Pikachu in Love

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Pikachu in Love
Pikachu in Love.png
ISBN: 0439429900
Published: January 2003
Publisher: Scholastic logo.png
Author: Tracey West
Preceded By: N/A
Succeeded By: Togepi Springs Into Action

Pikachu in Love by Tracey West is the first book in the Pokémon Reader series, which is designed for beginning readers. It was published by Scholastic in January 2003. It was later republished as a Level 2 reader in December 2016.

Blurb

Love Sick!

Uh-oh! Jessie and James drank Shuckle juice. The juice makes Pokémon fall in love with them. Can Ash find a cure? Or will Pikachu love Team Rocket forever?

Plot

This book follows the plot of the Pokémon the Series episode A Better Pill to Swallow.

The book starts with Ash and his friends meeting a strange person. The strange person says he is Old Man Shuckle, and he makes special medicine for Pokémon. Brock asks Old Man Shuckle how he does this, and Old Man Shuckle replies that it is a secret, and that he uses a Pokémon called Shuckle. Brock begs that Old Man Shuckle tell him, and Old Man Shuckle explains each step. First, he put secret ingredients inside the Shuckle shell. Then he let the Shuckle loose in the wild. A year later, he found the Shuckle again, and took the juice out of the shell. Old Man Shuckle adds that there is even a special kind of juice that can make any Pokémon easy to catch and train. He says that to make it, one must use a rare blue Shuckle. Brock exclaims that if he had that juice, he could become the world's best Pokémon Trainer. Old Man Shuckle replies that he can give Brock some of the juice, but he and his friends must help him. Old Man Shuckle calls out his Bellsprout. Old Man Shuckle explains that his Bellsprout's name is Spoopie, and that it can sniff out wild Shuckle. Old Man Shuckle states that he needs them to follow Spoopie and collect the blue Shuckle for him. Brock replies that he shall help, and Ash and Misty agree, following Spoopie into the woods.

Spoopie sniffs the air and runs, and Misty notes that Spoopie is very speedy. Spoopie finds lots of Shuckle and throws them into the air for the others to catch. Then Spoopie runs off again, even with Brock calling out for it to slow down. Spoopie finds the rare blue Shuckle; however, Team Rocket suddenly drops down from the trees. Jessie cries that the blue Shuckle is theirs now, and James sends out Weezing, commanding it to use Smokescreen. With smoke filling the air, Team Rocket escapes. Jessie exclaims that she is thirsty, and drinks the juice from the blue Shuckle, with James drinking some of the juice after her. Meowth's eyes become hearts, and he subsequently gives James a big hug and a kiss. Nearby, the wild Shuckle begin to move. Ash asks where the Shuckle are going, and Old Man Shuckle explains that someone drank the blue Shuckle juice, and that one should never drink it right from the shell, as it makes Pokémon fall in love with the drinker.

The Shuckle, all being in love with Jessie, attempt to lick her face. Screaming in disgust, Jessie runs away. Team Rocket runs into Ash and his friends, and Misty demands they give back the blue Shuckle immediately. Jessie says that she will fight them first, calling on Wobbuffet and Arbok. Under the effects of the blue Shuckle juice, Wobbuffet and Arbok do not want to attack and instead wanted to hug Jessie. Ash commands Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, but Pikachu does not attack, as he is in love with Jessie. Old Man Shuckle, yelling that it has gone too far, runs up and sprinkles a powder on all of the Pokémon. Old Man Shuckle explains that the powder has cured all the Pokémon, and thus the Pokémon were not in love with Jessie and James anymore.

Spoopie uses Vine Whip to take the blue Shuckle from Jessie's arms. Jessie brags that they still have Pikachu, but Pikachu is not in love with Jessie anymore and shocks Team Rocket, causing them to blast off. Old Man Shuckle thanks Brock for finding the blue Shuckle and presents the special juice he promised, explaining that he can use it to catch and train any Pokémon. Brock politely declines, explaining that he wants his Pokémon to love him for what he is, not because of any juice. Ash states that he thinks they already do, and Pikachu agrees.

Major events

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Trivia

Errors

  • In the book, Spoopy is misspelled as Spoopie.
  • Smokescreen (as it should have been spelled at the time) is spelled with spacing as 'Smoke Screen'.
  • In the episode the book was based on, the special Shuckle was referred to as the purple Shuckle. In the book, it is referred to as the blue Shuckle.
  • In the 2016 reprint, many images have been replaced by ones from the actual episode; however, these are low-quality and appear to be cropped to 16:9. The same issue applies to various other Johto-era episodes in other Scholastic licensed books.


Anime adaptations: Pocket Monsters SeriesPokémon Chapter BooksPokémon (Bibliothèque Verte)
Pokémon the First MovieA Pokémon Super Story!
Pokémon Encyclopedia: An Illustrated Book of POCKET MONSTERSPokémon Gold and Silver Pokédex
Pokémon Adventure Series: Bye Bye ButterfreeAttack of the Prehistoric PokémonElectric Shock ShowdownA Shipful of Shivers
Readers: Worlds of AdventurePikachu in LoveTogepi Springs Into Action!The Haunted Gym
Let It Snow!Catch That Wobbuffet!Get Well, Pikachu!Snack Attack!Time Out For Torchic
Save the ShieldonBecome a Pokémon TrainerMeet AshMeet the Pokémon
Ash's Triple ThreatBattle for the Bolt BadgeWrath of the LegendsSuper Sleuth
Quiz books: Pokémon ChallengePokémon Pop QuizPokémon Pop Quiz 2Pokémon Pop Quiz 3
Pathways to Adventure: PokémonPokémon SnapPokémon Gold/SilverPokémon Gold/Silver: The Adventure Continues!
Pokémon Keychain Books: ElectricWaterNormalFire
Sheet music books: Can You Play Pokémon?Pokémon 2.B.A. MasterPokémon 2.B.A. Master: Recorder Fun!PokéRAPPokémon Five-Finger Piano
Other: Pocket Monsters: The AnimationLet's Find Pokémon!Pikachu's Global AdventurePikachu Meets the Press
Meet Buizel and FriendsPokémon TalesSatoshi Tajiri: Pokémon Creator
Shōko Nakagawa: Pokémon Taught Me The Meaning of LifeDetective Pikachu: Episode 0—Eevee's Case
POKÉMON Detective Pikachu (graphic novel)POKÉMON Detective Pikachu Movie Novel (Detective Pikachu: Story of the Movie)
Arsham's PokédexPOKÉMON X KOGEI: Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft
Monster Kids: How Pokémon Taught a Generation to Catch Them All


Project Merchandise logo.png This book article is part of Project Merchandise, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all Pokémon toys, dolls, books, and collectible merchandise.