Pikachu or Raichu

[Flame of Destruction]

Should i evolve my Pikachu. i have light ball and my Pikachu knows volt tackle but i dont know if Pikachu with light ball is better then a plain Raichu.

 

[husk1442]

raichu gets more speed, but, pikachu will have the larger special attack

 

[Rai]

I'd say Raichu is better all together but that's my opinion
and if you do evolve your pikachu make sure it's not at a low level

 

[? Bleep ?]

i like the pikachu lightball better... cus of the higher special attack... But raichu does get the speed :-)

 

[SapphireL]

I like Raichu more. It's got better Speed and it can Focus Punch and pull it off pretty well. Pikachu... it won't survive many hits (or as many as Raichu can).

 

[c_dog]

pikachu @ light ball is better. go for timid nature and give it max ev in speed. that pikachu is awesome because it has over 300 speed which allows it to outrun most pokes(and sweep them too). just watch out for pokemon faster than pikachu(it should be obvious) and you should be fine.

 

[Wolf_Goddess]

Hmm, if your Pikachu is lower then 30, don't evolve it. I always evolve Pokemon w/ stones when they're at level 35...don't ask why.

 

[Spike Razzor]

Raichu > Pikachu

Pikachu is all Speed and Sp.Atk, the rest of its stats are so low that any attack, effective or not could KO it. So it cannot survive and attack if it doesn't OHKO its opponent.

Volt Tackle, not really such a good move. Unlike Double Edge which isn't super effective against anything, Volt Tackle is, which means it can backfire by doing even more damage to yourself if it does x4 damage to a Pokemon (Gyarados), or if you get a lucky critical hit.

Unlike Raichu, Pikachu is incapable of ''sweeping". Plain and simple, its only special attacks would be electric based and Hidden Power. Raichu has a strong enough attack power to do some damage with a Focus Punch, Pikachu couldn't even do 1/4 to Tyranitar, which has a x4 Fight weakness...

 

[c_dog]

Raichu > Pikachu

Pikachu is all Speed and Sp.Atk, the rest of its stats are so low that any attack, effective or not could KO it. So it cannot survive and attack if it doesn't OHKO its opponent.

Volt Tackle, not really such a good move. Unlike Double Edge which isn't super effective against anything, Volt Tackle is, which means it can backfire by doing even more damage to yourself if it does x4 damage to a Pokemon (Gyarados), or if you get a lucky critical hit.

Unlike Raichu, Pikachu is incapable of ''sweeping". Plain and simple, its only special attacks would be electric based and Hidden Power. Raichu has a strong enough attack power to do some damage with a Focus Punch, Pikachu couldn't even do 1/4 to Tyranitar, which has a x4 Fight weakness...

well, raichu can't really take hits either you know. i mean if you just max speed pikachu and send it out against pokemon slower than 300 speed then none of them should be able to do any sort of damage to pikachu because they get OHKO'd.

and what's so bad about Volt Tackle. yeah it inflicts damage on pikachu, but it also OHKO gyarados. pikachu with hidden power ice, and volt tackle, can OHKO a lot of things. :S you'd be surprised. On net battle i can sweep about 2-3 pokemon before pikachu faints from recoil. Now that's pretty good if you ask me. one pokemon for 2 or 3?

i don't think raichu can even come close in terms of sweeping, even if he can do damage focus punching a tyranitar.

 

[Kijin]

Uhhh... Light Ball Pikachu>Raichu on every account.
Raichu is abysmal overall but can take a hit. Pikachu w/ lightball has, I think, a STABed TB equal to Airlocked Kyogre surf (I could be wrong here) w/ lightball. In case you didn't catch that, Pikachu ruins your opponents ****. I would include Volt Tackle and (if you're lucky and bought Pokemon Box) Surf w/ god knows what in addition. Pikachu can't take a hit, so the recoil from VT isn't going to mean much of anything since every attack w/ Pikachu LB is a gambit. Raichu is just a bundle of terrible whereas Pikachu is the ruiner of things when equipped.

Edit:
Here's the breakdown:
Pikachu@Lightball
Nature: Modest (assumed max EVs and IVs in SPA and Speed)
SPA: 218 x 2 = 436 special attack (that's two points less than Kyogre)
Speed: 279 (that's the same speed as Kyogre)

vs

Raichu@Unhappy Face
Nature: Modest
SPA: 306
Speed: 299

In short, Pikachu w/ a lightball is a 1-2 shot Kyogre.

and what's so bad about Volt Tackle. yeah it inflicts damage on pikachu, but it also OHKO gyarados. pikachu with hidden power ice, and volt tackle, can OHKO a lot of things. :S you'd be surprised.

What you and everyone else forgets is that Pikachu Box knows Surf, so in addition to a well-placed HP move, it also gets Surf (I don't know/believe it can breed surf onto something else). If you think of Pikachu as an exploder that... explodes... 2-4 times instead of Ash's #1 super favorite ultratron bestest pokemon, you're going to find yourself winner more battles than not. Just watch out for Dugtrio <.<

 

[c_dog]

What you and everyone else forgets is that Pikachu Box knows Surf, so in addition to a well-placed HP move, it also gets Surf (I don't know/believe it can breed surf onto something else). If you think of Pikachu as an exploder that... explodes... 2-4 times instead of Ash's #1 super favorite ultratron bestest pokemon, you're going to find yourself winner more battles than not. Just watch out for Dugtrio <.<

well, i use netbattle and pikachu certainly can't learn surf on netbattle. either way hp ice takes care of ground types anyway. dugtrio, if you're lucky, you just might use hp ice when it switches in and OHKO it :D. i've done that before, OHKO a dugtrio as it switches in. needless to say my opponent was furious as his team was ripped apart by a single pokemon. but yes, dugtrio is pikachu's worst enemy.

 

[tramptech]

Raichu...back in the old day on yellow I had a Pikachu, and I kept trying the thunderstone, and the little turd wouldn't accept it. So I traded the Pika to gold, duped it, traded back the original, then I got myself a Raichu. It's on level 100 now and my best partner ever since! ^_^

I'll go away now.