Pokemon Go is getting 10 days of Detective Pikachu events starting tomorrow

With Pokemon Detective Pikachu coming to theaters on Friday, May 10, Pokemon Go is getting in on the movie hype with over a week of sleuth-themed events. The Pokemon Go Detective Pikachu event will kick off tomorrow, May 7, and continue through May 17, Niantic announced today. 

During that time, you'll be able to catch your own detective Pikachu - or at least a Pikachu wearing a detective hat. It may or may not talk like Ryan Reynolds. While using Pokemon Go's Snapshot feature during the event, you'll have a chance of being photobombed by a Pikachu wearing the now-iconic hat. Once you see the little bugger in Snapshot mode, you'll have a chance of catching that Pikachu in the wild. So even if you don't normally use Snapshot mode all that much, be sure to take a few photos. 

Once you catch a sleuthing Pikachu, you can also go the extra mile and give your trainer a matching outfit. A detective hat with Pikachu ears and a Detective Pikachu T-shirt will be available in the Pokemon Go Style Shop throughout the event. 

Players will also benefit from passive bonuses. Pokemon featured in the film will be more common during the event, for example, including Bulbasaur, Jigglypuff, Psyduck, Snubbull, and both normal and Shiny Aipom. Niantic says players will also be able to take on "Raid Battles that challenge Pokémon featured in the film, as well as movie-inspired Field Research." Additionally, catching any Pokemon - not just the ones from the film - will yield double XP during the event. 

Here are all the Pokemon confirmed to appear in the Detective Pikachu movie

Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with 12DOVE since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

Latest in Pokemon
an ai chatbot plays a modded verion of pokemon red and jumps down a ledge to talk to an npc
An AI's mission to 'teach' itself Pokemon Red is going as well as you think - after escaping Cerulean City after tens of hours, it went right on back
Pokemon Legends Z-A screenshot showing Mega Charizard
Pokemon Legends Z-A's visuals aren't "great" say former Nintendo marketing leads, but hope Switch 2 could allow Game Freak to "go back to the drawing board" and add more detail to future RPGs
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks to finally bring my anime-inspired dreams of truly active combat to life
Zoomed in art of the Sudowoodo illustration rare card in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Pokemon's literal god of the universe is almost unstoppable in TCG Pocket – the only thing that can save us is a smiley tree and a concussed dinosaur
Charizard in the Pokemon anime.
Pokemon fans prove they'll buy anything as a Cheeto shaped like a Charizard sells for almost $90k
The player character in Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks at the three starter Pokemon, Totodile, Tepig, and Chikorita.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's starter trio proves it's time for a new type, and I know what it should be
Latest in News
Atomfall
Atomfall boss "very familiar" with Baldur's Gate 3 director's frustrations with publishers, as he recalls horror advice that games are "faster to make" if you "make fewer bugs"
The Rise of Skywalker
Despite those retirement reports, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is "very involved" in the Rey Star Wars movie, according to Daisy Ridley
Limbo
"You can't rewrite the past just because of a bad breakup": Legendary indie devs' feud is going public
BlizzCon
BlizzCon 2026 is official, and after missing 4 BlizzCons in 6 years, Blizzard aims to "meaningfully elevate" the event
Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson doubles down on never coming back as Black Widow: “Natasha is dead. She is dead. She’s dead. Okay?"
Image of the Blade Runner board game box
Rare Blade Runner board game prototype is being auctioned for over $500 but there’s a far cheaper way to bring the neo-noir classic to your tabletop