If you’ve played Pokémon video games, you’re undoubtedly familiar with Surf. This Water-type move, which summons a giant wave to wash over your opponent, can be quite effective in battle. Not only that, but it can sometimes be used outside of battle to allow Trainers to travel over the surface of water. As you might expect, Surf is commonly learned by Water-type Pokémon, but there are plenty of non-Water types that have access to this powerful move.

One of the most surprising of these—and the one who’s used its knowledge of the move to form a unique identity—is our Electric-type friend Pikachu. Surfing Pikachu has been around for nearly as long as the Pokémon series itself, so during our monthlong celebration of Water-type Pokémon, we wanted to swim down this tributary and pay tribute to this unlikely wave rider. Cowabunga!

Surfing Pikachu in Pokémon Video Games

Surfing Pikachu made its first appearance in 1998 in the original Pokémon Stadium game for Nintendo 64 (which was never released outside Japan—the game players outside Japan know as Pokémon Stadium is actually the second game in the series) and Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition. In the former, you can teach your Pikachu the move Surf as an end-of-tournament reward. Using the move in battle activates a unique animation of Pikachu riding a surfboard as the attack hits your opponent’s Pokémon.

In the latter, Trainers can play the Pikachu’s Beach minigame at the Summer Beach House on Route 19. In the original Game Boy version of Pokémon Yellow, this required players to have a Pikachu that knows Surf (which would have likely been transferred in from Pokémon Stadium) in their party, but in the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console release, the player only needs their Pikachu partner to accompany them into the Beach House. This fun, side-scrolling diversion has Pikachu performing tricks on rolling waves to earn points. Pikachu can also use Surf outside Pikachu’s Beach to move the player over water.

Over the years, Surfing Pikachu has made many more appearances in Pokémon video games, such as the first stage of the original Pokémon Snap. Near the beginning of this beach level, you encounter a Pikachu that can be lured to a surfboard with Pokémon Food. Get Pikachu close enough to the board, and it won’t be able to resist pulling off some rad surfing poses.

Surfing Pikachu was the star of Pokémon GO’s very first Community Day in 2018, where Pikachu caught during the event knew the exclusive move Surf. Surfing Pikachu also appeared during the Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto event.

Another surfing minigame appears in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, though the player shoots the tube on the back of a Mantine and not Pikachu. However, if you manage to earn the high score in the game’s four Mantine Surf courses, you’ll receive a Surfing Pikachu as a reward. In Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Pikachu can’t learn Surf, but your partner Pikachu can learn the Secret Technique Sea Skim, which allows you and Pikachu to use a surfboard outside battle to glide across the water.

In recent years, Pokémon role-playing games like Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield and Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet allow Pikachu to learn Surf through the use of items like Technical Records (TRs) and Technical Machines (TMs).

Surfing Pikachu in Animation

We first encounter a Surfing Pikachu in Pokémon the Series all the way back in the Season 2 episode “The Pi-Kahuna.” In this episode, Ash, Pikachu, and their friends meet Victor, a surfer who’s hoping to ride a gigantic wave called Humungadunga that rolls in only once every 20 years. His partner Pokémon is a blue-eyed Pikachu named Puka who happily catches waves with Victor.

Ash’s Pikachu has been known to occasionally do a bit of surfing as well, like when it visits a beach in the Season 15 episode “Expedition to Onix Island!” In the Alola region, Ash even dons a T-shirt featuring artwork inspired by Surfing Pikachu’s first Pokémon Trading Card Game card (as seen in the Season 22 episode “Battling the Beast Within!”).

Surfing Pikachu in the Pokémon Trading Card Game

Speaking of the Pokémon TCG, Surfing Pikachu has appeared in the game five times so far. The first instance, illustrated by Toshinao Aoki, was originally released as a promo card in 2001 and then made its expansion debut in Platinum—Rising Rivals in 2009. The card has only one attack—Surf, of course—which requires two Water Energy and does a mere 30 damage. Regardless, the card’s popularity led it to once again be reprinted in the XY—Evolutions expansion in 2016.

It would be five years before Surfing Pikachu returned to the Pokémon TCG, but it certainly made a splash in 2021’s Celebrations expansion, where it appeared as both a Pokémon V and Pokémon VMAX illustrated by aky CG Works. Surfing Pikachu V may still only know Surf, but the attack now hits for a more impressive 150 damage. The Dynamaxed Surfing Pikachu VMAX may appear to be struggling to balance on its comparatively tiny surfboard, but that won’t stop it from unleashing its Max Surfer attack. This move not only does 160 damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon, but it also inflicts 30 damage on all their Benched Pokémon. Way to harsh their mellow, Surfing Pikachu VMAX!

Surfing Pikachu in the Pokémon Adventures Manga

In Volume 5 of Pokémon Adventures (Red and Blue)—or Volume 2 of the Pokémon Adventures Collector’s Edition—the Trainer Yellow teams up with Red’s Pikachu on a quest to rescue Red, who has gone missing. During a dramatic battle in the ocean against Lance and his Dragonair, all hope seems lost until Yellow realizes that Pikachu can use the projected power of its Substitute attack to create a surfboard, allowing our heroes to quickly jet across the water to deliver the final blow.

There’s no denying the inherent charm of seeing the always-adorable Pikachu shredding on a surfboard, so it’s no wonder that Surfing Pikachu has persisted for so long. Here’s hoping the little Pokémon hasn’t wiped out and we see more appearances in the future. In the meantime, hang loose and check out some of our articles about Water-type Pokémon, including our kickoff to the celebration and a quiz to test your aquatic acumen. You can even show your love for Surfing Pikachu by checking out Pokémon Center’s new Pokémon Lazy Summer collection. Surf’s up, Trainers!