Raikou (Pokémon)

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Raikou
Image:Raikou.png
National Pokédex
Blissey - Raikou (#243) - Entei
Johto Pokédex
Moltres - Raikou (#238) - Entei
Japanese name Raikou
Evolves from None
Evolves into None
Generation Second
Species Thunder Pokémon
Type Electric
Height 6 ft 03 in (1.9 m)
Weight 392.4 lb (178 kg)
Ability Pressure

Raikou (ライコウ Raikō?) is one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon from the Pokémon Franchise – a series of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri.

Raikou is a Legendary Pokémon, one of the three "Legendary Beasts" that are featured in Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal.

Raikou's name derives directly from its Japanese name. The compound element rai in Japanese means "thunder" (雷). The element kou (公) translates as "lord". The name could also derive from that of Raiju: a Japanese demon whose name means "thunder animal" or "thunder beast", and on whom Raikou is probably based. Raiju is depicted as a demon of lightning in the shape of a cat, badger, or a weasel. Raikou shares many similarities with the tiger.

Contents

[edit] Biological characteristics

Raikou is of the three Legendary Beasts of the Johto region, and is the most feline in appearance of the three. According to legend, the Legendary Beasts were reincarnated by Ho-Oh from the spirits of three Pokémon which died in the fire that gave Burnt Tower its name. Another myth maintains that Raikou descended to earth together with a lightning bolt. Each Beast personifies a force of nature - Raikou, in particular, embodies the speed of thunder.

The three "Legendary Beasts" are common in one sense, having a structure similar to, or compromised of a cloud on their backside. Raikou's seems to be a storm cloud, reflecting its typing of electric.

Like many Electric-type Pokémon, Raikou stores tremendous energy inside its body. This grants it extraordinary vitality, allowing it to run continuously across the land while shooting off electricity from the rain cloud that is on its back. Raikou's roar is aptly described as "thunderous": it is loud enough to create shock waves and shake the ground as if actual thunder had struck.

Strangely enough, Raikou appears to be more of a Saber-toothed cat, rather than a canine.

[edit] In the video games

Raikou was first available in Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal. The player must first awaken it in the Ecruteak City Burned Tower, after which it will wander all over Johto, apart from caves and water routes.

After it is encountered in the wild for the first time, the player can track it in the Pokédex. It will follow a set pattern, changing Routes whenever the player enters a new area and moving to a random location when the player uses Fly. Whenever encountered, Raikou will quickly flee, but it will retain any damage sustained, until finally its Hit Points are low enough to be captured. If poisoned its HP will keep lowering as it moves and it will faint.

In Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green, Raikou will start wandering around Kanto in a similar fashion after the Elite Four are defeated for the first time, provided the player has chosen Squirtle as his or her starter Pokémon.

In Colosseum, Raikou is a Shadow Pokémon. It can be Snagged from Cipher Admin Ein at the Shadow Pokémon Laboratory. Bear in mind that there is only one PC in the lab, but if one fails at snagging Raikou, Ein will reappear with it at the Realgam Tower and the Deep Colosseum. Otherwise, he will have a different Pokémon.

Raikou also appears as both a boss and playable character in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.

Raikou appears as a boss character in Pokémon Ranger in which it can summon lightning to strike from the sky, in order to stop the player from capturing it.

Raikou also makes an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee, as one of the Pokémon that can emerge from the Poké Ball item. Once released, it will stand in place, surrounded by bolts of Thunder which damage everyone in their path except the character that threw the ball. Raikou also appears as a trophy.

Since it is a Legendary Pokémon, Raikou's statistics are generally high, with Speed and Special Attack being the highest, while its Defense is the lowest, being similar to that of average Pokémon. Raikou is not very versatile; it mostly learns Electric-type attacks such as Spark, Thunderbolt and Thunder. It also learns Reflect, which can serve to boost its Defense, as well as Crunch, a powerful Dark-type attack. Because of these statistics, Raikou usually attacks using Special Attacks.

An interesting note on Raikou's coloring: In the 3rd-generation games, Raikou's noseplate is white, but in the 3-D games like Colosseum and XD, it is blue. The same is true for its tail.

[edit] In the anime

Unlike the other two Legendary Beasts, Entei and Suicune, Raikou does not appear in one of the movies. Instead, it is featured in a special episode called Raikou - The Legend of Thunder that now forms the first three episodes of Pokémon Chronicles. In the special, two Team Rocket agents named Attila and Hun scheme to capture Raikou and three New Bark Town trainers try to stop them.

Raikou has also made a silhouette cameo in episode #182 (Houndoom's Special Delivery).

Three of them happen to appear in "What's with Wattson" and "Manectric Charge". However, they turned out to be robots created by Wattson to surprise the trainers.

[edit] In the trading card game

Raikou has appeared on many cards, all as lightning-type Basic Pokémon in all the expansions listed below:

  • Neo Revelation
  • Neo Revelation
  • Skyridge
  • EX Team Magma vs. Team Aqua (as Raikou EX)
  • EX Deoxys (as Rocket’s Raikou EX)
  • EX Unseen Forces (as Raikou “Star”)

[edit] References

Books
  • Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0439154049.
  • Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed Version & Pokémon LeafGreen Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 193020650X
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1930206585

[edit] External links

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