Start With a Pikachu in Pokémon Go (2024)

About: Jack-of-all trades, master of some. I would probably be much more modest if it wasn't for these delusions of granduer that I suffer from. More About Lorddrake »

This summer's hot new app ... Pokemon Go ... a game designed to get you up off your butt and moving around. I could think of worse ways to exercise.

If you are like me you don't want to do the same thing everyone else is doing ... unless you can do it differently.

So after a little research it turns out that Niantic put an Easter Egg in the Pokémon Go game to start with a Pikachu.

In order to get Pikachu as your starting Pokémon, you need to start the game from the beginning. Sorry if you already have a trainer guys .. you can't swap your starter Pokemon for a Pikachu.

Use your existing Google account, or create one if you don't have one already to log into the game for the first time.

I haven't tried this with the Pokémon Trainer Club option, mostly because there servers have been overloaded since Pokémon Go launched so they aren't allowing new account creations at this time.

The first thing that will happen when you enter the game is that you will be greeted by Professor Willow. He will tell you to choose a starting Pokemon and give you some Pokeballs to achieve that goal.

DON'T pick any of the three starters.

Instead go for a walk .. literally.

You will need to physically move away from the location you are in so that it forces the starter Pokémon to despawn and respawn near you.

If you move far enough away from the starter Pokémon the game will make them despawn from the location they are at and respawn close to your character.

Typically if you take a walk around the block (or two depending on where you live and how big the blocks are) that will be enough distance to cause several respawns of the starters.

In order to get to choose Pikachu, you will need to force the starters to respawn 4 times. After that you will notice that there are 4 starters to choose from instead of three. Pikachu will be that fourth choice.

Now all you need to do is select Pikachu as your starter Pokemon, and catch him in a Pokeball.

If you already started an account and don't want to start over, have no fear. Wild Pikachus do exist and they can be caught, they just aren't that common.