Pastrana and Pikachu

While on the subject of motorcycles and alternate personalities for Pikachu, I've got one that puts them both together. Recently I got a chance to watch Nitro Circus Live, which - for the uninitiated - details the efforts of a crew of action/extreme sports athletes in putting on a live show full of excitement and thrills, and that does include the freestyle branch of motocross. And the leader of this pack is none other than Travis Pastrana, who is considered a legend when it comes to extreme sports, in particular freestyle motocross. After watching the show a few times, I've come to believe that Travis Pastrana and Pikachu are spiritually connected.

All through the show, Travis becomes a supporting figure for all the athletes involved, in addition to doing a few things of his own in the live shows and even outside of it. Travis also appears to have a jolly yet firm disposition, and this resonates with all the athletes involved. I'm immediately reminded of what goes on in the Mystery Dungeon games, where it may be that the player or even the accompanying character is a Pikachu, and part of the objective for the player (with guidance from the accompanying character) is to assemble a team of Pokémon that can go into dungeons to do whatever it needs to be done. In a way, this could also be considered extreme. Yet through it all, whichever Pikachu is cast as (though this is seen more when Pikachu accompanies), the story is helped to move along in a similar way as Travis moves the shows, with a lot of friendship and drive. So there is that similarity.

Another similarity deals with the nature of Pikachu. Pikachu doesn't quite have a legendary status as other Pokémon that are classified as such, and certainly pales to the "legendary" label that is often attributed to Travis. However, Ash's Pikachu, or for that matter any primary character Pikachu (as found in PokéPark), might as well be because of its speed, agility, and moves. It is these characteristics that I think of when Travis himself gets on a bike and does his stuff, which was indeed shown on certain portions of Nitro Circus Live. The beauty of this similarity is that Pikachu can do it all without a mechanical device like a bike, yet the elegance is all the same.

This is all imaginative, fanciful, and may look like I've gone off the deep end. But thinking about it all does make sense - Travis and Pikachu share a number of characteristics that make them who or what they are: they're swift and agile, and they can be motivational to boot. I can almost imagine Pikachu holding its own "Nitro Circus" with a bunch of other Pokémon; it may not have motorcycles or bikes or any of the things in the real-world Nitro Circus, but if Pikachu also performs, then there's guaranteed to be some fast times. 😁