Do you even like Pikachu?

[Legobricks]

Pikachu was only cool when it was nothing but a curious mouse found rarely in Viridian Forest, and actually had mouse-like anatomy. It was rare and interesting since it was by far the earliest-obtainable Electric-type. I've been quite indifferent toward it since... the cry is awkward to hear in the games, though; thankfully Raichu still has a real one.

 

[Cerberus87]

I hate Pikachu with a passion, mainly because of the anime which I hate as well.

The only times when I can kinda, sorta, tolerate the yellow thing, is when I use it in Smash Brothers (it might be IMHO one of the worst things about Pokémon as a franchise, but it handles quite well in Smash) .

And I would LOVE Game Freak to release an optional patch/DLC that would remove Pikachu's anime voice from Gen VI games and give it its real cry back.

This.

Also, it greatly annoys me how Raichu was portrayed as a villain in the anime, and weaker than Pikachu.

 

[icycatelf]

I was never one to dislike someone/something just because it's popular.

It's not one of my favorites, but it's cute and functions well as a mascot. Better than Clefairy like they had originally planned -- not that I dislike Clefairy (I may actually like it more than Pikachu), but I think it would make the franchise seem to target a female audience, whereas Pikachu seems more gender-neutral.

In the anime, I think Pichu is cuter than Pikachu. Those Pichu Bros. were adorable.

My favorite electric rodent is Pachirisu, though!

 

[Malters Machuchu]

I do think that Pikachu is very overexposed, but I don't dislike it. Generation 5's Emolga is far, far cuter in both the games and especially the main anime. Generation 6's Dedenne is also far cuter than Pikachu despite looking like its closest immediate Darwinian evolution relative.

 

[Hiatus]

Yep, of course; I have been a fan since day one, and still am.

I've liked this Pokémon ever since I was introduced to anime a long, long time ago; in every possible way, I found it to be cute. It's small, its color-scheme is bright and vibrant (which, I believe, had done a nice job appealing to my younger self), talks in an adorable way, and much more; who wouldn't like it? Not only this, but Pikachu has been a part of almost each and every episode as well, causing it to become even more... up-front, so to speak.

In terms of battling and whatnot, it's not so bad, either; it's pretty quick, and could learn some decent moves alongside. If given the opportunity, it could make a great member for almost any of your in-game team. I've used it a couple of times before, and thankfully, it has always seemed to have impressed. I've heard it's also good on competitive side with Light Ball strategy, but unfortunately, I've never tried it. Will at some point in future, however!

 

[Kameken]

The only Pikachu I don't like is Ash's. The fact that it's able to completely disregard all physics and all that. I'll admit, for a while, this caused me to hate the very idea of the thing.

When I got back to playing the games, they reminded me that pikachu is just a cute little mouse with a decent bit of lightning powers. Cosplay Pikachu made me like it even more, especially since it gets some really useful moves. I do wish raichu wasn't largely ignored by the games and anime. Mega evolution?

 

[SumGai]

How could I not like getting an electric type in Viridian forest?

It's a long time before you get another shot at an electric POKeMON (other then magnamite, which I'm not overly fond of), Pikachu goes a long way toward rounding out your team.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Mere words cannot express how much I hate this thing. It is, beyond question, the absolute worst Pokemon in the franchise.

It's a crappy, weak, bottom feeder Pokemon that has received way too much attention due to some nimrod's decision to make it the "mascot." Really, at the time there were 149 other Pokemon, 8 Gym Leaders, 4 Elite Four members, and numerous NPC trainer classes that could have better fulfilled that role. Hell, my toilet would make for a better "mascot." And forget trash bags or ice cream cones, THIS is the worst designed Pokemon. Those eyes and that smile just scream "creepy stalker."

Why a Pokemon with such a crappy base stat total would be the ONLY voiced Pokemon in 6th gen, why there would be a version that wears dumb outfits, and why it would appear on the team of ANY final endgame trainer is beyond my realm of understanding. Oh wait, it's because someone decided it would be a good idea to make it the symbol of the entire franchise. I sincerely hope someone got terminated over that decision.

Don't even get me started on the anime version of that thing. It has the maturity of an infant, the intelligence of whatever the neighbor's cat coughed up last night, and THAT VOICE. It's a form of torture that no human being should ever have to endure. I imagine the lowest depths of Hell has "Pika Pika!" playing in an endless loop.

Dear God, why does this idiotic thing even exist? Is it some sort of divine punishment?

 

[Vinny Vidi Vici]

I like Pikachu and I have to say it's a pretty great mascot for the series. For starters Pikachu is incredibly unique purely from an aesthetic point of view. In the world of cartoon characters, there have been a lot of knock offs. Plenty of cartoon mice to confuse Mickey with and plenty of cartoon cats to confuse Garfield with, but I can't imagine anyone confusing Pikachu with something else. Even if people mightn't recognise Pikachu by name, the funny looking yellow thing is pretty synonymous with Pokemon at this point. Pikachu also makes for a good allegory for what pokemon are in general. Pikachu being a rodent like creature with the power to store electricity while pokemon in general tend to be animal like creatures that have various natural or elemental powers.

