Detective Pikachu will feature Ryan Reynolds giving a voice to the rat Pokemon that shoots thunder out of its cheeks in a live action/CGI mashup that hits theatres later this week. If that’s not something that interests you, well, the rest of this post is probably not your thing either.
The arrival of Detective Pikachu to theaters has brought with it a tie-in event in Pokemon Go, the stubbornly popular mobile gaming app of your dad and probably a lot of your smaller cousins are still obsessed with. The in-game event officially launched on Tuesday, featuring the usual assortment of features: new Pokemon, special events and a chance to snag some cool stuff in the process of promoting the film.
One interesting aspect of this promo is the use of the improved camera feature in the game. If you take a picture with the camera there’s a chance Detective Pikachu — i.e. a Pikachu in a Sherlock Holmes hat — will photobomb you, giving you a chance to catch yet another Pikachu in a different hat.
The event features a lot of Pokemon from the movie, and its research challenges certainly reflect that. One offers trainers rewards for catching 10 Jigglypuff, Aipom of Snubbull, so expect to see plenty of those on the silver screen. Other challenges are more specific and actually tie directly to the movie. One, for example, offered a reward for catching a “seed Pokemon” who appears in a river in the movie itself. There’s obviously a bit of detective work involved there, and it helps if you’ve actually seen the movie. Or you can stumble across a (SPOILERS!) Bulbasaur and notch that research project off your list in a hurry.
No Pikachu-themed event would be complete without some merch, and so there are Detective Pikachu shirts and hats available for coins as well. But the big draw may likely be your chance to catch a lot of high-level Pokemon in the wild relatively easy. Charizards seem to be everywhere, and Flareon was a popular target on the radar on a quick glance earlier Tuesday morning. If you’re missing some popular Pokemon and want to stack some candy, your best chance might be from now until May 17, when the event ends.
