Cake Hat Pikachu 100% perfect IV stats, shiny Cake Hat Pikachu in Pokémon Go
Everything you need to know about Pikachu’s Spotlight Hour!
This week’s Spotlight Hour is all about the one thing that the community likes to complain about most. No, not Remote Raids. No, not new features being broken. Yes, this Spotlight Hour is all about Pik-hat-chu!
Pikachu is one of the most dressed-up Pokémon in the game, with no fewer than 62 costume variants to collect. That doesn't include the shiny version of each. This spotlight hour introduces a new... no wait, this is the same Cake Hat Pikachu that was rolled out two years ago for the 6th Anniversary Event, isn't it? Ah well. It's not like we've not seen lazy design in Pokémon Go before.
This means that this week’s Spotlight Hour is ideal time to hunt down a perfect Pikachu in Pokémon Go. Or it would be if you could evolve it. Yep, this costume is clearly made out of Everstone because Cake Hat Pikachu can’t evolve.
Unfortunately, if this Spotlight Hour looks worse with every paragraph you read, that’s because it is. However, all is not lost. This week’s bonus is double catch XP, meaning that you can rack up XP quickly, should you feel the need to catch yet more Pikachu.
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Pikachu 100% perfect IV stats in Pokémon Go
This week’s Spotlight Hour is a great opportunity to catch a Pikachu with perfect IV stats.
'Perfect' means two things in Pokémon Go, depending on how you plan to use a given Pokémon. First, there's the maxed out 100% IV version, which is the 15/15/15 you need for your 4* Pokédex, raids and Master League. Yet, because of how CP is calculated using three stats, a perfect IV Pokémon is generally only ever the best version of itself in the Master League.
Of course, you can't see the IV of a Pokémon without catching it first, but, with a little research beforehand, you can quickly spot a perfect Pikachu based on the CP alone.
If you're at Level 30 (or above), you'll ideally be looking for the following CPs for a perfect 15/15/15 Pikachu:
- Level 30 (wild CP maximum) - 804 CP
- Level 35 (weather-boosted wild CP maximum) - 871 CP
The wild CP value aligns with your Trainer Level until you reach Level 30 and, due to the majority of the player base now being above this level, we've kept to these values for sake of simplicity. These values will, however, be different if you're currently below Level 30.
Is Pikachu good in PVP?
Wait, don’t you mean Raichu, we hear you all ask?
No, we mean Pikachu - since this variant can’t evolve. And no. No it’s terrible. Its max CP is 1060, meaning it can’t even compete at the top of Great League. Other than being a Pokédex entry, this costume is virtually worthless in Pokémon Go. It makes sense really - could you win a fight while wearing a cake for a hat? Thought not...
Since this variant does net you Pikachu Candy, you could make the argument that it's a chance to max out your PVP-chus, but unfortunately both Raichu and Alolan Raichu are bad in PVP at the moment. Alolan Raichu used to be semi-decent, but it is no longer in a good spot in the meta - it barely makes the Top-20 Electric type Pokémon in Great League or Ultra League. If PVP is your thing, there's not much here for you, sorry.
Is there a shiny Pikachu in Pokémon Go?
Of course! Shiny Pikachu family was the second set of shinies released in the game, five months after Shiny Magikarp family debuted in March 2017. Since then, all Pikachu variants have been available in their shiny form.
It’s important to remember, however, that since Spotlight Hours do not have a boosted shiny rate, the chances of finding a shiny are the same as it would be finding it in the wild. You simply have more chances of finding one because of the amount spawning.
What does shiny Pikachu look like?
As you can see below, shiny Pikachu is Pikachu but more so.
Pichu and Raichu are the same, sadly - slight tweaks on the saturation slider are all the fanfare that this Pokémon gets. It’s a little weird, considering that it’s the official mascot, but such is life...
Other tips for this Spotlight Hour
Aside from trying to catch a shiny Pikachu in Pokémon Go, there's a couple of other good reasons to partake in this week's Spotlight Hour:
- The best reason, maybe even more than Pikachu itself depending on how long you've been playing Pokémon Go, is the double catch XP bonus running throughout the hour. Try to focus on making Excellent Throws to make the most of this bonus! We also recommend waiting until this Spotlight Hour is live before catching your first Pokemon of the day, because, again, it will result in more XP.
- This bonus can be stacked with a Lucky Egg, which doubles the amount of XP you earn for every activity in Pokémon Go.
- If you're a newcomer, this Spotlight Hour is the perfect time to collect enough Pikachu candy to evolve this Pokémon to enter Raichu in your Pokédex.
- Thanks to Pikachu being an Electric-type, catching a bunch during this Spotlight Hour will add progress to your respective catch bonus medal.
Spotlight Hour events only last for an hour from 6pm to 7pm (local time). Come back next week for Spheal and its double catch candy bonus.
Good luck finding a perfect Pikachu!