I’ve put maybe five or six hours into Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s Mega Dimension DLC, and I spent maybe two of those hours desperately searching for two items: Raichunite X and Raichunite Y. These two Mega Stones would allow Raichu, my favorite Pokémon who has never gotten any respect, to Mega Evolve into one of two forms. I had been begging Game Freak for Mega Raichu for so long, I had honestly given up hope that my boy would get a superpowered transformation in Legends: Z-A, then they gave him two. I like them both, but I gravitated toward the X form pre-launch, and now that I’ve seen the guy in-game, I’m feeling very vindicated, because my guy is flying around like Superman.
Raichu never got a Mega form when the mechanic was introduced in Pokémon X and Y, which was just one of the many examples of Game Freak and The Pokémon Company giving my boy the shaft in favor of Pikachu, his much more popular pre-evolution. Pikachu got the Gigantamax kaiju-style transformation in Sword and Shield, as well as exclusive Z-Moves in Sun and Moon. The only time Raichu’s ever gotten any “love” is when Game Freak turned him into something else entirely by giving him a floating psychic version in the Alola region, and that imposter won’t stop following me around in every game. Now, however, the OG can float around, too, thanks to Mega Evolution.
According to the Pokédex, Mega Raichu X is able to float like this because of the electromagnetic repulsion from his two tails. Before we saw him in-game, I imagined this would manifest in Raichu floating with a vertical stance, almost as if he were ascending with his tails pointed toward the ground. This would’ve probably looked silly, but I liked the design enough to let it go. What I wasn’t prepared for was to see that my super-powered mouse friend pulls a Clark Kent and flies with an arm extended like he’s got a city to save. Y’all, I am obsessed.
It’s a fun stylistic choice, but it actually has some pretty important perks in battle, too. Mega Raichu X can fly up to attack targets in the air, letting him knock Mega Shards off the sides of tall buildings and use physical attacks on flying enemies. This is kind of his whole deal. Mega Raichu X is the physical attacker, while the Y form is focused on special attacks. Now that he can fly, no one is out of range of a punch from his chonky paws. Neither Mega Raichu gets a type change after transforming, so while Mega Raichu X doesn’t become an Electric/Flying-type, I’m fairly certain he will gain the Levitate passive ability that makes him immune to Ground-type attacks, though we won’t know until a future game, as Legends: Z-A doesn’t include abilities. If that happens, Mega Raichu X will be one of the few Pokémon without any weaknesses, as Electric’s only weakness is Ground. That would be such a cool perk, and might make this transformation a force to be reckoned with in competitive play in Pokémon Champions next year.
Both Mega Raichus have gotten some flak for looking too similar to Pikachu, with X having its pre-evolution’s color scheme and Y maintaining its body shape, but I couldn’t be happier with these two. I like seeing the entirety of a Pokémon’s lineage show up in its Mega form, and Mega Raichu X’s flight-based movement is a really endearing new page to add to that history. I hope this form shows up in the anime soon so we can have sick clips of Mega Raichu X flying around and whooping ass. Until then, I’ll be using mine to save the citizens of Lumiose City. It’s a Pidgey…it’s a Latias…no, it’s Mega Raichu X!