Detective Pikachu Returns

Detective Pikachu Returns is an adventure game from 2023, built by Creatures and released by the Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It follows up on the 2016 3DS title Detective Pikachu. The project was first hinted at in a 2019 press release alongside apps like Pokémon Home, got its proper reveal during a June 2023 Nintendo Direct, and hit store shelves on October 6, 2023.

Two years after Tim Goodman and his talking Pikachu solved the R incidents, they’re still hunting for Tim’s missing father, Harry. Ryme City’s mayor, Martin Myers, invites them to receive medals for their detective work and launches Pokémon Friendship Week to calm rising tensions between humans and Pokémon. A frenzied Corviknight crashes the ceremony. After helping a stunned Pidove, the duo gets called by Inspector Holiday to investigate the theft of a priceless jewel called the Aurora Drop from jeweler Sanjeev Denis’s estate.

Police suspect Sanjeev’s butler and friend Brandon Barnes, but Tim and Pikachu believe his alibi holds. With help from Sanjeev’s Growlithe, they expose new hire Larry Turner as the thief—a note he wrote reveals his plan to frame Barnes, and the jewel is hidden inside his Cramorant’s belly. But Pikachu spots a strange device on the Cramorant, which then swallows the jewel and flies off. Turner claims he knows nothing more.

Later, while Tim has dinner with his mother Irene, sister Sophia, and classmate Rachel, Pikachu suddenly faints and relives a memory: Harry telling Irene he wants a divorce before leaving. When Pikachu wakes, Mewtwo visits them, explaining the recent Pokémon incidents aren’t from R but something else, and hints at info about Harry. Before Mewtwo can finish, a swarm of Beedrill wearing the same mysterious devices attacks.

The next day, Tim and Pikachu join Rachel to meet her professor, Trevor Gordon, at ruins south of Ryme City for clues about the Aurora Drop. Gordon entered two days ago and hasn’t returned. They solve temple puzzles, sneak past a Galarian Darmanitan, and find Gordon trapped in a room after a cave-in. Pikachu goes in alone, befriends the Darmanitan, and uses its strength to clear the debris. Gordon stays to continue his research, explaining the ruins strengthen human-Pokémon bonds, and suggests the Aurora Drop might be a Pokémon from space.