The reason Pikachu was chosen to be the mascot, was because of its popularity. It was a brilliant marketing scheme, by taking advantage of the popularity of Pikachu from the games, and incorporating it into the anime and merchandise, sales had soared. The dynamic yet cute relationship between Ash and Pikachu was also another factor to bring up the sales. Tajiri : It's interesting, because in Japan, everybody goes for Pikachu.
In the U. American kids seem to like that. In America there are more products sold with Ash and Pikachu together, not just Pikachu alone. The Japanese focus on Pikachu, but what I think is important is the human aspect--you need Ash.
According to Pikachu's entry in wikipedia which stated:. However, with the production of the animated series, Pikachu was chosen as the primary mascot, in an attempt to appeal to female viewers and their mothers, and under the belief that the creature presented the image of a recognizable intimate pet for children.
Its color was also a deciding factor, as yellow is a primary color and easier for children to recognize from a distance, and with consideration to the fact the only other competing yellow mascot at the time was Winnie-the-Pooh. Though Tajiri acknowledged that the character was relatively popular with both boys and girls, the idea of Pikachu as the mascot was not his own, and stated he felt the human aspect of the series was overlooked by Japanese children who embraced Pikachu by itself more readily.
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Share: Share on Facebook opens in a new tab Share on Twitter opens in a new tab Share on Linkedin opens in a new tab Share on email opens in a new tab Comment: Comments count: 0. Tags: Nintendo Pokemon. Written by Matthew Byrd SilverTuna Read more from Matthew Byrd. Pikachu was in all of Ash's Johto gym battles and was able to help a lot in the Johto League Silver Conference ; with Ash ended in the top eight when they lost to Harrison.
Pikachu was disappointed when Misty and Brock had to go back home but decided to go with Ash to a new region, Hoenn. Pikachu helped settle a feud that was going on between some of them.
When Team Rocket tried to steal him again, Ash got there to save him and the two wound up in a giant magnet until Pikachu destroyed it. However, that next day, Pikachu got sick from his exposure to the magnet. Once they got to Professor Birch's lab, they tried to get the extra Electricity out of Pikachu's system but proved too powerful, causing an explosion and Pikachu wondering off in a daze.
Pikachu kept wandering but was found by Ash. He fell off the cliff while still confused , although he was saved by Ash in the nick of time. They were then pulled up by Professor Birch and a new trainer named May , however, while Ash was climbing Pikachu bit Ash in the arm, but calmed down after realizing who he had just bitten.
Team Rocket showed up which resulted in them helping Pikachu get rid of his extra electricity, but he collapsed after sending them blasting off again.
Pikachu got some rest and felt a lot of better with Ash being by his side until he got up. Pikachu got another close friend in Max , May's little brother, and was happy to be reunited with Brock. Pikachu found new teammates in Taillow, who later evolves into Swellow , Treecko, who later evolves into Grovyle then later evolves again into Sceptile , Corphish , Torkoal , and a Snorunt, who later evolves into Glalie.
Pikachu and everyone ended up meeting Team Magma and Team Aqua over the course of their time in Hoenn. They tried to stop their plans whenever they brushed up against them. Pikachu saw Misty and Togepi when the two visited the region. Pikachu had to say goodbye to his longtime friend Togetic, evolved from Misty's Togepi, when it decided to stay and protect the kingdom they just saved before having to say goodbye to Misty who had to return to Kanto.
When another one of Team Rocket's plans failed again as their robot blew up and because of it, Pikachu got amnesia from the explosion when he landed. Team Rocket used it to their advantage and they convinced him that they're his friends.
Pikachu got his memory back from either the explosion from the balloon, after trying to make their escape with Ash climbing up to get his best friend back, or when Ash protected him when they were falling from the sky and fell into a river. Pikachu ended up getting possessed, due to Groudon asking for his help, from the Blue Orb that Team Magma had, which involved him and everyone else in Team Magma and Team Aqua 's final operation.
