The director of Detective Pikachu Returns explains how the Pokémon were chosen

Were you curious about the team behind it? Detective Pikachu returns Decided which Pokemon to include? Director Yasunori Yanagisaw shared in a recent interview Comic Book.

Many Pokémon will appear in Detective Pikachu Returns, but some will factor into the gameplay itself. For example, Growlithe lets players follow scents, Darmanitan can smash rocks, and Luxray can peer through walls. But many additional Pokémon will appear in the environments players can explore.

Yanagisaw had this to say about the Pokémon selection process for Detective Pikachu’s Return:

“A lot of Pokémon appear in this game. There are various reasons why they were chosen, but mainly it’s to recognize the Pokémon’s unique characteristics and ensure that it is suitable for the environment it interacts with. For example, if you see Pokémon working on something, Pokémon playing, for example a Pokémon playing with a soccer ball in the park, there is a particular Pokémon that could be suitable for that scenario. There’s that aspect and there’s also the preferences, different preferences in Pokemon on the developer’s side. If you want to see a specific Pokémon, select it. As for Growlithe, [I] I really like dogs, so it made sense to have Growlithe in this game.”

Detective Pikachu Returns will be released for Switch on October 6, 2023.