How to Get Ash Hat Pikachu in 'Pokémon Sword and Shield'

Among the myriad of announcements and updates for the Crown Tundra DLC in Pokémon Sword and Shield was the release of Ash Hat Pikachu into the Gen 8 games.

Longtime Pokémon fans may remember when the Pikachu wearing Ash's various hats from his 20-year anime journey were added to Sun and Moon a few years ago, but now it's time for the Switch to get these special Pokémon.

There are eight special Ash Hat Pikachu to collect, from his classic chapeau from when he first set out on his Pokémon adventure, to more recent designs—like those seen in the film Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! and the current season of the TV show, Pokémon Journeys: The Series.

Two of these special Pikachu are available now using the passwords below. We'll get to how to input them into Sword and Shield in a bit.

Pikachu (Original Cap) - P1KACHUGET

Pikachu (Partner Cap) - 1CH00SEY0U

Pikachu (Hoenn Cap) - P1KAADVANCE (lasts until November 30)

Pikachu (Sinnoh Cap) - V0LTTACKLEP1KA (lasts until November 30)

Pikachu (Unova Cap) - P1KABESTW1SH (lasts until November 30)

Pikachu (Kalos Cap) - KAL0SP1KA (lasts until November 30)

More passwords will be distributed in Japan following the latest episodes of the Pokémon anime and the Japanese variety show, Pokénchi. Serebii has posted the schedule for Japan, but the passwords will likely work for everyone around the world.

We'll be sure to update when passwords are made available.

HOW TO GET ASH HAT PIKACHU IN POKEMON SWORD AND SHIELD

Now that you have the special passwords, it's time to input them into your Nintendo Switch and claim your Ash Hat Pikachu. Use the following steps to ensure you get Ash's Pikachu in Sword and Shield:

1. Launch your Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game.
2. Select Mystery Gift on the X menu.
3. Select Get a Mystery Gift.
4. Select Get with Code/Password to connect to the internet.
5. Enter your password.
6. Watch as the gift arrives in your game. (Pokémon will appear in your party or your Pokémon Boxes.)
7. Be sure to save your game.

It should be noted that these Pikachu will not be able to evolve into Raichu, nor have the ability to Gigantamax like certain other Pikachu. Trainers can't feed these special Ash Hat Pikachu Max Soup from the Isle of Armor to give them the ability to Gigantamax, so don't bother.

Also, each Pikachu can only be obtained on a single save file, so trying to input the same password twice won't work. These passwords will only be available until November 30, 2020, at 9:59 a.m. EST, so don't wait to redeem them.

Pokémon Sword and Shield are available now for Nintendo Switch.

Did you get to claim your special Pikachu yet? Which of the Ash hats are your favorite? Let us know in the comments section.