10 Best Pokémon Appearances In Detective Pikachu

The movie underplays the battling element of Pokémon, largely to good effect too. Plenty of other movies have this at their forefront - not to mention all the main series games - so all in all it was a good move.

That said, seeing Charizard in full battle mode (fuelled by the R gas) was still a treat, and it’s here representing Gengar and Blastoise too. Those two duke it out before Charizard and Pikachu take to the ring, with the ghostly prankster winning out. We don’t see much of that bout though, while Charizard gets a hefty chunk of screen time.

The scales on the fiery lizard are magnificently detailed, and were it not for the childish subject matter of the movie, might have been enough for a Visual Effects Oscar. He’s intimidating without being too scary for the youngster, and is well utilised in the movie’s first big action scene.

Unfortunately, with the battle simply a plot device to move the mystery forward, we don’t see Charizard in full swing. Chaos breaks out soon after they start and the snappy pacing moves along, leaving the pseudo dragon behind.