Anime Pokemon Profile #1: Ash's Pikachu

[Pewter City Geodude]

Anime Pokemon Profiles


OK, here's a new feature from me for the anime forum. Every so often I'll make a profile of one of the main characters' Pokemon from the anime. It will include various things, depending on the Pokemon, but some things that are pretty much common to every profile. I figured I may as well start at the beginning, so here's the first Pokemon acquired by a main character in the anime:



Profile #1: Ash's Pikachu


Acquired in episode: Pokemon! I Choose You!

Stays out of its Pokeball because: As Ash's Pokedex explained in the first episode, "some Pokemon just don't like being confined."

Attacks it has used: Thundershock, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Quick Attack, Tackle, Agility, Leer, Double-Edge, Iron Tail

(For Tackle and Leer, it seems that most Pokemon in the anime can learn those types of basic attacks, except for example those without eyes like Staryu would hardly be able to use Leer. Double-Edge was used once, and only once, in the Indigo League Tournament, when Pikachu used it on its own against a Butterfree. Pikachu had jumped onto the field to volunteer to fight, despite being tired already.)

Gender: Most likely, male. The first time Ash reached Cerulean Gym, when he was staring down at Misty's sisters' synchronized swimming act, confused as to why this apparently wasn't a Pokemon Gym, Pikachu seemed quite enthralled by the girls.

Team Rocket is always after it because: As Meowth stated in one of the first episodes, "its powers exceed its evolutionary level." Ash's Pikachu is much stronger than the average Pikachu, probably at least in part aided by the power boost that Flint from Pewter City gave it when Ash reached there.

Controversies: Many people complain about how Pikachu's attacks can beat anything in the anime, even Ground-types. Well, in the most famous of those cases, the battle at Pewter City when Ash first met Brock, Pikachu's Electric attacks did the most damage to Brock's Onix only when the sprinklers had been turned on accidentally and Onix was already wet, allowing the electricity to be conducted through its body. Pikachu was able to fry Geodude because, despite being a Ground-type, Geodude was not in contact with the ground at the time so it couldn't diffuse the electricity. The same applied to Pikachu's Thunderbolt doing normal damage to Treecko before Ash caught it, as well as Roxanne's Geodude. Give the writers props, however, for making Pikachu learn Iron Tail before that battle, so it would seem more realistic that an Electric type beat a Rock-Ground type and a Rock type, especially since Roxanne said she had never lost to an Electric type.

Memorable moments:
Showdown at Dark City - The famous ketchup bottle scene. Who could forget Pikachu's fixation with that ketchup and its reaction when Scyther Cut the bottle?

Bound for Trouble - As a result of yet another failed Team Rocket scheme, Pikachu and Meowth ended up basically handcuffed together, and on their own. They were forced to work together to figure out how to get back to the humans. At one point they got chased by a wild Rhydon, and had to work together to defeat it.

Mantine Overboard! - When Ash and others made a couple of dives underwater and Pikachu wanted to go with him so badly, it nearly jumped over the side of the boat after him, only to be caught by Brock. Pikachu ended up going with Ash on another dive a bit later, this time equipped with its own cute little diving outfit.

Evolution: Many people complain that Ash should evolve Pikachu, but what they don't realize is that he actually tried. Someone gave Ash a Thunderstone, and he gave Pikachu the chance to evolve after he lost to Lt. Surge, but Pikachu declined, and Ash respected its wishes. They then went on to beat Surge and his Raichu after figuring out that Surge had evolved it too quickly and it never learned the speed attacks it could only learn as Pikachu. Pikachu will likely never evolve, as it is the mascot of the anime, and has the "cute factor" to appeal to kids. Over the course of the anime, it has become obvious to many minor characters that Ash is very skilled at bringing out every ounce of a Pokemon's true power, even when it has not yet evolved, and that is due to the strong relationship and mutual respect that develops between them. Part of that respect includes abiding by a Pokemon's wishes on whether or not to evolve, and the resulting relationship is something envied by countless people Ash and friends have met on their journeys.

Ending Notes: Despite choosing not to evolve, Pikachu has clearly grown in strength and skill since the early episodes, as has its relationship with Ash. The "cute factor" might be something that would turn off some older fans of the Pokemon games from watching the anime, but if you can get past that, you'll find the best possible example in the anime of a trainer having a close friendship with his Pokemon.

[Andrew]

Ah, great idea! I loved the little bio! Thanks for that!

Can we have Lickitung/Horsea or Vulpix next please?

