10 Best Pokémon Appearances In Detective Pikachu

In some ways, picking Psyduck as the film’s supporting Pokémon assisting Kathryn Newton’s Lucy was a risky choice. A heavy fan favourite from the anime thanks to Misty’s Psyduck, it was one of the few Pokémon to have an established and well known personality, as opposed to one just buried in lore or direct to DVD movies.

However, the choice proved to be a stroke of genius, as Psyduck manages to provide comic relief yet again. They downplay the clumsiness and goofiness of Misty’s Psyduck and instead give Lucy’s a warmer sense of humour.

This Psyduck feels like he’s in on the joke, rather than the butt of it, building off a good dynamic with Pikachu and Lucy.

It helps that he’s clearly the star of his partnership too, keeping up a solid and consistent performance while Lucy’s wobbles throughout. She begins as an overly serious noir detective trope, and you’re never sure if she’s ironic about this or playing in straight.

Later, she sheds any personality whatsoever, only existing to be good looking and occasionally push the plot along. Psyduck is left carrying the weight the script leaves behind, but shoulders it all with charm.