Flying Pikachu has come to Pokemon Go, but should you care?

As part of Week 1 of the Pokemon Go Fest 2020 festivities, Flying Pikachu has been added to the mobile game.

At this point there are seemingly as many variants of Pikachu as there are species in Pokemon Go. If there’s a hat you can think of, you can bet your bottom dollar it has featured on Pikachu’s head in the four years the game has been out.

The Pokemon Go developers have thought a little more outside of the box for this one, maybe taking inspiration from the iconic Pokemon Yellow intro. It is currently available in the wild, in Raid Battles and also a reward encounter in the GO Fest Skill Challenge.

Wait, Pikachu can fly?

Apparently so. It won’t be flying under its own volition though, but instead with the balloons (presumably with helium inside) that are attached it.

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We know what you’re thinking, nobody was asking for Flying Pikachu and it’s a bit of a strange choice to add to Pokemon Go. That maybe so, but Pikachu with its various accessories are just a part of the game. This isn’t the first gimmick and it certainly won’t be the last!

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No Pokemon has more hats than Pikachu, that’s for certain!

How strong is Flying Pikachu?

Not very. In fact, that is an understatement. It is dreadfully weak and it has no rightful place in any competitive situation.

It has a max CP of 938 which immediately rules it out of GO Battle League. That’s irrespective of its poor stats which can reach a maximum 112 attack, 96 defense and 111 stamina.

That means Flying Pikachu is purely a fun Pokemon to add to your Pokedex. There is a Shiny form for it, too!

The more notable news for competitive Pokemon Go players is the actual addition of the Charge Move Fly into the game. It deals 80 damage for 45 energy, making it have the best DPE of all flying-type moves.

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Strangely however, it mimics Sky Attack. We’d have thought Niantic would at least make it a little different, but we digress.

Flying Pikachu isn’t worth getting excited about but you may as well catch one while you can. No doubt its weakness won’t stop trainers searching for its Shiny form: nobody can resist them!