I’ve been rewatching parts of Pokémon the Series lately. Since I’m behind on the games (the latest I own is 2022’s Legends: Arceus), this has been my main outlet to reconnect with the franchise, and I’m having fun! Well, mostly—revisiting the Black & White era was… a little less entertaining. Admittedly, I unceremoniously dropped it after twenty episodes and graduated to its follow-up, XY. I will give Black & White a more thorough rewatch someday, however. I adore the games it loosely adapts, and this silly show’s a potential goldmine of writing topics.
I hope (and expect) to enjoy Black & White more in retrospect. I also expect to still find it one of the anime’s weakest incarnations, a sentiment the “Anipoke” community seems to echo. Fans were frustrated with its less competent take on series hero Ash Ketchum. His partner, Pikachu, didn’t leave these early episodes unscathed either. One disappointment occurred in the twentieth: while getting harassed by a trio of wild Ducklett, Ash’s Pikachu learns Electro Ball to fend ‘em off. But a Pokémon can only know four moves, so Volt Tackle was cut to make space. Notably, Volt Tackle was the last attack it learned, and that happened over four years beforehand; Pikachu’s moveset was getting stale.
Image: Source Gaming. In Ruby & Sapphire, Volt Tackle secured Ash’s victory against Brandon, his strongest foe by that point. Then it caught the eye of Paul, the kid’s Diamond & Pearl foil; Volt Tackle was a big deal.
Plenty of fans across the web were unhappy the mouse lost Volt Tackle; I shared their disappointment! Today, I’m long over it, of course. Ash hasn’t even been the program’s star since 2023! But I still occasionally see people wonder why Ash’s Pikachu scrapped Volt Tackle, of all moves. Allow me to share my theory.
First, a history lesson. Volt Tackle is the signature attack of the Pikachu family (it’s also a cute tribute to Pulseman, one of developer Game Freak’s pre-Pokémon works). Starting in Pokémon Emerald, players can breed a Pichu that’ll know the move as long as one of their parents is holding a Light Ball, the handy Pikachu power-up. Honestly, it was almost more of an Easter egg than anything; locating Light Balls is tough! Sequels made it easier to acquire Volt Tackle, a gesture I’m sure many appreciated. I mean, Pikachu is an internationally beloved icon; why gatekeep its flagship technique? And Volt Tackle quickly spread across media, becoming a trump card for Red’s Pikachu, Detective Pikachu, and the Super Smash Bros. Pikachu. It was inevitable Ash’s Pikachu, the most well-known one, would master it. Forgetting Volt Tackle breaks this inter-franchise continuity.
Image: Source Gaming. In Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, Red’s ace copies the moveset of Ash’s: Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, Iron Tail, and the Pulseman homage. A similar thing happens in Pokémon Generations’ first episode.
And it’s not like Volt Tackle grew less radiant. Pokémon Sun & Moon spawned Catastropika, its supercharged Z-Move variant. Other Pikachu and Raichu Ash faced knew the technique. Captain Pikachu, the cartoon’s current leading lagomorph, proudly boasts it and even co-leads a group called the Rising Volt Tacklers! Smash Bros. fighters regularly receive tweaks, yet Pikachu still violently envelopes itself with electricity in Ultimate—as does Pichu, in its triumphant return to Smash.
Well, I believe Volt Tackle lost out because it was the most redundant move in Pikachu’s kit. Thunderbolt is this Pikachu’s signature move; that’s been the case since Kanto, it’s Ash’s favorite attack, and it went on to fuel their exclusive Z-Move, 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt. Quick Attack has been around almost as long and provides precious utility. Plus, Pikachu have a reputation of being spunky speedsters, a niche Ash excels with, and Quick Attack feeds into that. Finally, Iron Tail, the other move Pikachu mastered during Ruby & Sapphire, is simply too useful to lose. The Steel-type attack lets the Electric type contend with sturdy beasts it otherwise couldn’t “legitimately” defeat—hence why Ash taught him it. Iron Tail is also flexible, comboing nicely with Volt Tackle, Electro Ball, and other abilities. These three moves are irreplaceable; they define how Ash’s buddy battles.
