Sunday morning, The Pokemon Company officially announced Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet for the Nintendo Switch, the next games in the main series of Pokemon games. The announcement was made during a special Pokemon Presents event with a trailer combining live-action and gameplay footage. In fact, the live-action portion of the trailer was so confusing at first that many Pokemon fans believed it was an announcement for a Detective Pikachu 2 film rather than new games.The opening and closing sequences of Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet's announcement trailer features a security guard investigating something suspicious in developer Game Freak's offices. However, before it's revealed that he's in Game Freak's office building, he's spooked by the shadow of what looks to be a Pokemon scampering the building - perhaps even Pikachu itself. The response among the Pokemon community was immediate. This had to be Detective Pikachu 2.Just seconds later, the security guard walks past a Game Freak sign, which is a big clue that the announcement is not actually Detective Pikachu 2. Game Freak is, of course, the developer of all the core Pokemon video games. This, in turn, led many to predict a Detective Pikachu 2 video game announcement rather than a movie reveal. Shortly after the security guard entered the Game Freak office, however, it was confirmed that the announcement was for Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet. Detective Pikachu 2 will have to wait its turn.
That initial excitement of the potential announcement of Detective Pikachu 2, both for a movie or a game, was all that it took for Pokemon fans to start a conversation on social media. Comments mostly revolve around shock that the trailer wasn't for Detective Pikachu 2, including some belief that The Pokemon Company intentionally trolled fans. Many of the most recent posts share the sentiment that Detective Pikachu 2 is hopefully coming soon, too.
Coincidentally, news broke this past week that the Detective Pikachu 2 video game truly is still in development. A sequel to the curious spin-off game was originally announced for the Nintendo Switch in 2019, but little information has been shared since. Developer Creatures Inc. recently shared a message from a developer who confirmed he was still working on the project.
When it comes to Pokemon, if there's one safe assumption to make, it's that a sequel or follow-up is probably being made - it just takes time for it to be finished. The Detective Pikachu film was incredibly successful and production studio Legendary has reportedly been greenlit for more live-action Pokemon films going forward. As mentioned above, the Detective Pikachu game has a confirmed sequel in the works, so fans will eventually get their fix.