My first Pokemon game was Yellow Version, with the special Game Boy Color bundled with it. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon has said that I'm the type of person that would be a Pikachu if I was a Pokemon in many games and personality quizzes. I love almost every Pika Clone out there (except Pawmi, but that's a conversation for a different day.) This history makes me a veteran Pikachu fan, as well as one of the many long-term Pokemon fans looking forward to Pokemon Legends: Z-A. I'm one of many Legends: Arceus players who loved the freshness it brought to the formula, so Pokemon Legends: Z-A has me hyped; especially as someone who felt at home in Kalos when playing Pokemon X.
I may be a big Pikachu fan, but I'm not blind to the way the Electric Mouse has taken over the series as it's evolved. I don't scoff at the people who prefer Eevee to Pikachu due to its underdog status; I honestly understand them. Game Freak has had a favoritism problem for a long time now regarding a number of popular creatures in the series, but Pikachu has hogged the spotlight in ways that have suffocated its evolutionary line. When Mega Raichu X and Y were announced, I was excited. Closer inspection stole that excitement away from me as I realized Pikachu still can't let Raichu shine for three seconds.
The Mega Raichus in Pokemon Legends: Z-A Highlights Pokemon's Pikachu Problem Front and Center
I was around for the rise and fall of Mega Evolution. Pikachu's mascot status has made fans joke about it breaking the unspoken "final evolutions only" rule with the gimmick since the very beginning. The many forms it has received across games since hasn't helped this idea, but the September 12 Nintendo Direct finally proved that final evolutions are the only ones to get Megas. The trailer revealing Mega Raichu X and Y certainly did its job in making the forms look interesting, but the official artwork makes the Pikachu characteristics hard to ignore.
How Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y May As Well Be Pikachu Megas
In terms of its physique, Mega Raichu X might do everything right. Its enlarged ears and jerboa-like feet do great at making it clear that this is a stronger Raichu, but the color scheme is purposefully Pikachu's. Raichu doesn't even get to keep its tail, instead regaining Pikachu's thunderbolt tail twice over. The idea of Raichu boasting the same colors and tail of its pre-evolution feels more like a step backwards rather than a step forwards. The bulky arms with its Raichu body-type do great at capturing its power, but the Pikachu characteristics really feel as if Raichu can't get away from what came before.
Mega Raichu Y may be even worse with this than Mega Raichu X. It brings back Raichu's color scheme, but with Pikachu's ears and body type. The ears are obscured by what Pokemon Legends: Z-A's website calls horns, which are somewhat reminiscent of Alolan Raichu, while its tail has Kantonian Raichu's little ear curls. Mega Raichu Y gets back Raichu's tail, but watching the considerably bulky Raichu go back to being the same body type as Pikachu is an even bigger downgrade to Mega Raichu X. The only thing that serves as a true Mega characteristic to Mega Raichu Y is the fact that it's fluffier. Even if Mega Raichu Y is meant to bring back Gen 1's abandoned "Gorochu," it doesn't feel like a Raichu Mega to me.
I may be a fan of Pikachu, but even I can admit that the Mega Raichus cross a line they shouldn't have. There are other fans like me who have wanted a Mega Raichu for years, just to get two that resemble Pikachu more than their favorite Pokemon. Mega Dragonite resembles Dragonair in a similar way, but the pieces borrowed from Dragonair still add to Mega Dragonite's design (even if I feel like that could have been done better, too.) Mega Raichu X and Y have Pikachu take over Raichu almost entirely to where it may have just been better if Pikachu remained the sole exception to Mega Evolution's unspoken rule. Instead, another unspoken rule has been loudly made into pure fact, and Raichu is once again left behind in it all.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 79 /100 Critics Rec: 66%
- Released
- October 16, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak, Creatures Inc.
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
