The first live-action Pokémon film is chock full of Easter Eggs that only superfans will get. Check out the six best Detective Pikachu Easter Eggs. Did you catch them all?
Detective Pikachu sets upon itself to show off as much of the Pokémon world as it can, with Tim and Pikachu meeting Pokémon of all walks of life.
On their quest to solve the mystery of Tim’s dad’s disappearance, Pikachu and Tim find themselves face-to-face with danger, fun, and quite a good amount of Pokémon lore.
Most of these Detective Pikachu Easter Eggs happen in blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments, so don’t feel too bad if you missed some of them.
Grab your magnifying glass and trust the feeling in your jellies as we search for the best Easter Eggs in the latest Pokémon film.
‘Detective Pikachu’ Easter Eggs’
Why did Ditto react differently to the R gas?
In Detective Pikachu, R gas is a substance that when inhaled, makes any given Pokémon fall into a crazed state. Mewtwo is capable of transferring humans into a Pokémon while the creatures are in this state, making it a very volatile and unstable chemical.
So why then did Ditto transform into a bunch of different Pokémon and melt rather than go wild? This could be explained by a popular fan theory of Ditto being a failed clone of Mew. With both Pokémon being the only ones to learn the move Transform, it didn’t take long for Pokémon fans to put together the connection between the ‘mons. With the R gas stemming from Mewtwo, it would only make sense that the potential clone of Mew wouldn’t act the same as others do when exposed to it.
Mewtwo’s origins
While it isn’t clear what universe in the Pokémon world Detective Pikachu takes place in, this Easter Egg may lead fans to the conclusion that the film does indeed take place in the mainline video game series.
When Mewtwo’s origin is described, a reference to it escaping 20 years ago from the Kanto region lines up with the events of Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow. In the first games of the series, Mewtwo was created as a clone from Mew, but it went rogue and escaped into the Cerulean Cave. The Mewtwo in this film may just be the same Mewtwo that Red encounters in his first adventures.
Sinnoh Championships
There are a lot of posters in Tim’s room, with a lot of them blending into the background. However, if you look a bit closer at the one describing a regional tournament, you’ll be reminded of the Diamond Pearl and Platinum video games.
The poster referencing the Sinnoh Championships connects Ryme City to the Generation IV region wherein Dialga, Palkia and Arceus were introduced. Speaking of those Legendary Pokémon…
‘Oh my Arceus!’
Pikachu says “Oh my Arceus” as opposed to “oh my God” for good reason: the Legendary Pokémon being referenced is the one that created the entire Pokémon universe.
This one feels like yet another call out to superfans of the Pokémon series, as there’s an inside joke that Arceus is quite literally the God of the Pokémon series. What has often been referenced as a joke in fandom has now been recognized in Detective Pikachu, showing that the filmmakers were paying close attention to the finer details of how their fans interact with the Pokémon series.
Gotta catch ’em all
The original anime Pokémon theme song is represented twice in the film, with one of the representations being a little more subtle than the first. The first time that the Pokémon theme song plays, it’s during the newscast announcing the Pokémon celebration parade. It’s an instrumental version of the song, and may have been mistaken as being generic background music to the unknowing ear.
The second time the Pokémon theme song is represented is in Ryan Reynolds’ performance of the iconic song. Downtrodden after the reveal of his connection to Mewtwo, Pikachu slumps his way back to Ryme City, and performs very sad versions of lines like “you’re my best friend” and “it’s you and me.” Poor Detective Pikachu!
Octillery the chef
This Detective Pikachu Easter Egg is a little bit morbid, if only for the Pokémon that was involved in what was going on here. Octillery is an octopus Pokémon that evolves from Remoraid, both of which were introduced in Generation II of the Pokémon series.
The Octillery in Detective Pikachu shows up as a background character in the scene where Tim and Pikachu recollect themselves in the streets post the Aipom attack. The Octillery is seen wearing traditional sushi garb… so was it chopping up other ocean Pokémon for food? I suppose the people and Pokémon in the Pokémon universe need to eat some form of meat.
Which ‘Detective Pikachu’ Easter Eggs did you catch?
There are so, so many Pokémon in the film. With such a large number of the pocket monsters being represented in the film, it’s possible that we’ve missed some other Detective Pikachu Easter Eggs. What Easter Eggs did you catch in one of your rewatches of the live-action Pokémon film?
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