Competitive Information for Pikachu [Sun/Moon]
Electric
Abilities:
Note: Pokemon with the Lightning Rod ability are immune to Electric attacks.
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Pikachu? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sun/Moon Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sun/Moon generation metagame.
BlastoiseSnorlaxVenusaurMachampCharizard-Mega-YEspeonCharizard-Mega-XCharizardRhydonTalonflame
Pikachu is an extraordinary Electric-typed Pokemon. Pikachu is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Pikachu's only type-related weakness is Ground.
Item: Light Ball / Focus Sash
Ability: Static
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Volt Tackle / Nuzzle
- Iron Tail
- Extreme Speed
- Fake Out / Endeavor
Physical Sweeper Pikachu (Popular/Trending)
Pikachu is an astounding Physical Sweeper for single battles. It tries to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Focus Sash helps protect Pikachu from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Static, 30% chance a pokemon making contact with Pikachu will be paralyzed. With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled.
◆ Nuzzle is a physical STAB-boosted 20-base power Electric-type move (100% chance to paralyze the target).
◆ Iron Tail is a physical 100-base power Steel-type move (30% chance to lower the target's defense by 1 stage).
◆ Extreme Speed is a physical priority-increased 80-base power Normal-type move (nearly always goes first).
◆ Fake Out is a physical priority-increased 40-base power Normal-type move (hits first. First turn out only. 100% flinch chance).
◆ Endeavor is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (lowers the target's hp to your Pikachu's hp).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs10a19
Item: Light Ball / Electrium Z
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Volt Tackle / Wild Charge
- Double-Edge / Return
- Knock Off
- Brick Break / Seismic Toss
Physical Sweeper Pikachu (Lightning Rod)
Pikachu is an outstanding Physical Sweeper for single battles. The purpose of this moveset is to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. With Lightning Rod, Pikachu draws electric moves to itself to raise sp. Atk by 1; electric immunity. With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled. With a Electrium Z equipped to it, if Pikachu has an electric move, this item allows it to use an electric z-move.
◆ Wild Charge is a physical STAB-boosted 90-base power Electric-type move (has 1/4 recoil).
◆ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
◆ Return is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (max 102 power at maximum happiness).
◆ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
◆ Brick Break is a physical 75-base power Fighting-type move (destroys screens, unless the target is immune).
◆ Seismic Toss is a physical 0-base power Fighting-type move (does damage equal to your Pikachu's level).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs11a19
Item: Light Ball / Electrium Z
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Thunderbolt / Discharge
- Surf
- Signal Beam
- Grass Knot
Special Sweeper Pikachu (Lightning Rod)
Pikachu is a wonderful Special Sweeper for single battles. It's primary goal is to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. With Lightning Rod, Pikachu draws electric moves to itself to raise sp. Atk by 1; electric immunity. With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled. With a Electrium Z equipped to it, if Pikachu has an electric move, this item allows it to use an electric z-move.
◆ Discharge is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Electric-type move (30% chance to paralyze adjacent pokemon).
◆ Surf is a special 90-base power Water-type move (hits adjacent pokemon. Double damage on dive).
◆ Signal Beam is a special 75-base power Bug-type move (10% chance to confuse the target).
◆ Grass Knot is a special 0-base power Grass-type move (more power the heavier the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs12a19
Item: Light Ball
Ability: Static
Nature: Naughty (+Atk, -SpD)
EVs: 252 Hp / 33 Atk / 225 Def
Moveset:
- Brick Break
- Endure
- Reversal
- Agility
Pikachu Physical Wall (Light Ball Pika)
Pikachu is a decent Physical Wall for single battles. It's goal is to take a substantial amount of physical hits while dealing some decent damage. With Static, 30% chance a pokemon making contact with Pikachu will be paralyzed. With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled.
◆ Endure is a status move (Pikachu survives attacks this turn with at least 1 hp).
◆ Reversal is a physical 0-base power Fighting-type move (more power the less hp your Pikachu has left).
