The ultra-cute Alolan Raichu can be picked up in Saffron City. Head into the Pokemon Center and look for a female trainer who’s willing to trade your normal Raichu for the tail-surfing version. Firemantim posted. Firelion6593 posted. Yeah, just use the Thunderstone on Pikachu. Then how would we get non-alolan raichu You can't in Sun and Moon it seems, without evolving it in an older game and then transporting it.
Ever since the release of Pokemon Yellow - which was the showcase title for Pikachu - most Trainers have considered Pikachu a must-have member of their team - for good reasons. But the path towards obtaining your Pikachu in UltraSun / UltraMoon? It's not as simple as it was in the previous games. Largely this is due to the fact that Pikachu appears in the wild later in the game.
It may ALSO interest you to know that the evolved form of Pikachu called Raichu has its own special and unique version for the Ultra games.
So how exactly do you obtain a Pikachu for your team early in play? The answer is small and simple: it's called Pichu!
Obtaining Pichu
The first form that Pikachu evolves from is the baby-like and uber cute Pichu - a friendly Electric Rodent that is found very early in the story. In fact you can find them in the Tall Grass of Route 1 if you are persistent.
The thing to understand is that Pichu is a rare spawn in this area - though it IS present. Personally we think that's a win-win since we get to capture the other Pokemon that appear in the tall grass and, at the same time, level up our team while we hunt the elusive Pichu.
Evolving Your Pichu
Once you actually find and capture your Pichu you will want to evolve it - and that can be a bit on the tricky side because in order to evolve Pichu into Pikachu you have to max out their like for you!
Fortunately the new Pokemon Refresh App in this generation of the games makes that slightly less difficult than was previously the case. Working the Refresh App you can get Pichu wicked happy - and once you DO that, all you need to do is take them into the grass and battle until they level up, and they will then evolve into the beloved Pikachu for you!
Working Happiness
We've already mentioned Pokemon Refresh as a method for increasing your Pichu's Happiness, but there are other methods - and there are things you DON'T want to have happen as well! Here are examples of do and do not actions:
- Party Play - Walking around the world with Pichu in your party.
- Battle Play - Winning Battles with Pichu in your party.
- No Fainting! It is bad to allow Pichu to faint in battle as that WILL LOWER happiness!
Unlock Pikachu’s Z-Move
Once you've evolved your Pichu into your Pikachu you are going to want to unlock their special Z-Move -- which is called Catastropika!
Like all Z-Moves you’ll first need to find the hidden Z-Crystal for them and then equip that as their held item in order to gain the new special move. The Z-Crystal you need is called Pikanium Z and it can be found in Konikoni City at an NPC who has three Pikachu of her own.
Before you can obtain the Z-Crystal though, you are going to need to level your Pikachu up so that they have learned Volt Tackle - then you can speak with the NPC and obtain the Z-Crystal. Happily the NPC Trainer who can teach them Volt Tackle is ALSO found in Konikoni City. So look around for them and talk to them to have your Pikachu learn that signature move.
Alolan Raichu?
Tank tank tank all bosses. As we previously noted, for most Trainers it is Pikachu that is the goal - and once they have them, they will prevent him / her from evolving into their third form because hey, Pikachu! But let's say you actually WANT to have that third form as well?
In the Ultra games there is a special Alolan form for Raichu - but assuming you still WANT to have your Pikachu, that means you will likely need to return to the Tall Grass and capture ANOTHER Pichu to level up and evolve into the Pikachu you will then evolve into Alolan Raichu, right? Right!
In Alola your Pikachu will evolve into a special form of Raichu called the Alolan Raichu - which is special because it is a dual-type (Psychic/Electric) instead of being just the Electric-Type we are all used to it being. Not only that but the Alola Raichu happens to be a surfing Pokemon too! Yup, it loves to ride the waves!
The reason that we strongly suggest that you seek out and capture a second Pichu - or even do that BEFORE you level up your first Pichu - is because the evolution process that transforms Pikachu into Alolan Raichu has the side-effect of REMOVING its Z-Move -- and why would you go to all the effort of obtaining that Z-Crystal and the move and then lose it? The answer is you wouldn't - so get that second Pichu mates!
Just to be clear on this - Alolan Raichu can NOT use the Pikanium-Z Crystal to learn that Z-Move - it's a Pikachu ONLY thing. You see the Alolan Raichu has its own Z-Crystal and Z-Move. The good news is that you will never accidentally evolve your Pikachu - because the evolution process to gain its third form requires you to use a Thunder Stone on it. And that can't happen by accident - you have to mean to do it.
You can find a Thunder Stone on Akala Island, located behind the truck at the Dream Park, and you can apply that to your second Pikachu pretty much whenever you like and it will instantly evolve.
Alolan Raichu's Z-Move is called “Stoked Sparksurfer” and to obtain the special move he / she must already know the signature move “Thunderbolt” as well in order to use their Z-Move. You will need to collect the Aloraichium-Z Crystal on Poni Island in Seafolk Village.
That nicely covers the whole Pichu-Pikachu-Alolan Raichu Evolutionary Chain!