But Sacha’s most faithful companion, a half-mouse, half-electric creature, would have a real first name, very French, since his real name is… Jean-Luc.
The most famous Pokémon is called by this surname at the very beginning of the adventure, in a spin-off entitled “Pokemon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu”, released in four volumes in parallel with the animated series between 1997 and 1999, only in the United States and which has never been published in French. In volumes 3 and 4, Sacha calls Pikachu by the first name Jean-Luc.
But this will not be kept and only the name of Pikachu will be kept. Pikachu comes from the union of the Japanese words “pika”, for spark and “chu”, the onomatopoeia reminiscent of the sound of the mouse in Japanese. It is also the only Pokémon to keep the same name in all translations of the famous anime.
So why did you choose this first name? A clue is given on the board below. On Pikachu’s torso, we can see a small drawing of a rocket which is actually the insignia of the Star Trek series. Pikachu’s first name could therefore be a nod to Jean-Luc Picard, a character in the universe of the famous science fiction franchise.
Pikachu ©DR