[Pewter City Geodude]

Actually I think I'm gonna do Meowth next. Thanks for reading!

[Zak]

Yeah, great job Alex! Although one quick comment...

How could you forget the memorable moment of Ash turning into a Pikachu and playing (Hocus Pokemon)?!?! lol

~Zak

[Pewter City Geodude]

True...but I was thinking more along the lines of memorable moments directly involving *Ash's* Pikachu...although Pikachu and Ash-chu did play together...

[Water Pokemon Master]

Do Squirtle! Do Squirtle!

[Zak]

Originally posted by Pewter City Geodude
True...but I was thinking more along the lines of memorable moments directly involving *Ash's* Pikachu...although Pikachu and Ash-chu did play together...

Yeah, that's why I mentioned how they were playing together.

~Zak

[Pewter City Geodude]

Oh ok. I think I'm gonna do Meowth next.

[Kojiro]

Finnaly someone makes Bios of the Pokemon! I always wished someone would do that, anyway I think it is a cool bio, you should put them on your main site.

P.S.How come you never update it anymore, I liked the summary, they were enjoyable!

Also you should do it in the order they appear, so do Koffing and Ekans after Meowth, then Goldeen, then Pidgeotto and caterpie!

[Salvester2]

Doing meowth next would be cool, but do Butterfre, Ash's second pokemon, and his first realease..:-(

[Pewter City Geodude]

Anime Pokemon Profile #2: Team Rocket’s Meowth



Joined Team Rocket prior to episode: Pokemon Emergency

Stays out of its Pokeball because: Neither Jessie nor James is his trainer. They were apparently assigned together as a group. He apparently used to be a favorite of Team Rocket boss Giovanni’s before he got his Persian. Meowth was wild before joining Team Rocket on its own, so he may not even *have* a Pokeball. If he does, it’s possible that Giovanni might have it stashed away somewhere.

Attacks it has used: Scratch, Fury Swipes

Why has it never used any other attacks?: As Meowth explained on a couple of occasions, he used up so much of his energy learning how to talk that it can’t learn any other attacks. He seems to like using Fury Swipes, however. Also, you’d think that since he’s limited to those two attacks and they both employ his claws, it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch for him to learn Slash, but he’s never used the move by name. Oh well. Since his battle skills are limited, Meowth does a lot of the strategizing for the group. He is often in the background, doing stuff like piloting their balloon or activating their mech-of-the-day while Jessie and James battle “the twerps”.

Gender: Male.

Background: This was revealed in the episode “Go West, Young Meowth”. Way back when, Meowth was just a regular old Meowth with his friends, trying to eke out a living as an alley cat. He happened to meet this female Meowth who was an actress and fell instantly in love, but the female Meowth rejected him because he was too ordinary. Undeterred, Meowth studied literature books constantly until he learned to speak like a human, and also after much practice, was able to walk upright like a human. Meeting the female Meowth again, he hoped to impress her, but she rejected him again because now he was a freak. Depressed, Meowth went off by himself, and it wasn’t long after that Jessie and James found him. Impressed at his determination to walk and talk like a human, J&J convinced Meowth to join Team Rocket. He needed next to no urging, as his whole reason for learning to walk upright and talk had just blown up in his face.

Memorable moments:
Pokemon Scent-Sation! –
Meowth: “My nose feels like it’s on fire!”
Jessie: “Meowth, you don’t have a nose!”
Meowth: “Huh? My nose, what happened? Dis stink dissolved it off my face! … Oh yeah, I almost forgot, da cartoonist never gave me a nose.”

The Purr-fect Hero – It was an interesting episode, one of the occasions where Team Rocket did something good. A kid mistook Meowth for a wild one that had once saved him from a Beedrill, so Meowth had to act like it was actually him so as not to hurt the kid’s feelings, and Team Rocket was actually OK with this.

Bound for Trouble - As a result of yet another failed Team Rocket scheme, Pikachu and Meowth ended up basically handcuffed together, and on their own. They were forced to work together to figure out how to get back to the humans. At one point they got chased by a wild Rhydon, and had to work together to defeat it.

Meowth Rules! – Basically the entire episode. After “blasting off” separately from Jessie and James, Meowth landed on an island whose inhabitants worshiped Meowth and were waiting for “The Great Meowth of Bounty”, mistaking Team Rocket’s Meowth for the one they were looking for. Meowth milked the situation as long as he could, but when the villagers expected him to use Pay Day to shower riches (the coins) upon them, it wasn’t long before Meowth’s secret was revealed.

