The Many Forms of Pikachu in Shuffle

In Pokémon Shuffle, when you're selecting a Pokémon, you're actually also selecting the form or Forme that goes with it. For example, if you've captured them, then you might have two Landorus, one for the Incarnate Forme and one for the Therian Forme. These forms occupy the same list number (#339) as they technically are the same Pokémon species, only with different skills in puzzle play. And with the exception of Charizard and Mewtwo which lets you select one of two Mega forms by their Stones for the same Pokémon, these forms have to be leveled up independently of each other.

If you've played Shuffle from the very beginning (or at least started within a year or so), you'll notice something odd yet fascinating. Pikachu (#16 in Shuffle's list) has a lot of forms. A lot. 13 in all, up to now:

• Normal (no specific form name)
• Angry
• Winking
• Sleeping
• Enamored
• Smiling
• Happy
• Spooky
• Holiday
• Ho-Oh Costume
• Lugia Costume
• Kimono Boy
• Kimono Girl

And all of these forms have different skills to go with them. For example, Normal Pikachu has the Paralyze skill, which occasionally paralyzes the enemy Pokémon, while Angry Pikachu has the Super Bolt skill, which may deal greater damage at times. It follows that if you want to use their skills with the greatest possible power, you'll have to raise the levels of the forms as much as possible, which can take a lot of grinding. The Skill Swapper enhancement does not apply to Pikachu and its various forms most likely due to this reason.

One of the virtues of Pokémon Shuffle is raising Pokémon to the highest level possible to use the skills they have with a greater power (thus, grinding), and this is no more true than with Pikachu, which has so many forms and as many different skills to go with it. What applies to Pikachu applies equally well to other Pokémon in Shuffle, if you really want to maximize their potential. And it's safe to say we'll likely be getting even more forms of Pikachu in the future to work with, in addition to other Pokémon, and thus a Trainer's work in Shuffle is never done.