Pikachu

Pikachu is an electric type Pokémon, it's also the second evolution from a Pichu, but it would evolve later into a Raichu with a Thunder Stone. Pikachu is also the mascot of the Pokémon franchise, and in the Pokémon animated series, he (as in Ash's Pikachu) is Ash's very first Pokémon as seen in "Pokémon - I Choose You!". The iconic Pokémon made his first appearance in the Pokémon Blue and Red games on February 27th, 1996.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Like Yoshi, Pikachu is an iconic fan favorite among most Pokémon fans. Most notably how cute he looks, how Ikue Otani voiced as Pikachu since 1997, and how amazing he is when he uses his iconic Thunderbolt and Thunder strike attacks.
 * 2) Out of all the Nintendo characters, Pikachu is the cutest character of them all.
 * 3) He is always the best part in the Pokémon anime series, and there are very funny moments with him such as his obsession of ketchup for instance.
 * 4) His designs are so good to look at, especially his design in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu, given the fact that the color yellow appeals to a lot of children around the world is why Pikachu always has the best designs.
 * 5) Speaking of designs, Pikachu's alter-egos, Libre Pikachu and Detective Pikachu are some of the most interesting alter-egos you can see.
 * 6) Three words: Ikue Otani's performance.
 * 7) Pikachu has got his very own movie in Pokémon: Detective Pikachu with Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, except this Pikachu is a Detective Pikachu. Though, Ikue Otani maintains the voice of Pikachu from the animated series.
 * 8) In the first episode of the anime series, he put behind his stubbornness on Ash and rescued him from being attacked by a flock of angry Spearows, despite wrecking Misty's bicycle anyway.
 * 9) The friendship between Ash and even him has been why Pokémon wouldn't be the same without him or Ash around.
 * 10) Ash's Pikachu has helped Ash many times (aside from what is said about Reason #8), he also helped to battle against Sabrina's Kadabra to prevent Ash from going back to the toy box by being turned into one of Sabrina's dollies, only to turn out Kadabra and Sabrina have started laughing at the end.
 * 11) In Pokémon Yellow and Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu, you can have Pikachu as your own starter Pokémon, and thanks to Pokémon Yellow and the Pokémon anime, Pikachu has become the mascot of the franchise, part of the Japanese culture, and has also become one of Nintendo's mascots alongside Mario.
 * 12) The first episode of Pokémon Journeys, "Enter Pikachu", showed us a glorifying backstory of Ash's Pikachu when it was a little Pichu in Kanto.
 * 13) In later years, we can now tell the difference between a male and a female Pikachu (see Trivia).
 * 14) He has been referenced from other media outside of Pokémon, most notably long-running American animated series, The Simpsons. In one episode where Bart has a hallucination while taking a test in class and envisages his classmates as various television characters, which one includes Pikachu.
 * 15) Has spawned a lot of material such as memes, toys, Halloween costumes, and Pikachu even has its very own car Toyota built in 2012.
 * 16) The Pikachu Song, have a listen!

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Sad thing, electric type movies (including Pikachu) are no match for ground type Pokémon such as Rhydon. To be fair, this is the logic Pokémon was going for.
 * 2) Pikachu was quite tedious to play as in Hey You, Pikachu, as he moves way too slow, and was a big nuisance in Pokémon Channel, considering the developers made him tell the player to say yes to every decision he wants to do, which is really guilt trippy.
 * 3) Like Mario, Pikachu has also faced some controversies:
 * 4) *There was a controversy where Ash's Pikachu has spoke in Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, it blew up a lot of outrage from fans of the anime as Ash's Pikachu was not even supposed to talk in the anime, and there's the scene right here.
 * 5) *"Electric Soldier Porygon" is a prime example of this, when Pikachu blasts a cyber missile that tried to blast Porygon, Ash, Misty and Brock, the flashing lights from red and blue have given over 600 Japanese children seizures, that the show went on hiatus from December 1997 - April 1998, after the hiatus, the show turned down the brightness after its comeback from hiatus in 1998.
 * 6) *In 2016, Nintendo changed Pikachu's name into Sparks in Hong Kong, outraging many fans inside and outside of Hong Kong, leading to protests. Fans have called this rename change in Hong Kong "absolutely disrespectful to their language and culture in Hong Kong, and that Nintendo intentionally did that to police it's largest overseas market". Nintendo responded "it was for standardization purposes".
 * 7) One time, there was an infamous scene where Ash's Pikachu hit Oshawatt in the Black and White anime, which not only did it feel out of character for Pikachu to hit Oshawatt, but it also felt mean spirited.

Trivia

 * Pikachu is universally considered to be among Ash's strongest Pokémon, along with Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Krookodile, Greninja, and Incineroar.
 * When Ash received Pikachu from Professor Oak, his Poké Ball had a lightning bolt on the top part.
 * Because Pikachu doesn't like being inside his Poké Ball, it has only been seen a few times since the first episode. The first was against Brock when Pikachu was being attacked brutally by Onix and the second was in the episode Snow Way Out when Ash becomes worried about the safety of his Pokémon in the cave's freezing conditions. Both times Ash's attempted return of Pikachu was blocked, by Onix the first time and by Pikachu the second.
 * Pikachu had a chubby appearance in the beginning of the series but lost the weight for a more slender appearance from Generation II onward.
 * In the Diamond & Pearl series and the X&Y series, Pikachu didn't learn any moves.
 * Pokémon designer Atsuko Nishida said that Pikachu was originally based on a squirrel. The stripes on the back and the lightning bolt tail were added as details in the appearance, and the black ear tips are the remnant of the original daifuku-based design.
 * Pikachu is one of Veronica Taylor's favourite Pokémon.
 * Though not the first Pokémon created, Pikachu was the first Electric-type Pokémon created, conceived after the type was suggested to Sugimori and designed around the concept of electricity and the common symbol for lightning.
 * Pikachu is the Japanese mascot for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
 * Pikachu is the first Pokémon in Pokédex order to have a baby form.
 * Starting from the Pokémon X and Y games, Ikue Ōtani provides the voice of Pikachu in the place of a cry.
 * Pikachu and Eevee are the only Starter Pokémon in the canon RPG games that deviates from the usual Grass, Fire, and Water-typings.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there are three variations of Pikachu. One has a headband similar to Brendan's hat, one has a hat similar to Ash's hat and another has goggles. The goggles variant is a reference to Pichu having an alt with goggles.
 * The male Pikachu has a flat rectangular tail at the end, whilst the female has a heart shaped tail at the end.