[citation needed] The Electric Tale of Pikachu marked the first time that any of the Pokémon manga series were translated to English.

In Singapore, the manga is published in English by Chuang Yi and translated as Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu!

He said that when the episode "Clefairy in Space" ("Subway no Pipi") was going in manga form, Ono had to redraw many of the pages, a time-consuming process.

For simplicity, English language names will be used in this and other articles in Wikipedia about Pokémon, unless explicitly referring to the Japanese version.

In 1999, Comichron reported that series had sold more than a million copies; The Daily Oklahoman stated that most of those sales were sets purchased through large retail chains.

[16] Jason S. Yadao, the author of The Rough Guide to Manga, wrote that "the story was predictable" and that "narrative complexity never was a defining trait of the franchise.

He praised the series for its story and art, also noting that some knowledge of Japanese culture would be needed to fully understand some humor and references.

[17] Rachael Brown reviewed the second volume for The Hamilton Spectator, citing its humor as a highlight and recommending it for children ages eight and up.