When does Ash's pikachu use thunder

[johtoadvanced]

I've been watching pokemon D/P up to date and I've been noticing that Pikachu has only been using thunderbolt. it is a good attack and it's very accurate but a high level experienced pokemon like Pikachu should be able to use a stronger attack like Thunder. I looked on Bulbapedia and it said Pikachu knows thunder but it hasnt been used recently. Can anyone tell me any episodes where Ash's Pikachu uses Thunder or the episode it learned the attack. If not just tell me around what arc Ash's Pikachu used it frequently in. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[PDL]

I think in the anime, Thunderbolt and Thunder are so similar that they're interchangeable with one another. (Also, it could be weather related, if Pikachu got a boost from an electrical storm)

 

[Dual]

Wasn't that a Thunder attack it used against all of those Spearow in the first episode?

 

[GreatLiver]

Thunder has been shown to be much stronger than Thunderbolt, but it does seem to rely on the weather and not come directly from Pikachu, at least like it did in Showdown at Dark City.

 

[Greysky]

Pika used Thunder during every region but Sinnoh. But it is like Agility now, forgotten.

 

[Greysky]

Thunder has been shown to be much stronger than Thunderbolt, but it does seem to rely on the weather and not come directly from Pikachu, at least like it did in Showdown at Dark City.

Even Sparky knows Thunder, and in the Hoso it performed the move without weather help
There was never such explanation for Thunder either.

 

[kelvSYC]

Thunder and Thunderbolt are virtually interchangeable in appearance. Thunder just makes the sound more powerful. After all, we haven't see Pikachu miss with Thunder, right? In any event, Thunderbolt seems to be the more reliable one, while Thunder is the "weapon of last resort".

Similarly, Agility and Quick Attack are similar in appearance. In early AG we've also seen a charged tackle attack which is virtually indistinguishable from Volt Tackle...

 

[Keif]

From watching the anime, Pikachu pretty much dropped Thunder from its attack list once it learnt Volt Tackle. The last time it APPEARS to have been used was in the Elekid episode where Phanpy evolved. Before that it'd be the Mareep episode.

 

[Cybersai]

Yeah, I do remember Pikachu using Thunder in some Hoenn eps, I can't recall which, but I don't remember it doing it since it learned Volt tackle.

 

[cassius335]

I think losing Thunder might have contributed to Pikachu's power reset. It got a LOT of use out of Thunder back in the day, but now without it Pikachu's ranged attacks can't hit the heights of power they used to. I'm guessing Thunder would have been a tad more effective against that boulder from Steamboat Willes, for one thing.

 

[Every Breaking Wave]

Yeah, I do remember Pikachu using Thunder in some Hoenn eps, I can't recall which, but I don't remember it doing it since it learned Volt tackle.

When he caught Taillow
Against Juan's Sealeo's Ice Ball
Against Tyson's Meowth

I can't recall any others straight off the top of my head, but I have to agree; I can't remember it being used since after Volt Tackle was learned.

 

[peno]

I think losing Thunder might have contributed to Pikachu's power reset. It got a LOT of use out of Thunder back in the day, but now without it Pikachu's ranged attacks can't hit the heights of power they used to. I'm guessing Thunder would have been a tad more effective against that boulder from Steamboat Willes, for one thing.

I don't think so. Yes, Thunder is non contact move, therefore easy to use in Anime, but Volt Tackle is still more accurate move with the same power. And IMO better looking (Pikakachu is so cute when using Volt Tackle:crush. Do you prefer Pikachu dropped Thunderbolt? Then he lost accurate non contact electric move with many PP (even though I doubt PP has any effect to Anime, but whatever). Or Iron Tail? After all the effort both, Ash and Pikachu, put to learn this move? Or Quick Attack? Isn't it too risky for Pikachu not to have normal-type move? No, I think Pikachu's actuall movset is the most balanced he can ever have.
Anyway, the good thing IMO is, that writers now try not to use more then 4 moves for single Pokémon. They sure learn from previous mistakes.

