Raising Pikachu

Introduction

The Experiment

Equipment

1. 1 - L3 pikachu (mine had 15 8 7 10 8)
2. 1 - thunderstone
3. 97 - rare candies
4. 10 each - HP up, iron, carbos, calcium, protein.

Procedure

Experiment A

1. Give rare candies to pikachu until L100. Record the stats at L's 3, 10, 20, 30, 40, 43, 50, 60, ..., 100.
2. Use thunderstone (call this !!) on pikachu and record raichu's stats.
3. Use all the stat boosters. Record stats.

Experiment B

1. Use all the stat boosters (call this ++) on L3 pikachu. Record stats.
2. Give rare candies to pikachu until L100. Record stats as above.
3. Use thunderstone and record raichu's stats.

Experiment C

1. Give rare candies to pikachu until L43. Record stats as above.
2. Use thunderstone and record raichu's stats.
3. Use remaining rare candies on raichu and record stats as above.
4. Use all the stat boosters. Record stats.

Experiment D

1. Use thunderstone and record L3 raichu's stats.
2. Give rare candies to raichu until L100. Record stats as above.
3. Use all the stat boosters. Record stats.

Experiment E

1. Use all the stat boosters on pikachu. Record stats.
2. Use thunderstone and record raichu's L3 stats.
3. Give rare candies to raichu until L100. Record stats as above.

Experiment F

1. Use thunderstone and record raichu's L3 stats.
2. Use all the stat boosters on raichu. Record stats.
3. Give rare candies to raichu until L100. Record stats as above.

Results

         Experiment A           Experiment B           Experiment C
   3:  15   8   7  10   8     15   8   7  10   8     15   8   7  10   8
  ++:  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..     16   9   8  11   9     ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
  10:  28  17  11  23  17     32  21  15  27  21     28  17  11  23  17
  20:  47  29  18  41  29     55  37  26  49  37     47  29  18  41  29
  30:  66  42  25  59  41     78  54  37  71  53     66  42  25  59  41
  40:  85  54  32  77  53    101  70  48  93  69     85  54  32  77  53
  43:  90  58  34  82  57    108  75  51  99  74     90  58  34  82  57
  !!:  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..    ...  ..  ..  ..  ..    112  88  55  91  91
  50: 104  67  39  95  66    124  87  59 115  86    129 102  64 105 106    
  60: 122  79  45 113  78    146 103  69 137 102    152 121  75 125 126
  70: 141  91  52 131  90    169 119  80 159 118    176 140  87 145 146
  80: 160 104  59 149 102    192 136  91 181 134    200 160  99 165 166
  90: 179 116  66 167 114    215 152 102 203 150    224 179 111 185 186
 100: 198 129  73 185 127    238 169 113 225 167    248 199 128 205 207
  !!: 248 199 123 205 207    288 239 163 245 247    ... ... ... ... ...
  ++: 288 239 163 245 247    ... ... ... ... ...    288 239 163 245 247

         Experiment D           Experiment E           Experiment F
   3:  15   8   7  10   8     15   8   7  10   8     15   8   7  10   8
  ++:  ..   .   .  ..   .     16   9   8  11   9     ..   .   .  ..   .
  !!:  17  10   8  11   8     18  12   9  12  12     17  10   8  11   8
  ++:  ..  ..   .  ..   .     ..  ..   .  ..  ..     18  12   9  12  12
  10:  33  24  16  25  25     37  28  20  29  29     37  28  20  29  29
  20:  57  43  28  45  45     65  51  36  53  53     65  51  36  53  53
  30:  81  63  40  65  65     93  75  52  77  77     93  75  52  77  77
  40: 105  82  52  85  85    121  98  68 101 101    121  98  68 101 101
  43: 119  88  55  91  91    129 105  72 108 109    129 105  72 108 109
  50: 129 102  64 105 106    149 122  84 125 126    149 122  84 125 126
  60: 152 121  75 125 126    176 145  99 149 150    176 145  99 149 150
  70: 176 140  87 145 146    204 168 115 173 174    204 168 115 173 174
  80: 200 160  99 165 166    232 192 131 197 198    232 192 131 197 198
  90: 224 179 111 185 186    260 215 147 201 222    260 215 147 201 222
 100: 248 199 123 205 207    288 239 163 245 247    288 239 163 245 247
  ++: 288 239 163 245 247    ... ... ... ... ...    ... ... ... ... ...

Discussion and Conclusion

And now to address some questions:

1. Why rare candies? Rare candies give just enough experience to level up your pokemon, and both pikachu and raichu require the same experience to gain the same levels. So I know they're being raise at the same rate. Also it's quicker than battling.
2. Why not raise them via battles? Firstly, a preliminary study I did raising the same L2 rattata by fighting only L2 rattatas only, L3 rattatas only, etc. and L2 pidgeys only, L3 pidgeys only, etc. and so on with other pokemon produced different stats. So, short of using an old rod (or Game Shark) it's hard to raise your pokemon to L100 on only one type of pokemon of the same level and thus introducing another unwanted variable. Secondly, did I mention time?
3. Won't rare candies make your pokemon weaker? Yes. However, I was trying to determine the effects of evolving early vs later and using boosters early vs later and not whether rare candies make stronger pokemon. If you see why this is a problem do let me know.
4. I did this study for x number of pokemon with the same stats... Good for you. First of all, low level pokemon with identical stats will end up with different L100 stats even if raised the same way. Secondly you should make note of Q1 and Q2 above. If you want to do it right save the game once you get your pokemon then raise it by your first method and reset and raise the same pokemon by your second method and reset each time for your remaining methods. This is the only way to ensure that it's your raising method and not the pokemon that's different. You cannot save your game after that initial one or there'll be differences. Make sure you have the spare time :-).
5. Are traded pokemon weaker? Yes. But if you did experiment A on the same pokemon traded and untraded you'll get the same final stats as rare candies will give the same experience to both. Try raising by using the old rod, you'll see the difference. You see, the rate of getting experience is a factor in stat gains -- the other is the kind of pokemon you battle. Unfortunately you won't be seeing my study on this any time soon.