Pikachu is Born! (1090)

[Serebii]

Pikachu is Born!

Long ago, before Ash left on his journey, a Pichu was lonely in a forest in Kanto. This Pichu, while still young, went through various encounters and goodbyes before it evolved and went on his journey with Ash. This is the story of how Pikachu met Ash from Pikachu's perspective.

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Discuss

 

[TheNewGuy]

Might be one of the most interesting episodes in the show's 20+-year history. Very into this.

 

[thedarkdragon11]

Awesome! The prequel of the very first episode...

 

[Fernsday]

Waiting until subs come out. Overall a solid episode but I feel Pikachu's backstory was rushed to a degree plus I feel there was no in between when it came to explaining why Pikachu was disobedient towards Ash at first. Feeling a 7/10 atm.

 

[Deleted member 384931]

The animation was gorgeous 10/10
The story was good, but sadly no explanation why Pikachu didn't obey Ash 7/10
The bond between Gou and the girl will annoy me I think.


Overal 7/10

 

[Fernsday]

Why did Pikachu choose to leave Kangaskhan?

 

[dman_dustin]

I didn't like this episode because it dragged for too long and wasted a lot of opportunity. Too much of nothing happening with Pichu (though it was adorable) and too much of Go and Koharu.

I thought we got scenes of Ash and Oak having a conversation about Ash's journey so far? Or something like that, maybe it was never supposed to be in the show and they scrapped it or whatnot, because I can't imagine it happening in the 2nd episode.

Go and Koharu scenes really should've been spliced throughout the early episodes because

Spoiler

It kind of makes the the upcoming Mew episode rather pointless in a lot of regard because you already told the story now as opposed to making it relevant in that episode

A large chunk of the Pichu story felt really pointless, because it basically removed why Pikachu is afraid of Poke balls (unless I missed that somehow) as well as Oak catching Pikachu to give to Ash. All I remember is Pikachu evolving into Pichu (Edit: And I totally meant the opposite, I think I was trying to say it evolved FROM Pichu), suddenly Ash is 10 and gets Pikachu without ANY story on how it ended at Oak's lab. Guess we have to wait another 20 years to figure that one out (unless I missed something).

I guess a lot of the issues I had with this episode, is that they were trying to cram SO much into this episode, when it felt like it should've been broken into two. Like have the episode primarily be about Pichu, with very little focus on Koharu and Go (just so they were in the same scene with Mew and baby Kangaskhan), have it evolve and be caught.

While the 2nd episode could be half about Go and Koharu going to Oak's lab (with both characters reminiscing it about it in the present), then also the other half could be about Ash, Pikachu and Professor Oak getting ready to head into the Lugia episode (the next day).

Just way too much crammed into this episode, with a lot of it feeling pointless or not needed while leaving a lot more interesting things out.

Why did Pikachu choose to leave Kangaskhan?

My best guess is that it felt like it was a burden to the Kangaskhan, and it didn't want them to waste any more effort or resources on it.

 

[Lucario At Service]

The episode starts with the talk of a young Ash asking his mother to join a Pokemon Camp hosted by Prof.Oak.
Does this reference to the XY plot relating to Serena, of her meeting Ash for the first time during a Pokemon Camp in Kanto.

 

[VoltTacklingPika]

New series, new drinking game: take a shot whenever Koharu says "Gou".

Gou was a know-it-all kid who apparently didn't have many friends, but he says he's trying to "get" Pokemon, not human friends. His dream of catching 'em all isn't just a dream, but the future, and the future is in his hands. Fast forward a few years, and he's developed a habit of skipping school.

Meanwhile, in Alola, everyone gasps in horror at the thought of missing a single day of school.

The episode managed to subvert the childhood encounter thing by having Ash be late to camp and miss the whole thing entirely. True to form, he never learns his lesson and ends up late on that fateful day - but we all know how that went for him.

It was a little unclear why Baby Pikachu decided to leave the Kangaskhan pack. I got the impression he thought he was troubling the mother but it happened so abruptly I thought I missed something. In any case, he evolves thanks to the happy memories he shared with them. I get the feeling they left out the part where Oak caught him and tore him away from the wild to hand over to a 10-year-old was left out because it may have tarnished the moment.

To be honest, when I heard this would be a backstory episode for Pikachu, I expected... more? A lot of the details I would have liked to know, such as why he was so adverse to Pokeballs and what caused him to be so distrustful of humans in the first place, just weren't touched upon. Don't get me wrong, the Kangaskhan stuff was cute and all, but it was kinda shallow and didn't tell me much about Pikachu I didn't already know.

Okay, let's talk production. I enjoyed what I heard of the new soundtrack. There was this chill acoustic track with a low bass when the Kangaskhan first appeared that I really dug, and the swelling violins during more emotional moments reminds me of OS in a way. The animation was fine. It wasn't as dynamic as the first episode of SM but I can see the potential there. The one thing I'll need to get used to is Ash's eyes. They're so much larger than they were before and it's almost unsettling when you get a close-up and 50% of the shot is just eye.

The new OP was fun. It has dancing. There was also a shot of Koharu watching Ash and Gou trip down some stairs and then looking away with a perfect "I'm not associated with these idiots" face. If they give this girl ample amount of snark I'll be satisfied.

 

[Fernsday]

Hopefully we get more fleshing out and tidbits of Pikachu's backstory which I could see happening like why he hates Poke balls

 

[1rkhachatryan]

Wait, I'm confused, so because of daylight savings time, the episodes actually air at 1 am now??

 

[Xuxuba]

Found boring to be honest. I was expecting something more emotional and that it would explain more about Pikachu.

It was mainly just Pichu playing around and then out of nowhere deciding to leave. The episode ends so abruptly with no conclusion, just a flashback to the first episode.

 

[Deleted member 384931]

I guess this episode is easily skippable and you wouldn't miss alot

 

[Xeogran]

So I take this is the same Mew from M01. He's voiced by Koichi Yamadera! =D

 

[Ultra Beast Lover]

Seriously? They didn't tell us anything? Why was Go here? This was Pichu's story. I hope this is just part one of a multiple part story because that's disappointing.

 

[Kazuniya]

Pretty much agree with dman. This episode should have been solely about Pichu. You didn't need to cram Mew/Gou/Koharu into this episode when there's plenty of episodes to do it later. Pretty disappointing.

 

[Blue Saturday]

I’m just glad Garura didn’t die, but yeah I see the appeal of this episode being used to “draw” new viewers in with a cute story about how Pikachu came to be. While using it as a chance to establish Koharu/Gou as character. Kind of a generic first episode woe of Pokémon anime being a long-running marketing-driven series but no biggie. Next episode looks great and a double premiere probably would have been more suitable.

 

[Ultra Beast Lover]

I hate when the character just leaves without a note or anything. At the very least when Pikachu evolved he should've said a proper goodbye to his adoptive mom and brother so they wouldn't worry about a weak little Pichu being on his own. I hope Pikachu meets Kangaskan again because otherwise this episode was pointless.

 

[CabochonJaw]

I liked seeing that one person use their squirtle to fight and catch a caterpie. That's how you're suppose to catch it.

 

[Rune Knight]

Starting with this episode, should Ash's Pikachu be changed to "Evolved prior to "I choose You!"?