◆ Agility is a status move (raises your Pikachu's speed by 2 stages).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs13a19
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 60 Def / 224 SpA / 224 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Disarming Voice
- Electro Ball
- Hidden Power
- Thunderbolt
Pikachu Special Sweeper (Peek At You)
Pikachu is popular Special Sweeper for single battles. It's primary goal is to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Life Orb boosts the power of Pikachu's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Lightning Rod, Pikachu draws electric moves to itself to raise sp. Atk by 1; electric immunity.
◆ Electro Ball is a special STAB-boosted 0-base power Electric-type move (more power the faster your Pikachu is than the target).
◆ Hidden Power is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (varies in type based on your Pikachu's ivs).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs14a19
Item: Air Balloon
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
EVs: 252 Hp / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Moveset:
- Charge Beam
- Rain Dance
- Hidden Power
- Thunder
Pikachu Special Tank (Chargechu)
Pikachu is a wonderful Special Tank for single battles. It's goal is to take a great amount of hits from special attacks while dealing some decent damage. Air Balloon makes the holder ungrounded, which means Pikachu is immune to Ground-type moves until the balloon pops when hit by a damaging move. With Lightning Rod, Pikachu draws electric moves to itself to raise sp. Atk by 1; electric immunity.
◆ Rain Dance is a status move (for 5 turns, heavy rain powers water moves).
◆ Hidden Power is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (varies in type based on your Pikachu's ivs).
◆ Thunder is a special STAB-boosted 110-base power Electric-type move (30% chance to paralyze. Can't miss in rain).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs15a19
Item: Light Ball
Ability: Static
Nature: Mild (+SpA, -Def)
EVs: 128 Atk / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Electro Ball
- Volt Tackle
- Quick Attack
- Thunderbolt
Pikachu Mixed Sweeper (Pikachuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu)
Pikachu is an astounding Mixed Sweeper for single battles. With Static, 30% chance a pokemon making contact with Pikachu will be paralyzed. This is the pikachu used by ash:same moves and ability, just edited to make it usable.With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled.
◆ Volt Tackle is a physical STAB-boosted 120-base power Electric-type move (has 33% recoil. 10% chance to paralyze target).
◆ Quick Attack is a physical priority-increased 40-base power Normal-type move (usually goes first).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs16a19
Item: Light Ball
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Nuzzle
- Grass Knot
- Volt Tackle
- Fake Out
Pikachu Physical Sweeper (Volt Tackle )
Pikachu is pretty popular Physical Sweeper for single battles. It's designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. With Lightning Rod, Pikachu draws electric moves to itself to raise sp. Atk by 1; electric immunity. With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled.
◆ Grass Knot is a special 0-base power Grass-type move (more power the heavier the target).
◆ Volt Tackle is a physical STAB-boosted 120-base power Electric-type move (has 33% recoil. 10% chance to paralyze target).
◆ Fake Out is a physical priority-increased 40-base power Normal-type move (hits first. First turn out only. 100% flinch chance).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs17a19
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Pikachu? These builds have been optimized for Sun/Moon Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sun/Moon generation metagame.
BlastoiseSnorlaxVenusaurMachampCharizard-Mega-YEspeonCharizard-Mega-XCharizardRhydonTalonflame
Item: Light Ball / Electrium Z
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Volt Tackle / Wild Charge
- Double-Edge / Return
- Knock Off
- Brick Break / Seismic Toss
Doubles Physical Sweeper Pikachu (Lightning Rod)
Pikachu is an astounding Physical Sweeper for double battles. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. With Lightning Rod, Pikachu draws electric moves to itself to raise sp. Atk by 1; electric immunity. With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled. With a Electrium Z equipped to it, if Pikachu has an electric move, this item allows it to use an electric z-move.
◆ Wild Charge is a physical STAB-boosted 90-base power Electric-type move (has 1/4 recoil).
◆ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
◆ Return is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (max 102 power at maximum happiness).
◆ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
◆ Brick Break is a physical 75-base power Fighting-type move (destroys screens, unless the target is immune).
◆ Seismic Toss is a physical 0-base power Fighting-type move (does damage equal to your Pikachu's level).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hd10a19
Item: Light Ball / Electrium Z
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Discharge / Electroweb
- Surf
- Signal Beam
- Grass Knot
Doubles Special Sweeper Pikachu (Lightning Rod)
Pikachu is a spectacular Special Sweeper for double battles. It's designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. With Lightning Rod, Pikachu draws electric moves to itself to raise sp. Atk by 1; electric immunity. With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled. With a Electrium Z equipped to it, if Pikachu has an electric move, this item allows it to use an electric z-move.
