There are a few responses that pop up whenever someone asks a Pokémon fan why Ash never evolved his Pikachu. Some might cite Pikachu's desire to demonstrate its viability without evolving as the in-story justification. Some may argue that if Pikachu changed, it might lose its appeal and commercial viability. A different response to this query isn't utilized as frequently, though.
The Pokémon anime is ultimately a marketing tool for the games. Showing off the games' characters and plot components is just one aspect of this; other gameplay mechanics should also be demonstrated. This game entertains players while also instilling these kinds of lessons in the players, which may be why the real reason Pikachu wasn't evolved went largely unnoticed.
Why Didn't Pikachu Evolution At First?
A couple of the reasons for Pikachu refusing to evolve were given in Episode 14, "Electric Shock Showdown." At the time, Ash was mocked by Lt. Surge for not evolving his Pikachu and making it strong as soon as possible; to drive his point home, the Gym Leader beat Pikachu with its evolved form Raichu. Later, Ash and Pikachu were given a Thunder Stone so that the latter could evolve, too, but they concluded that doing so just to win would make them no better than Lt. Surge. They ended up beating Lt. Surge and his Raichu in a rematch, proving that Pokémon don't need to evolve to win. However, that wasn't the real lesson of the episode.
The real lesson was in exactly how Ash managed to win. It's because Pikachu was able to learn speed-based moves like Agility and Quick Attack, which it could only learn as a Pikachu. Lt. Surge couldn't teach his Raichu these moves because he evolved it too quickly. With this advantage, Ash and Pikachu were able to outmaneuver their opponents and earn the Thunder Badge.
This difference between Pikachu and Raichu is based on a mechanic from the games. Certain Pokémon can only learn moves as their pre-evolution. This holds especially true for Pokémon who evolve with evolutionary stones like Pikachu; after it evolves into a Raichu, it can't learn any moves by leveling up. Even if the Move Reminder existed back then, it couldn't learn anything special. It's challenging, but the reward for battling with and leveling up Pokémon in their weaker, unevolved forms until the time is right is often too good to pass up. Ash keeping his Pikachu from evolving so it could learn moves like Quick Attack and Agility was meant to be a showcase for this important game mechanic.
Why is Pikachu Still Refusing to Evolve?
After defeating Lt. Surge's Raichu, Pikachu did not evolve, which is understandable given what everyone assumes. For starters, the episode itself demonstrated that Pikachu could be just as effective in combat as Raichu, so evolving became more of a matter of taste. This lesson about not having to change to win can be applied to a variety of life lessons, such as following your gut or avoiding shortcuts. Additionally, if Pikachu evolved into Raichu, it would probably lose its cuteness and marketability. Although this will probably never be explicitly stated in the anime, it has a cynical truth. Despite the fact that they are not nearly as relevant to the games, these kinds of points can
Points like these also apply to "Electric Shock Showdown," but the lesson about learning moves is still the exclusive key takeaway for that particular episode. Even a similar episode from Diamon and Pearl, "Pika and Goliath," couldn't quite recreate the moral of "Electric Shock Showdown;" it had Pikachu similarly win by outmaneuvering the opponent's Raichu, but the reasons had more to do with anime logic than game mechanics. This may not have been an important life lesson, but it was something viewers who were doing their own playthroughs of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow would greatly appreciate.
