In the first episode of the Pokémon anime, Pokémon - I Choose You, Ash woke up late the day he was supposed to go to Professor Oak's Laboratory to obtain his first Pokémon. When he arrived at the lab, the three available starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, had already been taken by other Trainers who had arrived on time. Seeing Ash's disappointment, Professor Oak gave him Pikachu, who, at first, did not care at all for his new Trainer, constantly zapping him and anyone else nearby.
Pikachu's next major battle was in Ash's Vermilion Gym battle against Lt. Surge's Raichu in Electric Shock Showdown. Lt. Surge laughed at Ash for attempting to defeat his Raichu with its pre-evolved form, angering Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu started off using Thunder Shock which seemed to do nothing to Raichu. Raichu then used its own Thunder Shock, which was much more powerful than Pikachu's attack, and dealt much more damage. Following advice from Brock, Ash tried recalling Pikachu in order to forfeit. However, Pikachu was determined to defeat Raichu, and therefore, kept fighting. While trying to attack, Pikachu got overwhelmed by Raichu's Mega Punch and Mega Kick and was finally defeated by a powerful Thunderbolt. Due to all the damage he had taken during the battle, Pikachu had to be hospitalized. Later in the episode, Ash offered to let Pikachu evolve into a Raichu with a Thunder Stone that Nurse Joy had given him. However, Pikachu refused, wanting to defeat Raichu on his own terms.
Later, Ash challenged Lt. Surge to a rematch, where Pikachu once again faced Raichu. Trying to get close, Pikachu got hammered to the ground by Raichu's tail, followed up by repeating hits from its tail. Raichu then hit him hard with Body Slam. As Raichu was about to finish him off with another Body Slam, Pikachu managed to get up and dodge it. Ash soon found out from Brock that since Raichu was evolved so early, it did not learn any of the moves that it could only learn as a Pikachu, such as Agility and Quick Attack. Through his use of these moves, Pikachu managed to gain the upper hand and dodge Raichu's attacks. Raichu responded with an extremely powerful Thunderbolt attack that Lt. Surge was sure could defeat Pikachu. Pikachu, however, used his tail as an anchor to absorb the shock. Raichu tried using Thunderbolt again but due to its previous attack it had run out of electricity. It then tried to hit Pikachu with a Take Down, but was outsped by Pikachu's Quick Attack. Pikachu then used his tail to slam Raichu and defeat it, earning Ash the Thunder Badge.
Description: Pikachu strikes a series of synchronized pose with his Trainer to build Z-Power. He then gathers a large ball of electricity and launches it towards the target with a punch.
Gigantamax Pikachu's tail glows white. He then grabs his tail and slams it into the ground, creating a series of gray spikes that extend forward and strike the opponent.
Gigantamax Pikachu fires a bolt of yellow electricity into the clouds above him. Moments later, multiple bolts of lighting shaped like his tail strike down from the clouds onto the opponent.
Gigantamax Pikachu jumps into the air, creating yellow glowing cracks on the ground as he lands. The cracks spread towards the opponent, and as they reach them, a burst of yellow energy erupts from the ground underneath the opponent.
