When should I evolve my Light Ball Pikachu?

Question

I have a Pikachu in Alpha Sapphire, and I don't know when to evolve it. I would evolve it as soon as possible, but it has a light ball. Are there even any benefits for evolving?

Comments

The only benefits I see from evolving Pikachu is Raichu's extra speed and bulk. However it doesn't have as much power as light ball Pikachu.

Imagine if Raichu could get the benefits of the light ball...

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For ingame honestly I would just say keep the Pikachu. Imo Light Ball Pikachu is way better than Raichu (and it's cuter...I don't suppose that helps at all), plus Pikachu/Raichu ain't really viable anywhere else.

Answer 1

Here are their base stats in the form HP/Atk/Def/SpA/SpD/Spd:

Pikachu (normal): 35/55/30/50/40/90 = 300 total
Pikachu (Light Ball): 35/110/30/100/40/90 = 405 total
Raichu: 60/90/55/90/80/100 = 475 total

Credit to Trachy for this graph. We can see that Raichu has higher HP, Defense, Special Defense and Speed. However Pikachu has significantly more Attack and Special Attack. It depends on your team.

TL:DR: Evolve for more Speed and bulk, however keep it for more damage.