Do you think Oak evolved Pikachu from a Pichu?

[Hikamaru]

He caught Pikachu as a Pikachu, enough said.

 

[fireflare]

pichu never even existed untill gen2

 

[Amore]

Personally, I think the most valid argument is that he didn't add Pichu to the Pokédex, and surely if he'd caught one, he would have done. Presumably when he got dragged back through time with Celebi, he didn't actually see one. Or he never found another in his lifetime up to when Ash received Pikachu.

But please, why do people keep saying, like the guy above "Pichu wasn't around until Gen II". People have already tried to explain that it existed, just not in Kanto.

 

[Rooke]

It's true that Pichu didn't exist until Gen II, but wasn't Gen II already around by the first episode of the anime? Ho-oh was in it, after all. Seeing as Pikachu was feral, and hated pretty much everything, that gives the impression that it was newly-caught, and wasn't used to being around people. I don't think Oak evolved it from a Pichu, but it has to have evolved from a Pichu.

I mean, even thought Pichu still wasn't discovered, Pikachu must have evolved from it. Just because things haven't been discovered, it doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[Guest123_x1]

I always thought Professor Oak caught the Pikachu he eventually gave to Ash in the wild (as a Pikachu), before the events of the first episode.
In Pokémon Yellow, when the player steps into the grass to try and leave Pallet Town, Professor Oak stops him, a wild Pokémon battle starts with Pikachu appearing, and Professor Oak throws a PokéBall at it to catch it.
As I said in another thread, Generation II was already in the works when the anime began, but most of the Pokémon introduced with that generation probably weren't even created yet.

 

[Osha_say_wott?!]

If Oak had caught Pikachu as a Pichu he would've added him into the Pokedex. So, no, I don't think Oak evolved him, he merely caught Pikachu as is. I do wonder, however, if Pikachu has any recollections of when he was a Pichu. o.O Does he even know he was a Pichu, once?

 

[Silver25]

Although it may be possible, I don't think Professor Oak caught it as a Pichu and raised it. Pikachu was strong for a starter pokemon (and still is exceptionally strong compared to most pikachu and other pokemon for that matter) but if he trained it enough to evolve it as a Pikachu I think it would have been too strong for a starter pokemon compared to the others.

And as others have stated before, if that were the case then Pichu would have been in Generation I and in the first Pokedex. Again, it is slightly possible, but unlikely.

 

[Numbers]

Nah, I think he caught it as a Pikachu. Like a few others have said, it wasn't tame when Ash got it. Pichu needs to be happy to evolve. That's my opinion anyway.

 

[kunalnanda]

Or do you think he caught him as a Pikachu? And, other than for the plot is there any reason why he'd have a Pikachu in the first place? Seems like Professors only ever get Pokemon from breeders and starters at that.

As far as I can recall Pikachu is the evolved form of Pichu. Now all new Pokemon trainers do not get evolved pokemon and that is why it is a bit of a mystery as to how and why professor oak got pikachu.