Pikachu’s Gigantamax Form Changes Him in an Unexpected Way

Pokemon‘s latest anime has been bouncing around the various regions of the franchise, but has been introducing newer elements from Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Galar region throughout the episodes thus far. Along with showing off the power of Dynamax in full with an awesome battle between Kanto Champion Lance and Galar Champion Leon, it was revealed that Ash and Pikachu were also able to tap into this power without the help of a Dynamax accessory. This took Leon by surprise, and he ended up agreeing to battle Ash.

Through this battle with Leon and the previous battle against a Dynamax Drednaw, Pikachu tapped into the fan-favorite “Fat” Gigantamax Pikachu form. This made Pikachu incredibly heavy, and unlike what you would expect, the anime’s display of this form threw Pikachu for a loop as he didn’t quite know how to use his new body to its full abilities just yet.

It resulted in some hilarious looking attacks in which Pikachu was forcibly moving parts of its body around, but Pikachu’s unexpected form is going to take quite a bit of training to adjust to. It can no longer move as fast as it used to, and is pretty much stuck on the ground when attacking other Dynamax opponents rather than being able to dart and jump around like usual.

The latest episode of the series not only showed off Gigantamax Pikachu’s power, but this battle has set Ash on his new course for the anime. With the Champion now set in his sights, Ash will be working his way up through Galar’s ranking system in order to eventually challenge Leon again. During these battles, hopefully Pikachu will learn to better use its new body. What did you think of Pikachu’s Gigantamax debut? Do you think Pikachu will adjust to its new gigantic size over the course of the series?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter! Pokemon: The Series is now airing new episodes weekly in Japan, but unfortunately is still not officially licensed for an English language release as of this writing. There’s also a brand new film on the way to Japan this Summer, Pokemon the Movie: Coco.