 

[cassius335]

I don't think so. Yes, Thunder is non contact move, therefore easy to use in Anime, but Volt Tackle is still more accurate move with the same power. And IMO better looking (Pikakachu is so cute when using Volt Tackle:crush. Do you prefer Pikachu dropped Thunderbolt? Then he lost accurate non contact electric move with many PP (even though I doubt PP has any effect to Anime, but whatever). Or Iron Tail? After all the effort both, Ash and Pikachu, put to learn this move? Or Quick Attack? Isn't it too risky for Pikachu not to have normal-type move? No, I think Pikachu's actuall movset is the most balanced he can ever have.

I'd prefer Pikachu didn't drop anything, actually.

Anyway, the good thing IMO is, that writers now try not to use more then 4 moves for single Pokémon. They sure learn from previous mistakes.

And that's good... why exactly? :bash:

 

[pokemonmaster24]

I think the only time i have seen pikachu use thunder is in the first season.

 

[Herakurosu]

The first time Pikachu used thunder was way back in "Showdown at Dark City".

 

[peno]

And that's good... why exactly? :bash:

Why? 'Cause Pokémon is supposed to only know 4 moves. Anime broke this rule in past and that was bad thing. That's why it is good now.

The first time Pikachu used thunder was way back in "Showdown at Dark City".

Not exactly. Speculately, the move Pikachu used against Spearow in 1th episode was Thunder too.

 

[Herakurosu]

I don't see how that can count, really. It did look remarkably like other depictions of thunder being used, but that's it. At that point Pikachu hadn't even learned thunderbolt yet, which comes way before thunder in the order its moves are learned. And you have to remember that as early on as that they seem to have been adhering more strictly to game mechanics as they pertain to levels and such.

Furthermore, there was already a thunderstorm raging at that point, which is where Pikachu drew most of the energy from, not itself. I wouldn't consider that as Pikachu knowing thunder any more than I would say Pikachu defeated Takeshi's Iwark using its own power. If it had really known the move thunder then it could have used such power by itself all along, which it didn't until episode 42.

 

[kelvSYC]

There is also the possibility that Ash has changed his strategy around somewhat - since no one recalls Pikachu using Thunder after using Volt Tackle the first time, perhaps Ash has moved on to a new strategy where Thunder is simply obsolete. This has been seen before by several Pokémon (after all, Treecko pounded with his hand before using his tail for the more-familiar spiral Pound, and IIRC Lotad pretty much stopped using Razor Leaf after the Dewford saga), and it says nothing about whether Ash will use it in the future or not.

After all, Pikachu has one of the widest movepools for any of Ash's Pokémon (anime-wise, not "potential movepool").

 

[GreatLiver]

I don't see how that can count, really. It did look remarkably like other depictions of thunder being used, but that's it. At that point Pikachu hadn't even learned thunderbolt yet, which comes way before thunder in the order its moves are learned. And you have to remember that as early on as that they seem to have been adhering more strictly to game mechanics as they pertain to levels and such.

Furthermore, there was already a thunderstorm raging at that point, which is where Pikachu drew most of the energy from, not itself. I wouldn't consider that as Pikachu knowing thunder any more than I would say Pikachu defeated Takeshi's Iwark using its own power. If it had really known the move thunder then it could have used such power by itself all along, which it didn't until episode 42.

Yet Pikachu taking out Onix is a similar situation. Not according to game mechanics, but just like will and drive and whatnot. It's like in the Johto episode where Bulbasaur uses dig even though it can't learn it. Since it was in a desperate situation it used a move it wouldn't regularly. In the first episode it could have been that desperate of a situation in which Pikachu needed as strong of an attack as possible.

 

[cassius335]

Why? 'Cause Pokémon is supposed to only know 4 moves. Anime broke this rule in past and that was bad thing. That's why it is good now.

That's daft. Can you only learn 4 things?

Anime =/= games.