They were foiled with everyone helping out along with Lance , the champion of Kanto, and a little help from Team Rocket. Pikachu escaped the Orb's control after the legendary monsters stopped rampaging. Pikachu was in seven out of the eight of Ash's Hoenn gym battles and he gave everything he had in the Hoenn League Championships but Ash ended up in the top eight again after losing to Tyson.
After the league was over, Pikachu said goodbye to his close friends but ended up meeting Scott, the owner of the Kanto Battle Frontier, while on their way home and he offered Ash a chance to compete which he said yes to. Pikachu got to reunite with his friends and then left with Ash, May, Max, and Misty, who needed to head back to Cerulean City as their first destination was close to Misty's hometown. Before they left, Pikachu's old Johto teammate Phanpy, who later evolves into Donphan, caught up with them as it decided it wanted to travel again, much to his happiness.
Pikachu was very happy when Brock caught up to them just before everyone was leaving Pallet Town. Pikachu was in three out of seven of Ash's Frontier battles, as he helped Ash win the Battle Frontier after defeating Brandon. After saying goodbye to May, Max, and Brock again, they went home and met up with Gary. He battled against Gary's Electivire and was defeated. However, Meowth used Fury Swipes on Wobbuffet, who returned the attack back using Counter , after they had a fallout, which resulted in the balloon blowing up along with Pikachu falling into the forest somewhere and Team Rocket blasting off again.
Pikachu was found by a new Trainer named Dawn and her partner Piplup. After Dawn tried to catch him and seeing that he belongs to someone else, Pikachu was found by Team Rocket but couldn't hold them off on his own. However, Pikachu was aided by Dawn and her Piplup when they both decided to protect him. However, Pikachu was saved when Ash arrived and the two reunited. Pikachu was happy to get a new teammate in a Starly, who later evolves into Staravia then again into Staraptor.
After everything was resolved, they went to Professor Rowan 's lab where Ash got his new clothes from his Mom. Pikachu was happy that Brock was back for their new adventure but was even happier when Dawn decided to travel with them thus getting a new close friend in Dawn while forming an unbreakable friendship with her Piplup. Before they started their new adventure, Pikachu and Ash battled in a 3 on 3 battle against Paul , the trainer Ash and Brock met earlier, but their battle ended in a draw.
Pikachu ended up getting five more new teammates in a Turtwig, who later evolves into Grotle then later evolves again into Torterra , Chimchar, who later evolves into Monferno then again into Infernape , Buizel , who used to be Dawn before she traded to Ash for Aipom, who later evolves into Ambipom, Gligar, who later evolves into Gliscor , and Gible.
Also, Pikachu became best friends with Dawn's Buneary , who also has a crush on him. In one battle with a trainer and his Raichu, Pikachu got injured pretty badly and while he was recovering Ash brought out the Thunder Stone he had kept since their battle with Lt. Ash told everyone his reasons for keeping it all this time and left Pikachu to decide if he wants to evolve or not.
When everyone went to check up on him, Pikachu was gone with the stone missing as well leading everyone to think he evolved but they found him training while seeing he chose not to evolve once again. Once the training was done, they challenged the trainer and his Raichu to a rematch and won this time around. Pikachu also saw Gary a few times while in Hoenn. Pikachu along with everyone encountered Team Galactic a few times before they got involved in their final operation which he stopped with a lot of help from his trainer , friends, Team Rocket, Looker , Cynthia , the Sinnoh region champion, and the Legendary Lake Guardians.
Pikachu was in four out of eight of Ash's Sinnoh gym battles. Pikachu performed well in the Sinnoh League Tournament but Ash ended up in the top four after losing to Tobias. After the league was over, Pikachu had to say goodbye to Dawn and his best friend Piplup, who didn't want to say goodbye to anyone at all.