Pokemon the Movie 3 – Meowth, while looking at the large group of Unown: “Dey kinda look like alphabet soup, wit’out da soup.”

Taming of the Shroomish – This was a good sight gag. J, J & M had taken on a construction job to earn extra money. Upon seeing “the twerps,” Jessie and James abandoned the log they were carrying in order to go after Pikachu, leaving Meowth struggling to hold it up.
Meowth: “Where should I leave dis log?” (it then fell on him) “I guess here’s good.”

Several different episodes – Meowth has several times said something along the lines of: “Oh yeah, I forgot! I’m a Pokemon too!” The times when Meowth has forgotten that he’s a Pokemon have always been good for a laugh. I guess since he walks upright and is only one of two Pokemon ever shown in the anime to speak English/Japanese (the Slowking from Pokemon the Movie 2000 being the other), it’s not that surprising that he keeps thinking he’s human.

Evolution: Meowth has a history of jealousy against any Persian, both from the events in “Go West, Young Meowth” where he battled and (surprisingly) defeated a Persian gang leader in order to save the female Meowth he had a crush on, and from his constant envy over the attention Giovanni gives to Persian instead of him. The fact that that girl Meowth sided with the Persian probably didn’t help matters any. Although in two separate quotes in recent episodes, Meowth has expressed the opinion that maybe being a Persian wouldn’t be so bad after all. I don’t know though—to me, “Persian, dat’s right!” just wouldn’t sound right at the end of the motto. :p

Romantic interests: There is of course the female Meowth mentioned above who rejected him. Also, in one of the Japanese Hoso Specials, Meowth met a female Skitty and went crazy over her. Meowth also seems to have a bit of a crush on May’s Skitty.

Ending Notes: For reasons explained above, Meowth doesn’t battle that often. Still, he’s a loyal member of Team Rocket and does whatever he can to help. If that means battling, he’ll jump right in, but as mentioned, he’s often in a support role as their pilot or the one who activates whatever gadget they decide to use. However, just like Jessie and James, Meowth has shown that there is some good in him on several occasions in the anime. Here’s hoping that that trio eventually turns to the side of good permanently.


#1: Ash’s Pikachu

[Jamesology101]

Absolutely super job!

The Team Rocket obsessive in me wants to point out that you didn't mention the episode "Meowth Rules" shows that Jessie, James and Meowth are close friends with a bond just as strong (if more dysfunctional) as that between Ash and Pikachu. ^^; But, apart from that, it's perfect!

[Pewter City Geodude]

You're right, good point. But I did mention that he's a loyal member of the team and helps in ways other than battling. Thanks for reading!

[Bacl]

I'd be willing to bet that Meowth HATES Wobbuffet.

When Meowth ran off with Jigglypuff for awhile (forget the ep title, the one where they had to get through the Onix cave and Snubbull stole the microphone) Meowth was shocked that J&J liked Wobbuffet ending the Motto instead of Meowth. And because of this Wobbuffet has horned in on the TR Motto, I think "Wob-buf-fet!" is an official ending now, and and so Meowth doesn't have the final word.

Remember that when deciding which TR Pokemon to trade for the Magikarp Salesman's Weepingbell, Meowth nominated Wobbuffet.

And one time (again, forgot the ep, sorry) when Meowth was enjoying a view and Wobbuffet simply sat next to him, Meowth rather angrily gave him a scratch attack (only to get double back with counter).

So I don't think the two are friends.

[Pewter City Geodude]

The recent Camp Pikachu short would say otherwise...although that's kind of in an alternate universe, a "what if all the twerps' Pokemon were wild, but friends, with no trainers around" scenario. But yeah Wobbuffet's Japanese name, loosely translated, means "that's right", so Meowth was justifiably angry at first at Wobbuffet stealing his line. I should remember to mention that when I get around to doing Wobby's bio.

[Gaborn]

One of my favorite pokemon in the anime. A very nice bio for the wise-crackin' feline of Team Rocket. Another good meowth episode was The Problem with Paras. It aired so many times that I could probably recite it woid for woid (ah, meowth humor).

I thought that Wobbuffet's japanese name had to do with disaster, and that was what made them get mad during the motto (sounan means disaster or accident if memory serves me).

[Pewter City Geodude]

Thanks! Yeah it basically means "that's right"...I think the more accurate translation is "of course" but it means pretty much the same thing.

[Andrew]

Lets keep these all in one topic, shall we?

Ah, good old meowth I remember its fake "Water Gun"

*Merges topics*