>>53859844Unlike Charmander, Pikachu genuinely has no ways to deal solid damage even after you drop Onix's defense to its lowest. Quick Attack is Non-STAB against Onix's titanic defense stat. The only way you're getting a significant sum of damage is powerleveling the bastard to 20 so it can learn Slam, which isn't a very fun grind considering your best venue for EXP is the incredibly rare Level 9 Pidgeotto.
You HAD to get another Pokemon of some sort to help offset the defenses, be it Butterfree's Confusion targeting Onix's mediocre Special, Nidoran's Double Kick or Mankey's Low Kick.
