Pokemon fans are loving new Detective Pikachu short as a new mystery begins

Detective Pikachu and Tim are back on the case, as Pokémon drops a brand new animated short starring the caffeine-guzzling sleuth.

Pokemon is on something of a hot streak lately, as while Detective Pikachu Returns has only just launched, The Pokemon Company has just released an adorable new animated short featuring everyone’s favorite electric mouse.

The Detective Pikachu franchise is already a hit with fans after Nintendo released the original Detective Pikachu for Nintendo 3DS back in 2016. Then just a few years later, The Pokemon Company and Legendary Pictures released the Detective Pikachu movie in 2019, marking the first live-action entry in the franchise, and making over $400 million dollars at the global box office.

With those sorts of numbers, and the strength of the Pokemon franchise and Pikachu’s popular design, you’d think that The Pokemon Company would be in a hurry to expand the franchise, but it was only just last month that fans could finally play Detective Pikachu Returns, a brand-new entry for the Nintendo Switch.

Pokémon fans think the new Detective Pikachu short is ‘so cute’

It seems that Pokemon and Nintendo are better equipped to promote the breakout franchise now, as hot on the heels of the latest entry, The Pokemon Company YouTube channel aired a brand new animated short, titled “Detective Pikachu & the Mystery of the Missing Flan”. 

Yup, you guessed it, this sweet six-minute animated entry is a flan-tastic little mystery of its own, as Detective Pikachu and Tim try to find out what happened to their baked goods. 

There might not be quite the drama and serious tone of the movie, or Mewtwo and Bill Nighy attacking poor Justice Smith, but this quaint addition to the lore contains some absolutely beautiful animation. Honestly, the movie could have looked like this and we’d be happy. 

The short is already a hit with fans, as users are diving into the YouTube comments to share praise. YouTube user ZillionGamingZone says “Pikachu is so cute”, while Pixelll7231 comments “This animation looks beautiful! The animators did a great job.” 

Pikachu appears in plenty of media, but even we have to admit, that this might be the softest that the Pokemon franchise has ever looked. Not even the Pikachu Squishmallows look this cute!