Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set in olden times in the Pokemon world when it was rare to find harmony between people and Pokemon. Set in Hisui, modern-day Sinnoh, you will join the Galaxy Expedition Team (Galaxy Team for short) as a member of the Survey Corps stationed in Jubilife Village. You will be tasked to meet every Hisui Pokemon species to complete the region’s first-ever Pokédex.
In the game, certain Pokemon have special requirements for them to evolve. One of these Pokemon is Pichu, and in this guide, you will learn how to evolve Pichu into a Pikachu!
Pichu into Pikachu
Pikachu is an Electric type Mouse Pokemon that looks like a short and chubby rodent that is covered in yellow fur, has two brown striped markings on its back, a red circle in each cheek, two long and pointed ears with black tips, short arms with five fingers on each paw, three toes on each foot, and a tail that is shaped like a lightning bolt with a little bit of brown fur (a female Pikachu’s tail has a rounded tip that looks like the top part of a heart). According to its Pokedex entry in the game, the red markings on Pikachu’s cheeks are sacs that are used to store electricity. Pikachu roasts tough berries using its electric shock before it eats them.
Pikachu can actually be found in the Obsidian Fieldlands (in Nature’s Pantry), in the Crimson Mirelands (north of the Golden Lowlands), and the Cobalt Coastlands (northeast of Windbreak Stand). Aside from that, Pikachu can be found in Massive Mass Outbreaks in the Obsidian Fieldlands or inside Space-Time Distortions.
An alternative for catching a Pikachu is evolution. To do that, the player must evolve a Pichu. First, the player should know where to find a Pichu.
Pichu
The player also can find a Pichu in the Obsidian Fieldlands (northeast of Nature’s Pantry and in the Floaro Gardens) and in the Crimson Mirelands (north of the Golden Lowlands, and they can be found in these locations at all times of the day and in every weather condition. Aside from that, the Pichu can also be found in Massive Mass Outbreaks in the Obsidian Fieldlands.
Another thing worth noting is that Pichu may immediately run away once it notices the player, so the player may need to sneak into the tall grass or use Smoke Bombs to get close to it.
If you plan on distracting it with food before catching it, it is worth mentioning that Pichu’s preferred foods are Springy Mushrooms, Dazzling Honey, Hearty Grains, and Plump Beans.
Suppose you plan on battling a Pichu first before catching it. In that case, it is worth noting that Pichu is a Normal-type Pokemon which means it has a weakness to Ground-type moves (super effective) and resistance to Electric-type, Flying-type, and Steel-type moves (not very effective).
High Friendship
Now that the player has caught a Pichu, all that is needed to evolve a Pichu into Pikachu is for the player’s Pichu to have at least a High Friendship Level.
To increase a Pokemon’s Friendship Level, the player should keep the Pokemon in the player’s party, use the Pokemon in battles, not let the Pokemon faint in battle, and use the Pokemon to gather materials from trees and ores.
To check your Pokemon’s Friendship Level, simply head on to the Friendship Checker named Belamy, which can be found a little bit south of the Pastures in the eastern part of Jubilife Village (Belamy is the man dressed in blue). However, it is important to note that the Friendship Checker is not available right at the start of the game.
To unlock the Friendship Checker, the player must first complete the “Measuring Your Compatibility” Request (request 28). After that, the player can now talk to Belamy and select the Pokemon you want to check for the Friendship Level. The following is the actual Friendship Level based on Belamy’s Description:
| Friendship Level | Belamy’s Description |
| Base Friendship | “[Your Pokemon] seems leery of you yet. New to the team, perhaps?” |
| Low | “I suppose [your Pokemon]’s become a bit friendly toward you, but you’ve a ways to go…” |
| Mid | “[Your Pokemon] seems to get on well with you. But I’m sure it could get on better!” |
| High | “You and [your Pokemon] seem to be fast friends. You must be quite good companions!” |
| Highest | “What an excellent pair of friends you and [your Pokemon] make. You must mean a lot to each other!” |
As for Pichu, the player’s Pichu must be on the High or Highest Friendship Level to evolve to Pikachu.
Finally, Pikachu!
After catching a Pichu and raising its Friendship Level to High or Highest, the player can now evolve a Pichu into a Pikachu!
To do that, this is what the player must do:
- If it is not already there, put the player’s Pichu in the Player’s party by talking to the Galaxy Member near the tent on any of the Base Camps and selecting “I want to see my Pokemon” on the prompt or heading to the Pastures in the eastern part of Jubilife Village.
- Then, return to the game and press the up-directional button to open the player’s Satchel.
- Select the player’s Pichu, which has a glowing Poke Ball beside its name, indicating that the Pokemon is ready to evolve. Select Evolve on the prompt, confirm on the next prompt to evolve Pichu, then, just like that, Pichu will evolve into a Pikachu!
Now that the player has a Pikachu, the player can try to use the Pikachu to complete other requests, missions, or Arceus’ task for the player, which is to catch ‘em all!
