Talking Pikachu was almost a reality, Pokémon anime director says

Since the beginning of the Pokémon anime series, only a few Pokémon have been able to actually speak like humans. This includes legendary and mythical Pokémon like Arceus, Mewtwo, and Lucario, who could do so through telepathy. Team Rocket’s mascot, Meowth, on the other hand, can speak like human beings. But an interesting bit of trivia was recently revealed about Ash Ketchum’s ultimate buddy, Pikachu, who could have also ended up saying words like a human in the series.

In an interview with Go Nintendo, longtime Pokémon anime director Kunihiko Yuyama mentioned their supposed plan to make Pikachu speak in the series, just like how Meowth can talk to people.

“At first we actually toyed with the idea of having Pikachu talk just like the Rocket Gang Meowth does,” Yuyama said. “However, we talked about how it would be both more realistic and more interesting if they had to communicate non-verbally, so that’s the way it ended up. I think it’d be really difficult to find a pair of humans that can understand each other as near perfectly as [Ash] and Pikachu can, but I hope we managed to depict a duo everyone can look up to.”

As the anime series debuted and progressed through the years, Pikachu ended up just being able to say “Pika” or “Pika-Pika” to convey its emotions. This is different from what Team Rocket’s Meowth did over the years, making the Scratch Cat Pokémon’s thoughts, such as the speculated end of the Team Rocker trio, more understandable.

In the latest episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series that aired in Japan, Jessie, James, and Meowth once again initiated their everyday routine plan of capturing Ash’s Pikachu. Again, they failed. But what made the episode intriguing is the argument between the three, where they seemingly ended up going their separate ways.

This caused fans to speculate that the trio might have made their final appearance in the anime series since there are only two episodes left for Pokémon Journeys. It is also known that Ash and Pikachu will finally be retired this year as the protagonists of the Pokémon anime series after over 20 years.

The Pokémon Company already confirmed that Ash and Pikachu will be replaced by two new protagonists, namely Riko and Roy, in the upcoming Pokémon anime series launching in April. The show is set in the new region of Paldea, which is also the setting of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Despite the fact that Ash’s Pikachu only spoke “Pika” or “Pika-Pika” in the entirety of its Pokémon anime series run, the legacy cemented by the original Pokémon series mascot will definitely be irreplaceable.