Detective Pikachu had some unexpected offspring: a live-action movie in 2019, a Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion, a comic book, a novel, and a video game sequel in 2023. Here is how the 2018 game gave birth to a whole series.
The movie (2019)
Pokémon Detective Pikachu, released in May 2019, is the first live-action Pokémon movie. Directed by Rob Letterman, it takes the game’s starting point: Tim Goodman, played by Justice Smith, arrives in Ryme City to investigate his father’s disappearance and teams up with a talking Pikachu, voiced in English by Ryan Reynolds. The movie then departs widely from the game’s plot, but keeps its spirit: a city where humans and Pokémon live together.
The spin-off products
- A Pokémon TCG expansion, Detective Pikachu, released to promote the movie;
- a comic book and a children’s novel based on the movie;
- the Detective Pikachu amiibo, released with the game: see The Detective Pikachu amiibo.
The sequel: Detective Pikachu Returns (2023)
Announced in 2023, Detective Pikachu Returns launches on Nintendo Switch on October 6, 2023. Also developed by Creatures, it brings back the Tim and Pikachu duo in Ryme City and continues the investigation where the first game left off. It will get its own guide on Pokémon France.
What to take away
Starting out as a small Japanese downloadable game in 2016, Detective Pikachu became a series in its own right, and its hero, a grumpy coffee-loving Pikachu, became one of the most recognizable characters in the franchise. To discover the original story, our walkthrough covers every chapter of the 2018 game.