Image: Source Gaming. Black & White polished up Iron Tail, making it actually look metallic! Personally, this alone would’ve sufficiently spruced up Pikachu’s kit during BW.
Volt Tackle didn’t get a lotta time to accrue victories in Black & White, especially since it deliberately undermined the move. In battle, Volt Tackle first appeared in Episode 4, where the opposing Dewott effortlessly dodged it. Then Pikachu carelessly crashed into a wall, leaving it vulnerable. Gym Leader Cress cleverly used Mud Sport to sweep the charging mouse off its feet and into a Water Gun, knocking it out. Volt Tackle finally secured a win against the rival Trip’s Tranquill… only for his ace, Servine, to effortlessly Cut through it. Yes, Volt Tackle beat Bianca two episodes later. It also never guaranteed Pikachu a KO; just ask Gary’s Electivire. Plus, it’s risky; Volt Tackle’s derivative of Double-Edge, so the user receives harsh recoil damage. My colleague Hamada suspects that’s a bad look PR-wise, a factor in why Ash’s pal forgot it.
Moreover, Black & White tried framing Electro Ball as an upgrade. Ash beats his to-be-caught-later Krokorok by deflecting its Stone Edge with it, a strategy Volt Tackle couldn’t facilitate. It took until Episode 1 of XY for Electro Ball to impress me, though; Ash baits Clemont’s Bunnelby to grab Pikachu’s tail with its ears, leading to a point-blank zapping. Arguably, Electro Ball also better balances Pikachu’s moveset: it now knew two physical attacks and two special ones… even if, yeah, Electro Ball overlaps with Thunderbolt.
Image: Source Gaming. Electro Ball has a novel property in the games where its strength varies depending on the user’s and target’s speed stats. Disappointingly, the anime never acknowledges this, making the orb seem all the more generic.
And, hey! In Pokémon Journeys, Leon regularly overhauled his Charizard’s moveset; he’s even retaught it Air Slash. Recent games have made it easier for us to do the same! I suspect Ash and Pikachu are too iconic to remain benched forever, so perhaps they’ll return one day and drudge up their classic finisher for one final hurrah? …Probably not, but it’s fun to imagine.
The Ducklett episode is hardly Black & White’s worst. Cutting the Pulseman shoutout is a shame, one independent of the show’s deeper shortcomings (and the anime was never a beacon of stellar storytelling as a whole). Nor did it fundamentally alter how Black & White was written, with Ash remaining the excitable, scrappy underdog. Frankly, a more egregious moveset makeover was given to his Charizard! That Kanto icon forgot his famous finisher, Seismic Toss, for… Slash and Wing Attack, attacks that weren’t exciting even in their Red & Blue heyday!
Image: Source Gaming. Making subpar skills shine is one of the anime’s strengths—though it can just as easily downplay others.
Honestly, I still prefer Volt Tackle to Electro Ball; it’s unmistakably more impressive, important, and interesting. Things worked out okay, though! After sticking with the sphere for eight seasons, it evolved into Electroweb during a tense Sun & Moon trial. It’s a vibrant, versatile move that meshed beautifully with Ash’s unpredictable style. Electroweb can trap opponents! Pikachu can use it as a trampoline! It even works as a makeshift shield! Elevating the novelty of ‘web a tad is the fact that it’s actually a Black & White original; since Sun & Moon was lacking in fresh Electric-type attacks, the writers instead drew from Unova. Makes me wish the mammal learned Electroweb sooner. And while Captain Pikachu proves Volt Tackle still had potential, Electro Ball served as a stepping stone to another cool tool. If nothing else, that’s a positive.
Image: Source Gaming. Ash’s partner doesn’t “need” Volt Tackle; no Pikachu does. I’d have been happy had Pikachu kept it, but there’s no shortage of exciting, compelling moves to use.
Thanks to Hamada for helping with edits.
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