Would Pikachu EVER battle against Misty?

[owenpeterson]

If you recall from "The Water Flowers of Cerulean City" In Ash's gym battle with Misty, Pikachu refused to battle her because she was Pikachu's friend. What kind of bugs me about it is that during the battle when Misty has the upper hand, Pikachu was actually cheering for Misty. What bugs me even more is when I read fanfics, they still have Pikachu refuse to battle Misty. I mean, would Pikachu also refuse to battle Brock, Tracey, May, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, Serena, etc?

Despite my being aware of the close bond Ash and Pikachu have. I'm somehow under the impression that Pikachu would prefer to have Misty as it's trainer rather than Ash. Don't get me wrong. I like Misty, I support Pokeshipping, etc. But this seems rather weird to me.

Suppose they made a storyline out of this for an episode in which the only way for the story to advance would be for Ash to defeat Misty in a full 6 on 6 battle. Pikachu is having doubts about whether or not it should continue to stay out of the battle. When Ash is down to his last Pokemon, Pikachu jumps in and Thunderbolts Misty's last Pokemon whomever it would be. Pikachu finishes off Misty's last Pokemon thus winning it for Ash. Misty, despite being a little pissed that Pikachu "turned on" her, shows good sportsmanship and congratulates Ash on his victory and the story would advance.

That would make for great character development for Pikachu, showing that even though Pikachu likes Misty,
it was willing to put it's personal feelings aside to do it's job.

Do you think that Pikachu would EVER battle against Misty?

 

[the_may_fan]

Interesting question.

Unfortunately, since the original anime concluded years ago, it's difficult for me to recall the precise relational dynamics between Misty, Ash, and Pikachu. That being said, I would postulate that Pikachu wouldn't refuse to battle Brock, Tracey, May, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, Serena, etc. because he doesn't/didn't have a particular affinity for them as he does with Misty. The source of this fondness is the true question, but I would keep the explanation simple by drawing a parallel with human relationships. In my experience, people are at times drawn to others for inexplicable reasons and often cannot quite articulate their feelings of admiration clearly. My guess is that Pikachu likes Misty because she treated him well during their travels and was the first female companion. The closeness with Misty's Togepi may also play a role - he wants to please her or perhaps reciprocate the caring behavior she demonstrated to him. I wouldn't go so far as to say Pikachu would prefer Misty as a trainer - the canon has demonstrated a plethora of times that Pikachu cares deeply about Ash. Misty simply holds a special place in Pikachu's heart - I just don't know why. The extent and origin is certainly up for debate, although I stand steadfastly by my hypothesis.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I always took Pikachu cheering for Misty during that battle as just a bit of comedy relief rather than anything to take seriously. Either that or it just liked Misty, but not more than Ash obviously.

Technically, Pikachu did battle against Misty, or at least was willing to do so when Ash and Misty were battling for Totodile. The only reason it couldn't battle then was because it didn't want to hurt Togepi, as opposed to not wanting to battle against another friend. If Misty had used just one of her Water Pokemon, I imagine that Pikachu wouldn't have had any problems battling against her and would have been able to defeat whatever Water Pokemon she had quite easily.

 

[garrison-san]

Pikachu displayed absolutely zero qualms with the notion of battling Misty in "The Totodile Duel", so there's the answer to your question right there. Togepi proved to be the issue in that particular battle (because Pika felt weird about hitting a baby), but Misty herself never came into it.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

I presume Pikachu even though he obviously has particular fondness for Misty would be able to battle her regardless of considering her as friend he cares about.

Granted in Cerulean gym he denied to do that due to friendship, but it cannot be also forgotten how in early stages Pikachu and Ash didn't had strong enough bomd and same dose of loyalty for its trainer like it would be situation later on. Witnessing Pikachu often frying Ash with electric attacks, being rebellious not wanting to follow at times commands if it didn't suit his taste etc. But with time Ash and Pikachu managed to get pass initial misunderstanding and differences, developing close level of understanding, support and liking toward each other becoming true team. And partners who realized how they couldn't be without each other as Pikachu Goodbye for example showed.

However thats not to say how Pikachu didn't showed stronger liking and affinity toward Misty than he in reality did for May, Dawn, Brock, Cilan etc. That wasn't just showed in initially refusing to battle Misty in Cerulean gym, or not wanting to hurt her Togepi always trying to keep him out of trouble, being like older brother to him showing lot of concern and anxiety when he would be in danger.

But also in big amount of thrust, care and excitement whenever he was present around Misty.

Such as having no qualms in letting her use him in battle such as in Princess tournament or in "For Crying Out Loud" for example when she was separated from group, having lot of faith in Misty abilities as trainer being willing to battle on her side.

In expressing lot of concern and sadness whenever she got into trouble such as when she got left behind being exhausted with Ash and Tracey having to pick her up to find shelter from storm or in Ursaring forest when Misty was separated ending with James and Meowth to the point of Ash having to comfort him.

In being excited when Misty visited Ash at Pallet town prior to BF happily jumping in Misty arms cuddling him or expressing eagerness when she was showed through lure later in BF. Same applies to Misty in often showing lot of affection and liking toward Ash Pikachu hugging him, cuddling and complimenting on his abilities. Scolding Ash for not taking him to doctor when he was sick or always making sure to heal him first when exhausted or injured(like in telling Azurill to use refresh on him before anyone else).

Because of that special friendship if anything than i suppose i could see Pikachu not necessarily refusing to battle Misty anymore since in Totodile match he was willing, but there is possibility of being hesitant in battling with same determination, confidence and strength like he would against other Ash friends or regular opponents.

Because while it may not mean anything others who noticed close bond existing between Misty and Pikachu beside me, provides interesting material to ponder about; if this close bond existing between Misty and Pikachu could play factor in how would battle flow if Misty and Ash ever faced each other again reviving on that competitive spark they always had.

 

[henrymidfields]

It may work with the current Mega-Evolution that we have. PF132 and I've had a bit of a discussion over this. Remember when Misty successfully tamed and bonded with a Gyarados during the side stories that was running with AG? Misty could have have a Mega-Gyarados vs Pikachu in a future episode. The former would at least give the latter a hard time, if not outright win against, and if done right, it would be an epic battle.(*) (I can attest to that, because my Raichu failed to OHKO Lysandre's Mega-Gyarados, and the latter OHKO-ed the former with an Earthquake. Without the mega-evolution, it would have been an guaranteed OHKO in my favour. Both Pokémon were around the same levels, btw.) And unlike Misty's other Pokémon, I don't think there is the issue of Pikachu being hesistant in battling, because Pikachu didn't have any personal interaction with Misty's Gyarados.

Given that there has been some minor/major changes both to the current anime arc and to the games, really, anything can happen at this stage.

Footnote
* Given that Raichu/Pikachu does not resist Gyarados's STAB attacks, and is defensively frail, it would be an matter of who lands its attack first, with Gyaradoes tanking Pikachu's attacks, and Pikachu dodging Gyarados's attacks.

 

[eevee91]

If Misty was to return, I could see Pikachu possibly battling her. It's up to the writers, but I can't recall any reason why a friendly battle where Pikachu battles Misty's Pokemon can't happen. Pikachu vs. Gyardos would be fun to see! As for Pikachu cheering Misty on in that early episode, I completely forgot about that but it has now made me think. I have a feeling that might have been done to show a few things. First that Pikachu was high leveled and not 100% loyal to Ash because he did not have many badges. It also could have been that he did not want to displease Misty, as she showed him care and affection as far back as when she found out about the Spearow attack.