Pokemon: Pikachu has a name, and it’s very surprising!

With over 1,250 episodes, Pokémon is one of the longest-running animated series in television history. Broadcasting since 1999, it offered 25 seasons of adventures for its two heroes – trainer Ash and his faithful companion Pikachu – even if the latter recently bowed out in favor of new main characters who should continue the Pokemon epic still good. time.

Adapted from the popular video game license created in 1996 by developer Game Freak, the series has also made its way to the big screen through numerous feature films and through the publication of manga and graphic novels in bookstores.

It is among the pages of one of these works that we can find the most amazing information about Pikachu, an unforgettable electric Pokemon that looks like a beloved rodent that travels with Ash from the very first episode.

Indeed, no doubt most fans don’t know this detail, but as we learn in the manga Pikachu’s Electric Tale (Pikachu’s Electric Tale), a collection of chapters published in Japan in 1999 and unpublished in France, is named after Sacha’s best friend. And not any…

On the board above, we see a trainer asking a young boy if he’s ever thought about naming his Pokemon (no doubt, in games, Pokemon can be renamed at will). that we caught). Sasha then very proudly exclaims that her Pikachu’s name is… Jean-Luc!

As we can see in the next panel, where Pikachu is wearing a small badge that represents the Enterprise logo, this is a direct reference to Jean-Luc Picard played by Patrick Stewart in the Star Trek saga.

As for the origin of the word “Pikachu”, it is made up of two Japanese onomatopoeias corresponding to the spark (“pika”) and the cry of a mouse (“chu”).

(Re)discover our top 5 characters who – like Pikachu – only know how to say their name…