The Pikachu-family Pokémon, also known as electric rodents or Pikaclones, are an iconic set of Pokémon. Each generation features the debut of one or more Pikachu-family Pokémon, with the first two being Pikachu and its evolution, Raichu.
The term “Pikachu family” is not an official term; it is a fan-made term, similar to the term “Eeveelution.”
Traits[]
Every member is an Electric-type rodent with cheek pouches. Further, they are all in the Field and/or Fairy egg groups, with the exception of Pichu, like all Baby Pokémon, in the No Eggs Discovered egg group. All members have names that are nearly identical to their Japanese names with the largest deviations being found in the Pawmi line.
Members[]
- Pikachu (Generation I)
- Partner Pikachu (Generation VII)
- Gigantamax Pikachu (Generation VIII)
- Raichu (Generation I)
- Alolan Raichu (Generation VII)
- Pichu (Generation II)
- Plusle (Generation III)
- Minun (Generation III)
- Pachirisu (Generation IV)
- Emolga (Generation V)
- Dedenne (Generation VI)
- Togedemaru (Generation VII)
- Morpeko (Generation VIII)
- Pawmi (Generation IX)
- Pawmo (Generation IX)
- Pawmot (Generation IX)
Anime[]
Main[]
- Ash received a Pikachu as his very first Pokémon, and it can even Gigantamax. Before Ash owned him, Pikachu had been once a Pichu, as seen in a flashback prior to the series' first season.
- Dawn caught a Pachirisu she uses in many of her contests.
- Iris caught an Emolga when she decided to travel with her.
- Clemont caught a Dedenne on Bonnie's behalf so she could take care of him, and she even decided to have him as her partner when she became a Trainer.
- Sophocles has a Togedemaru that he received prior to the series.
- Team Rocket had a Morpeko with them until James caught it.
- Goh caught his own Pikachu but he evolved her into a Raichu with a Thunder Stone.
Recurring[]
- Ritchie owns a Pikachu, which is nicknamed Sparky.
- Ursula has a Plusle and Minun.
- Tierno owns a Raichu.
- Hau has an Alolan Raichu.
- Professor Friede has a Pikachu, which is nicknamed Captain Pikachu.
- Rising Volt Tacklers own a Pawmi.
Trivia[]
- Currently, all generations have introduced at least one Pikachu-family Pokémon.
- Throughout each generation:
- Generation II is the only generation to introduce a new member that was not an entirely new species—in this case, Pichu.
- Generation III is the only generation to introduce two new similar members—in this case, Plusle and Minun.
- Generation V is the only generation to repeat a species to its introduced member albeit in a different manner; in this case, Emolga is a flying squirrel while Pachirisu is a land squirrel.
- In addition, Emolga was the first Pikaclone to be a dual type. In this case, it is an Electric/ -type Pokémon.
- Generation VI introduces the smallest rodent, namely Dedenne.
- Generation VII introduces the first and currently only regional variant of a Pikachu-family Pokémon, that being Alolan Raichu. It also gives us Mimikyu which falls into the same boat as Marill.
- Generation IX marks the very first time where all three stages of a Pikachu-family Pokémon species' evolution line (Pawmi, Pawmo and Pawmot) to be introduced in a same generation, unlike Generation II, where Pikachu and Raichu's stage 1 form, Pichu was only introduced after Generation I.
- Pikachu and Pawmi are the only family members that are part of an evolutionary line.
- In Generation I, Raichu was originally intended to have an evolution named Gorochu (Japanese: ゴロチュウ Gorochū). However, the idea was scrapped for multiple reasons. It had large fangs and a horn.[1]
- All of the unevolved dual-type Pikachu-family Pokémon have at least one type immunity.
- From Generations IV through VII , in the anime, a companion of Ash has a Pikachu-family Pokémon on their team or as a partner coinciding with the current generation of mainline Pokémon games. Dawn has a Pachirisu, Iris has an Emolga, Clemont has a Dedenne and Sophocles has a Togedemaru.
- Goh, Ash's primary traveling companion in Alola, does not own a Morpeko. However, he did own a Pikachu, which later evolved into a Kantonian Raichu.
- James' Morpeko from Team Rocket could be counted, although this would mark the first time the anime has a Pikaclone that is owned by an antagonistic group.
- Due to its visual similarities and being deliberately based on Pikachu, Mimikyu could also be seen as a Pikachu-family Pokémon, though it does not meet most requirements of other Pikaclone Pokémon.
- From Professor Laventon's Pokédex entry about Pachirisu being related to Pikachu, it is heavily implied the other Pikachu-family members are closely associated with the Pikachu evolutionary line itself despite not having any evolutionary forms.