A special Pikachu is now available for all players in Pokémon Sword and Shield.
This distribution coincides with the special Space Sunrise Live event that was livestreamed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the beginning of 2021 in Japan from the International Space Station. The livestream also implemented augmented reality to show Pikachu within the KIBO module alongside the astronauts and the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza flying through space.
This Pikachu comes at level 21 with the moves Thunderbolt, Swift, Wish, and Celebrate. It’ll also be holding the Comet Shard item, fitting of the out-of-this-world event, which can be sold at any Pokémon Center for 30,000 Pokédollars.
Celebrate is an event-exclusive move that hasn’t been available for some time. Just like the infamous Splash attack, this move does absolutely nothing besides congratulate the trainer—it does have a cute animation, though.
To obtain this special Pikachu, players must connect to the internet in their Pokémon Sword or Shield game and then select the Mystery Gift option from their player menu. From there, select the “Get via Internet” option and follow the prompts to receive the Pikachu. If your party is full, it will be sent directly to your PC.
This commemorative Pikachu will only be available to download until Jan. 15, so make sure to act quickly.
