Rescue catalog · #025
Pikachu
Pikachu
- National Dex
- #025
- English name
- Pikachu
- Linked rescue cases
- Rescue notices on file
Normal & Shiny
Compare both colorations directly. The images load locally.
Rescue notices on file
These notices come from the existing production rules, each with a verification date.
4 rescue cases on file
Availability and transfer rules may still change before Pokémon Bank shuts down.
Secure a shiny Partner Cap Pikachu
Partner Cap (shiny)
Why this matters
Partner Cap Pikachu is collected in Pikachu Valley after scanning a QR code in Pokémon Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon, and it can be shiny because of a programming quirk in this distribution. The QR route remains available locally in the game, but after Pokémon Bank ends, a newly obtained specimen can no longer be transferred from there to Pokémon HOME. The Partner Cap form distributed for Pokémon Sword and Shield in 2020, by contrast, cannot be shiny.
Requirements
Nintendo 3DS family system · Pokémon Bank · Pokémon HOME Premium Plan
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Location: Pikachu Valley, northwest of Route 4 on Akala Island
Requirements: The Partner Cap QR code matching your Nintendo 3DS system's software region. American and PAL systems use the same code. · A save that has already reached Akala Island — the game refuses this particular code before that point.
Steps
- Once your save has reached Akala Island, open the QR Scanner from the game menu and scan the Partner Cap Pikachu code.
- Travel to Pikachu Valley northwest of Route 4, walk up to the deliveryman, and save your game there — before talking to him.
- Talk to the deliveryman and check whether the level 21 Pikachu you receive is Shiny. If it isn't, soft-reset and talk to him again: the game rolls this Pikachu's personality value against your own Trainer data every time it hands the gift over, which is exactly the bug that lets it be Shiny.
- With a Shiny one in hand, launch Pokémon Bank on your Nintendo 3DS and move it out of the game's Boxes into one of your Bank Boxes.
- In Pokémon HOME on your Nintendo Switch, pick Move from the main menu — taking Pokémon out of Pokémon Bank needs a HOME Premium Plan.
- With a Nintendo 3DS at hand: choose Begin Move, Begin, Ready!, then Display to get a Moving Key. In Pokémon Bank pick "Move Pokémon to Pokémon HOME", select the Boxes you want, press Y, confirm with Yes, and enter the key — it expires after three minutes.
- Without a Nintendo 3DS: link the Nintendo Network ID you used for Pokémon Bank to the Nintendo Account behind your Pokémon HOME, then choose Move, No Nintendo 3DS, Check and Begin — this moves your whole Bank at once rather than Box by Box.
Warnings
- This Pikachu carries the Trainer Shiny Value (TSV) 1009. If your own save happens to have that same TSV, this distribution can never be Shiny for you, however long you reset.
- For any other TSV, the same bug gives this Pikachu a normal chance to be Shiny each time you reset — that mismatch is exactly what this hunt relies on.
- The Shiny Charm has no effect on this Pikachu's odds: its shininess comes from the TSV-matching bug above, not from the game's ordinary shiny-encounter tables that the Shiny Charm boosts.
- A Shiny Cap Pikachu looks exactly like a normal one — the Cap forms have no Shiny model. Check the Shiny mark in its Summary screen, or watch for the sparkle animation when it enters battle; the model itself won't show you anything different.
- Once a Pokémon has moved from Pokémon Bank into Pokémon HOME it can never go back to Pokémon Bank.
Transfer path
- Pokémon Ultra Sun or Pokémon Ultra Moon
- Pokémon Bank
- Pokémon HOME
Preserve Cosplay Pikachu in its Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire save
Cosplay Pikachu · Form
Why this matters
Cosplay Pikachu cannot be deposited into Pokémon Bank. There is therefore no Bank-to-HOME rescue route for this special form; the specimen and its original Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire save must be preserved.
Acquisition
Still available
Obtain or locate Cosplay Pikachu in the existing Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire save and preserve that save itself.
Requirements
Nintendo 3DS family system
Transfer path
- Keep the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire save
Secure Virtual Console origins for HOME Challenges
Origin from the Virtual Console versions of Red/Blue/Yellow or Gold/Silver/Crystal · HOME Challenge
Why this matters
Pokémon HOME has origin-specific Challenges for Pikachu, Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise from the “good ol’” Kanto region, plus Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Suicune from the “good ol’” Johto region. These refer to the Virtual Console games. Their route to HOME uses Poké Transporter and Pokémon Bank and ends with the Bank service.
Acquisition
Still available
Transfer the Kanto- and Johto-origin specimens needed for the HOME Challenges from your Virtual Console saves through Poké Transporter and Pokémon Bank. Prioritize Pikachu and the three fully evolved Kanto starters, plus Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Suicune.
Requirements
Nintendo 3DS family system with the Virtual Console game installed · Virtual Console version of Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, or Crystal · Poké Transporter · Pokémon Bank · Pokémon HOME Premium Plan
Transfer path
- Virtual Console Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow or Gold/Silver/Crystal
- Poké Transporter
- Pokémon Bank
- Pokémon HOME
Modern alternative
After Bank ends, already-transferred specimens with the matching origin can still be traded. New specimens from your own Virtual Console saves will no longer be able to reach HOME.
Secure the Pokétopia gifts and decide what to do with Surf
PKTOPIA/regional OT; Pikachu with Surf and Volt Tackle · Move
Why this matters
Pokémon Battle Revolution can still distribute its three Pokétopia Pokémon locally; each DS save can receive each gift once, while the same Wii game can send them to multiple saves. Pikachu must forget Surf before the Generation IV-to-V Poké Transfer. Electivire and Magmortar do not need individual rules: their central collector value is the same Pokétopia event provenance, not a move that remains unique today.
Acquisition
Still available
Unlock Pikachu after the Pokétopia Championship and Electivire/Magmortar with their regional codes, then send the gifts locally to D/P/Pt/HGSS. To preserve Pikachu's original Surf moveset, keep one specimen in Generation IV and send a second one to another Generation IV save; only the transfer specimen needs to forget Surf.
Requirements
Nintendo Wii with Pokémon Battle Revolution and a compatible Nintendo DS system · For Poké Transfer: two compatible Nintendo DS systems · Nintendo 3DS family system with Poké Transporter and Pokémon Bank · Pokémon Battle Revolution, compatible Generation IV game, and Generation V game · Poké Transporter, Pokémon Bank, and Pokémon HOME Premium Plan
Transfer path
- Pokémon Battle Revolution
- D/P/Pt/HGSS (keep Surf, or remove it for transfer)
- Poké Transfer into Generation V
- Poké Transporter
- Pokémon Bank
- Pokémon HOME
Modern alternative
Modern Pikachu can learn Surf, but they do not replace the Pokétopia OT and historical gift provenance. Surf itself cannot pass through Poké Transfer on this Generation IV specimen.