After saying goodbye to Brock, they went back to Pallet Town where Ash's mother and all of his friends awaited them. Pikachu came with Ash on a trip to Unova, but when they got there, they were ambushed by Team Rocket once again. However, during the confrontation, Zekrom appeared in a storm cloud, accidentally canceling out Pikachu's Electric attacks. This caused Pikachu to perform poorly in Ash's first battle against Trip. Pikachu regained his Electric attacks after Zekrom appeared again and he stayed with Ash when the trainer decided to travel around Unova.
Through their journey, Pikachu found new teammates in a Pidove, who later evolves into Tranquill and later into Unfezant , Oshawott , Tepig, who later evolves into Pignite , Snivy , Scraggy , Sewaddle, who quickly evolves into Swadloon then later evolves into Leavanny , Palpitoad , Roggenrola, who later evolves into Boldore , and Krokorok, who was following them since it was a Sandile as it wanted to battle him then later evolves into Krookodile.
Pikachu was a big help in five out of eight of Ash's Unova gym battles. Pikachu got to see his friends Dawn and Piplup again while preparing for a tournament they were all going to enter. Pikachu and Ash ended up getting captured by Team Rocket as hostages so Meloetta would cooperate with them.
However, Pikachu and Ash were able to free themselves from the cage they were trapped in and Pikachu helped free Meloetta using a powerful Electro Ball attack, thus putting an end to Team Rocket's plans with a lot of help from his trainer, Cilan, Cynthia, Iris, and Ridley , Meloetta's friend.
When the crisis ended, they went to the Unova League where Pikachu put a good show but lost during the quarterfinals against Cameron , thus putting Ash in the top eight.
After the league was over, Pikachu along with his Trainer and friends went to see the White Ruins of Reshiram. Pikachu along with his friends meet up with N again, who decided to travel with him for a while.
While in Virbank City, they came across a fair for his and Ash's home region, Kanto. During the festival, Pikachu and Ash remembered one of their longtime friend Charizard. Pikachu got to see Charizard again when Ash asked Professor Oak to send it to them. After witnessing a battle between Ash and Iris, Pikachu was happy when Ash decided to let Charizard be in his party full-time again.
When N left the group, after finding out about his past with Team Plasma, they made their way to the white ruins where they met back up with N again. However, Pikachu, Ash, and N fell into a hole when his trainer tried to reason with him when he grabbed the light stone containing a sleeping Reshiram from Cedric Juniper.
Despite Ash's efforts to get through to his best friend, Pikachu was completely under Team Plasma's control and knocked his own trainer and best friend unconscious. However, Pikachu was set free when N made a deal with them to undo their control over him in exchange for the light stone which Team Plasma agreed to. After being set free, Pikachu looked at his unconscious trainer then realized what happen but he passed out from exhaustion. Regaining consciousness, Pikachu and Ash saw N's foster sisters show up as they both came to rescue N.
Pikachu with his friends witness Reshiram awaken from the light stone right before being placed under Team Plasma control, during which Looker, Iris, Cilan and Cedric were able to get free from the bands they were in. When Team Plasma noticed them still trying to get in their way, Pikachu was about to be under their control again but Ash stepped in to protect him with Meowth helping him out as well. When Ash decided to destroy the device on his own with Jessie and James coming with him to draw their attention away from him, Pikachu was told by his best friend to stay with Looker, Meowth, N, and his foster sisters so he wouldn't be controlled again.
However, not caring if he gets controlled again, Pikachu came out of hiding to help Ash when he saw him in trouble with Cilan, Iris and Meowth helping out as well. Pikachu fired an Electro Ball to destroy the device but was hit by it again. However, Pikachu used his own electricity from the attack to help him fight off the device's control. Pikachu used his Thunderbolt on Reshiram, who was in the way of the device, to wake it up but he got hit by the device again.
However, Pikachu kept going with Ash and Iris encouraging him not to give up while saying he's got to stay strong. With their adventures in Unova done, they decided to take a detour to the Decolore Islands with Iris and Cilan coming along with them back to Kanto.
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