Hey You, Pikachu!

Hey You, Pikachu! is a virtual pet video game for the Nintendo 64, developed by Ambrella and published by Nintendo. It is a spinoff game of the Pokémon franchise. Hey You, Pikachu! was released in Japan in 1998 and in North America in 2000. The player's goal is to help Professor Oak by using a voice device named the PokéHelper (which had a 256 word database) to communicate to a Pikachu.

It is one of the only two Nintendo 64 games that utilizes the Voice Recognition Unit, the other game being Densha de Go! 64. The Voice Recognition Unit is a peripheral that can analyze and react to human voice. It can interpret the player's commands to Pikachu.

Ambrella developed a spiritual sequel to Hey You, Pikachu!, Pokémon Channel, which was released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003. The Wii also received a spiritual sequel, PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure, which itself eventually received a direct sequel, PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond.

Gameplay
The game begins when the main character is asked to try out a new device of Professor Oak's PokéHelper device. The player soon meets a wild Pikachu and befriends it. The player must earn Pikachu's trust and eventually it will come and live in the player's house. There are three different activity days: Pikachu's Daring Days, Discovery Days, and Play Days. Each day has a different objective (e.g. collecting food, going fishing) and the player can earn Pika Points, which is the currency used at Abra's Shop to unlock new items.

Eventually, if the player reaches day 365, Professor Oak appears and says that Pikachu has to be released, as it is a wild Pokémon. The player has to go to the woods where Pikachu was found and say "goodbye" several times, upon which Pikachu realizes it can't live with the player anymore, and, sadly, leaves. After the credits, while the player is looking around the front yard and reminiscing about Pikachu, it returns, and the game continues as if Pikachu was never released.

Characters

 * Mom - The main character's mother. She does not come into the storyline much, but does say "Good morning" to the player every morning.
 * Professor Oak - The professor who invented the PokéHelper, the device used to talk to Pokémon.
 * Pikachu - The partner of the main character, Pikachu and the player go on many adventures together, such as fishing trips and picnics.

Items
Throughout the game, the player collects many important items that can be stored in the toolbox:


 * Ball: This is Pikachu's beach ball; Pikachu gives it to the player early in the game.
 * Cupcake: This is a treat for Pikachu.
 * Fishing Hook: This is used for fishing.
 * Flying Acorn: Most likely the last item to be purchased from Abra's shop. Its availability depends on the number of days spent with Pikachu. It is a brown acorn with three leaves sprouting from the top. The item works very similar to the Frisbee but will cut off fruit from trees with which it comes into contact.
 * Harmonica: This can be given to Pikachu for him to play different tunes.
 * Lucky Hook: This hook is used to catch rare Pokémon.
 * Megaphone: This is used to talk to Pikachu when it runs away. It can only fire sound in a straight line, and does it too loudly for normal use.
 * PokéHelper: This device is used to talk to Pikachu.
 * Watering Can: This is used to water Oddish and Gloom in the different parts of Springleaf Field. It can hold 5 servings.
 * Watering Pail: This is used to water Oddish and Gloom in the different parts of Springleaf Field. It can hold 30 servings.