichu. When Pikachu’s casting as Ash’s trusty partner in the Pokémon animated series solidified its spot as the face of the franchise, Raichu’s fate was sealed. Despite being a fantastic Pokémon in its own right, Raichu has been extremely neglected across all forms of Pokémon media in favor of its pre-evolution.
The Pokémon anime has massive influence in the franchise overall, taking concepts from the video games and applying them in a way that’s marketable while also telling a unique story. While this can lead to some fun scenarios, it means that, generally, the anime will feature Pokémon that receive new video game gimmicks, such as Gen 8’s Gigantamax Pokémon in Sword and Shield, and that video game gimmicks will most likely be given to Pokémon that are guaranteed to appear in the anime. This, of course, means Pikachu – but not Raichu.
Because Pikachu needs to continue to appear in the Pokémon anime, Ash’s Pikachu doesn’t want to evolve, and Ash is content with Pikachu’s decision. This wouldn’t be too bad if there were other Raichu that appeared who could get some time in the spotlight; but instead, the classic anime storyline opted to portray Raichu as mean and unappealing – an ill-natured Pokémon used by unkind Trainers. This started with Raichu’s first major anime appearance as an arrogant Pokémon used by the rude and then-American Pokémon character Lt. Surge. This continued in the first Pikachu short movie, Pikachu’s Vacation, where a Raichu appears as part of a group of bullies who torment Pikachu and its friends. Pikachu gets to be portrayed as reasonable and heroic while trying to stop the two groups from fighting. Meanwhile, Raichu eggs Pikachu on and starts their memorable race competition. While Raichu’s anime depictions have generally gotten better over time, the damage has been done, and the obligation to keep the attention on Pikachu has naturally pushed Raichu aside.
How Raichu Is Neglected Even In The Pokémon Games
The Pokémon video games and anime subtly influence each other, and Pikachu’s popularity has kept Raichu at bay. In the games, many Trainer NPCs opt to use Pikachu instead of the secretly cooler Raichu, even in later parts of the game when their high-leveled Pokémon should have long since evolved to keep their base stat totals up to par. There are two big deviations from this norm. The first was the unfortunately unremarkable X and Y character Trevor, who evolves his Pikachu into Raichu likely to represent his desire to fill out his Pokédex. The second was Sun and Moon’s rival character Hau, who uses an Alolan Raichu as his ace teammate.
Hau was likely given an Alolan Raichu to showcase the new regional variant, which is notable for being the first (and only) time Raichu has received a special gimmick of its own. While Gen 6 didn’t give Raichu a Mega Evolution, it did have Cosplay Pikachu, a recognizable Pokémon character in its own right thanks to Pikachu Libre’s appearances in Super Smash Bros. and Pokkén Tournament. Gen 8 also gave a Gigantamax form to Pikachu, but unfortunately – yet unsurprisingly – not to Raichu.
Even games like Pokémon GO see similar levels of Raichu neglect. All event Raichu evolve from the equivalent Pikachu, but there are numerous event Pikachu that can’t evolve into Raichu, leaving Raichu with fewer costumes and none all its own. Even Sun and Moon made sure to give Pikachu and Cap Pikachu their own Z-Moves. No matter the piece of Pokémon media, Raichu seems cursed to never be allowed to stand on its own from Pikachu.
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