Do you think Oak evolved Pikachu from a Pichu?

[Azureth]

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.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

If we consider the connection with Yellow and the fact that Pichu did not exist in the 1st generation, I can presume that he did catch Pikachu as Pikachu =)

 

[TheFuturePokemon]

Pichu is gen 2. Just like in Yellow Oak probably just caught it.

 

[Zayin]

He probably caught Pikachu in Viridian Forest.

 

[Kenshin5]

If we consider the connection with Yellow and the fact that Pichu did not exist in the 1st generation, I can presume that he did catch Pikachu as Pikachu =)

So by that token Ho-oh didn't exist before Gen 2 even though we saw it in Episode One and it that there was an incident at the Tin Tower hundreds of years before. Or that Arceus didn't exist cause he was one of the first pokemon. We don't know if Oak caught Pikachu as Pikachu unless we see the capture, otherwise all we can do is speculate.

 

[Meganium]

I'm pretty sure Oak caught Pikachu as a Pikachu, not a Pichu. He probably haven't discovered Pichu's in the Kanto region when he caught it.

 

[Oryx]

If it was a Pichu, then it would have to be raised. Oak doesn't train anymore, he's just a professor, and Pikachu was stubborn and pretty feral. There's really no way you can fit into it that he caught it as a Pichu.

Edit: I replied to this without even thinking of myself as Oak-themed, lol.

 

[MMaester]

Oak made the Pokédex right? If he did... He would've added Pichu if he raised one right? So I think he caught a Pikachu ;)

 

[marcc5m]

No because Pichu evolves by happiness and when Ash got him he wasn't yet tame. :3

 

[Mew~]

As most users have already mentioned, Pichu wasn't even created at the time Ash got that Pikachu, even though it does seem like a nice idea.

Although you could take into the account of the movie "4ever" in which Oak appeared younger when they traveled in time, he did obviously see some Gen 2 pokémon so that could rule out the Pichu didn't exist theory.

I guess the best guess would be that he caught it in Viridian Forest. Although, I wonder where any of the professors get their starter Pokémon from. Unless he got it from someone like that swamp guy from the episode "A Mudkip Mission!"

 

[Richard Nixon]

I don't think Oak evolved Pikachu from Pichu.

 

[pineco-a-go-go]

So by that token Ho-oh didn't exist before Gen 2 even though we saw it in Episode One and it that there was an incident at the Tin Tower hundreds of years before. Or that Arceus didn't exist cause he was one of the first pokemon. We don't know if Oak caught Pikachu as Pikachu unless we see the capture, otherwise all we can do is speculate.

Not to mention that the entire Unova region would have been completely barren of pokemon until just recently.

We have to assume that there are many pokemon that exist and have existed long before the beginning of the show that simply weren't introduced to us viewers. I think one of the movies started with some narration about there being hundreds or thousands of unknown pokemon. I tend to think that they are known to others, but not to Ash, and therefore not to us either.

That being said, Oak probably realized that there were 4 trainers who were going to get their first pokemon on the same day and he only had 3 starters. He probably captured the pikachu a few days before Ash picked it so he wouldn't have to wait for the new Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur to hatch.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I don't think so. Pichu didn't come about until Gen II, so Oak must have picked up Pikachu as it was.

 

[ORegan]

That being said, Oak probably realized that there were 4 trainers who were going to get their first Pokemon on the same day and he only had 3 starters. He probably captured the pikachu a few days before Ash picked it so he wouldn't have to wait for the new Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur to hatch.

If the movie that someone else mentioned is taken into consideration, Oak purposely saved Pikachu for Ash. Pikachu wasn't tame when Ash received him, meaning that Pikachu was happy in the wild and evolved naturally, and then Oak caught him. How he knew which Pikachu was the one he met as a little boy is still a mystery. :P

 

[2Cool4Mewtwo]

I'm 99.9999 per cent sure that Oak got it as a Pikachu, because Gen II pokes weren't meant to be even related to episode that was aired on Gen I days, though the first episode ho-oh is a good point to counter that. Still,the happiness factor goes into play. I don't think Oak would've cared enough to make a pichu evolve from happiness (though there are always a certain leeway as to how this goes).

 

[Kenshin5]

I wouldn't make happiness out to be a factor with Oak. Since we have seen 10 episodes back wild Swoobat(whose evolution is through happiness). So do pokemon in the wild evolve from self happiness, happiness with their family, clan, group? Or does some other factor come into play.

 

[Fezao4]

No.Oak caught Pikachu as a Pikachu.Ho-oh appeared in the first episode beacause he flyed Johto to Kanto i think.But im sure Oak caught Pikachu as a Pikachu.

 

[PokeFan2014]

No because pichu wasnt introduced to the pokemon world until the johto series

 

[The Corrupt Plague]

The fact that it's so powerful leads me to believe that there is much more to this rat than things may seem. Here's my spin on it and I'm well aware of how over the top ridiculous this story is but I feel like having some fun here; Ash's Pikachu might be the result of some sinister experiment from Team Rocket involving Raikou. They wanted to make pokemon supersoldiers as sort of a test run for Project Mewtwo. To increase Pikachu's power to the same level as Raikou, they used a single hair from the beast, extracted some DNA, and injected a few genes into the pokemon while it was still in the egg. When it hatched as a Pichu, they ran the usual battery of tests to make sure it's body was working correctly and everything went according to plan. When it was due to begin combat training, it eventually escaped from the facility and somehow found it's way to Oaks lab. With the loss of a very important prototype, the supersoldier project was cancelled and Team Rocket's scientists turned all their focus to creating Mewtwo. Now back to Pikachu. Professor Oak kept the Pokemon for many years and eventually, it evolved. When Oak found Ash, he gave Ash this Pikachu for whatever reason and the two started their journey.

 

[Hilbert]

Probably he caught is as Pikachu...
Althought he was 26lv.(LOL) in five episodes...