I'm not into the anime at all really, so any favouritism Pikachu receives in the show doesn't bother me too much. I did watch the show as a kid and I remember things like 'aim for the horn' and other such shenanigans, but even then, I always sort of viewed the anime as it's own little side universe. One thing that did effect the games which I'm not thrilled with is Pikachu's new cry. It's not so much that I hate the favouritism being showed to it, I just really liked the old cry and don't like the new one. The old cry sounded like the noise and electric rodent might make. The new one sounds like a Japanese woman repeating a noise twice. If your going to go down that route, then you may as well pull out the Sly Stallone soundboard for all the fighting type pokemon. When sending out Hitmonchan, how about he says "ey watcha mouth".

It's also worth noting that Pikachu doesn't really recieve any special treatment in the games. Well save for cos-play Pikachu, but that aside, Pikachu and Raichu have never been the strongest pokemon in game. Even with the Light Ball, Pikachu is still pretty useless given it's poor movepool. Being the mascot of the series, I'd have thought that maybe they'd do it a favour by making it the best Electric type, but that's thankfully never happened, and plenty of other great Electric types have been introduced in every subsequent generation. So while Pikachu might get the limelight in the anime and in merchandising, other pokemon get their spotlight in the games.

 

[moon]

I like Pikachu :) It's a very nice pokemon, and Raichu as well. However, I really don't like the Pika-clones that popped up after Pichu. Very silly. Only Emolga is noteworthy different.

 

[Megan]

I can go either way in terms of Pikachu; I neither hate nor love it. Maybe it's because I don't watch the anime, but it's not as annoying to me as let's say Clefairy, which happens to be one of those Pokemon I really don't like. Sure, it would be cool if they gave other Pokemon more exposure, but that's certainly not Pikachu's fault.

 

[Salzorrah]

I like Pikachu since it's cute, and the mascot of Pokemon, but that's it. I'm just really bothered on the fact that only Pikachu has an understandable cry in Gen 6. I know he's the mascot and all, but they could have atleast given Pichu and Raichu the cries too, like they don't acknowledge Pikachu having its own line :/

 

[Mawa]

I don't like pikachu and never have. But it is the mascot and I don't want it to change :)
(I love Raichu...)

 

[FeralSlaaneshi]

I've never really liked Pikachu for a number of reasons.
Firstly the overexposure doesn't help. If it was another Pokemon I'd probably dislike that one just as much, but unfortunately it happens to be Pikachu.
Additionally I never liked Ash, and growing up with the show you start to associate certain Pokemon with certain characters (I always associated Onix and Vulpix with Brock and Psyduck with Misty), so naturally, where there was Ash there was Pikachu. Again, it could have been any Pokemon, it just happened to be Pikachu.
Let me start this next bit off by saying that I do think Pikachu is a nice gender-neutral balance of 'cool' and 'cute', but I do think there are 'cooler' and 'cuter' Pokemon. I also think there are Pokemon that are a nicer or equal balance of the two such as any of the starter Pokemon, but there you go.
People always seem to dislike Pichu, but I think the fact it's so pathetic makes it cuter than Pikachu, and Raichu has always been cooler and generally more impressive in my opinion. So even in its own evolution line it's overshadowed massively.
The only Pokemon I dislike more is Mew, and that's more to do with how much everyone raves about them. Maybe that makes me some kind of Pokemon hipster or something but I find the two of them annoying, partly just because I find them annoying but also because of the hype and exposure of the two.

I don't blame people for liking Pikachu, I mean I can see the appeal. It's just not for me. I'd much rather have a Pichu or a Raichu if I absolutely must have something from that evolution line.

 

[Galmar]

I like Raichu, but Pikachu is one that I dislike as he is massively overrated and isn't a very good Pokémon to me. Personally, I prefer Electabuzz.

 

[Bounsweet]

Using the Cosplay Pikachu in AlphaSapphire has made me like it again, but it's always been a Pokémon that's just kind of there for me. I liked it a lot when I was young and started getting into Pokémon, obviously, but then a bunch of new Pokémon came out and now I'm at a point where asking me to narrow down my top 5 favorites is a demanding question. :(

 

[Astinus]

Pikachu has always been a Pokemon that I adored, and that's true to this day. I started liking it because of its role in the anime. These days, I pay no attention to the anime, so that's probably why I still like it. The species isn't totally overexposed to me, so I don't see it all over the place. I don't even have a problem with its cry in X/Y because I always play with the sound off.

Really, the only time Pikachu is overexposed in my life is whenever people consistently bring up how much they hate it. It's weird.

 

[CoffeeDrink]

I'm on the fence. I don't really care either way. Pikachu is just #25 to me and not much more. Do I hate how much attention it gets? No, not really. I think Dragon Types get way to much in the games themselves. So an electric mouse dresses up like a rockstar so what? The Dragon types have more legendaries than any other type (if not, let me know) at a whopping 10. So no, Pikachu does not bother me, and I don't bother Pikachu.

 

[classiccartoonsftw]

I love Pikachu! I loved it in the anime, and I've got a big plush doll of it! I also enjoy using it in the games. But when it comes to the games, Raichu has proven to be stronger and less frail. So that's why Pikachu and Raichu now share the #1 spot for me.

 

[bobandbill]

I'm just okay with it overall in the games, I suppose, and liked it more as a kid. I don't watch the anime, but I dont really want to use it in teams (and I prefer Raichu's design anyway).

An exception is Super Smash Bros, where it's actually my main since Melee days. It's just my go-to fighter I suppose.