◆ Electroweb is a special STAB-boosted 55-base power Electric-type move (100% chance to lower the foes speed by 1 stage).
◆ Surf is a special 90-base power Water-type move (hits adjacent pokemon. Double damage on dive).
◆ Signal Beam is a special 75-base power Bug-type move (10% chance to confuse the target).
◆ Grass Knot is a special 0-base power Grass-type move (more power the heavier the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hd11a19
Item: Light Ball
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Naive (+Spe, -SpD)
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Grass Knot
- Fake Out
- Protect / Hidden Power
- Thunderbolt / Thunder
Pikachu Special Sweeper (Double-battle Pikachu)
Pikachu is an outstanding Special Sweeper for double battles. It is designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. With Lightning Rod, Pikachu draws electric moves to itself to raise sp. Atk by 1; electric immunity. This Pikachu is really more of a 2v2 style build.
Use Fake Out first to allows your partner to use a support moves (Tailwind, Icy Wind, or Spore) for an easier second turn.
Thunderbolt is Pikachu's main STAB move, which does plenty of damage to anything that doesn't resist it. The alternative Thunder is a harder-hitting option should only be used with rain teams since its horrible accuracy without the rain isn't worth the extra damage.
Grass Knot is an excellent way for Pikachu to smack a wide variety of Pokemon with super effective damage Especially those super heavy Ground- and Rock-types likes Rhyperior, Gastrodon, Tyranitar, and Terrakion.
Protect is useful to allows Pikachu to last longer during battle, and it allows your teammates to give Pikachu to power up and go on the offensive. With a Light Ball equipped to it, if held by a pikachu, its attack and sp. Atk are doubled.
◆ Fake Out is a physical priority-increased 40-base power Normal-type move (hits first. First turn out only. 100% flinch chance).
◆ Protect is a status move (prevents moves from affecting your Pikachu this turn).
◆ Hidden Power is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (varies in type based on your Pikachu's ivs).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
◆ Thunder is a special STAB-boosted 110-base power Electric-type move (30% chance to paralyze. Can't miss in rain).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hd12a19
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Pikachu learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Pikachu can perform in Sun/Moon. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SM Move and Ability Combos for Pikachu
- Moves: Defense curl + Rollout
- Moves: Rain dance + Thunder
- Moves: Endure + Flail
- Moves: Endure + Reversal
- Moves: Endure + Endeavor
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Moves: Substitute + Reversal
- Moves: Yawn + Protect
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Move: Endeavor + Item: Focus Sash
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Dynamic Punch
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Zap Cannon
- Moves with Priority: Bide, Detect, Endure, Follow Me, Helping Hand, Protect, Extreme Speed, Fake Out, Feint, Quick Attack
- Moves that Break Screens: Brick Break
- Moves that inflict status: Yawn, Thunder Wave, Toxic
Moves that boost Pikachu's stats
- Agility
- Charge
- Charge Beam
- Curse
- Defense Curl
- Nasty Plot
- Rage
- Skull Bash
Most notable and possible best moves for Pikachu
- Agility
- Brick Break
- Electric Terrain
- Encore
- Endeavor
- Extreme Speed
- Fake Out
- Fly
- Focus Punch
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power
- Hidden Power Ice
- Iron Tail
- Knock Off
- Light Screen
- Light Screen
- Nuzzle
- Protect
- Protect
- Quick Attack
- Rain Dance
- Reflect
- Rest
- Rock Smash
- Substitute
- Surf
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Volt Switch
- Volt Tackle
Common Effort Values for Pikachu in Sun and Moon
- Jolly Nature ( 0/252/0/0/4/252/ )
- Hasty Nature ( 0/252/0/4/0/252/ )
- Optimize Pikachu's EV spread for Pokemon Sun and Moon
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Pikachu. Top rated Pikachu Sun/Moon movesets. You can find Pikachu builds Sun/Moon. Pikachu movesets Sun/Moon are listed here. VGC Pikachu Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Pikachu in Sun/Moon along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for Raichu evolution