A Surprise Pokemon Makes a Cameo in Detective Pikachu

A very famous Pokemon makes a surprise appearance in Detective Pikachu.

[MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR DETECTIVE PIKACHU!]

Ash's Pikachu makes a surprise cameo appearance in the Detective Pikachu video game, which came out last weekend in the United States and Europe. In the third chapter of the game, the game's protagonist Tim Goodman walks outside and begins talking with a Pikachu that he assumes is his partner, the famous deerstalker cap wearing Detective Pikachu.

However, the arrival of the real Detective Pikachu a few moments later clues Tim in that he was actually speaking to a different Pikachu. Detective Pikachu and this other Pikachu have a brief conversation, in which the other Pikachu mentions his own trainer. Detective Pikachu ends the conversation by telling the Pikachu to encourage his partner to "be the best, the best there ever was" before the other Pikachu scampers away.

This non-human speaking Pikachu is voiced by Ikue Otani, the voice actress who gives Pikachu its voice in both the video games and the Pokemon anime. And while this Pikachu never says who their partner is, Detective Pikachu's quote of the famous Pokemon theme song is a pretty strong wink that the Pokemon franchise's two most famous Pikachu had a brief in-game interaction.

This isn't the first time that Ash's Pikachu has crossed over into the video games. Ash's Pikachu made a brief appearance in Pokemon Sun and Moon and Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon in a photo pinned in a room occupied by a Mimikyu. While players could only get a brief glimpse of the photo, you could clearly make out Ash's famous hat in the photo. Players have also occasionally had the opportunity to obtain Ash's Pikachu as a special event Pokemon in various games over the years.

We'll have to see if this scene makes it into the upcoming live-action Detective Pikachu movie, which is currently filming and is scheduled to be released next year. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Detective Pikachu. Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy, Suki Waterhouse, Rita Ora, and Chris Geere are also set to appear in the film. The movie is being directed by Rob Letterman.

Detective Pikachu is now available for Nintendo 3DS.