WARNING: Beware of major uncovered story spoilers!
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Protagonists
Detective Pikachu
A deep-voiced Pikachu who calls himself a Great Detective and can communicate with Tim.
- Amnesiac Hero: He reveals early on that he doesn't actually have any memories from before the accident. He just knows he's Harry's Pikachu from what he's pieced together from everyone else's conversations. Tim noted that Pikachu was a lot cuter and more docile before the accident. It turns out he is Pikachu and also Harry's conscious fused inside him. And revealed in the sequel, Mewtwo had to erase his recent memories to reduce the likelihood of Harry's conscious erasing Pikachu's.
- Androcles' Lion: A flashback reveals that Harry bonded with Pikachu when he helped an injured Pancham and furthered his investigation into berserk Pokémon incidents.
- Badass Normal: He can't use any moves, so he just relies on his own wits and physical prowess to save the day. He does end up using Thunderbolt to put a stop to Noivern by the end, however. The reason why he can't use moves is because Harry's conscience is occupying Pikachu's body, so Harry naturally doesn't know how to act that much like a real Pikachu.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: His signature Catchphrase? Turns out to have been a habit of Harry's. Further amplified that he has Harry's conscious fused in him.
- Casanova Wannabe: Has a weakness for beautiful human women. He's prone to winking at them and asking them on dates.
- Curious as a Monkey: He pokes around places to see how things work and once tried to look under a Mimikyu's disguise. He winds up screaming in terror.
- "Eureka!" Moment: He punctuates each one with an appropriate Catchphrase, "A bolt of brilliance!"
- Forgotten First Meeting: The Pangoro he meets with at the PPB makes a small mention about having met Pikachu before, though Pikachu doesn't remember it. In the next chapter, Pikachu (or rather Harry inside Pikachu) remembers him.
- Great Detective: Apart from being a one-and-a-half-foot tall electric rodent, Detective Pikachu is the character archetype.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: He's perfectly capable of communicating with humans, but only to Tim and by extension his younger sister Sophia, for some reason, with his deep, gravelly voice coming out as Pokémon Speak to everyone else. It also works the other way around, with Pikachu translating the testimony of other Pokémon.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The original Pikachu risked having Mewtwo fuse Harry's consciousness into his body in order to preserve Harry's dying life, as it was the only way to save Harry from succumbing to his wounds. However, the drawbacks were that Harry's self overrided Pikachu's as the main one, and Harry's conscience needed to be as amnesiac as possible because otherwise him remembering everything about his life would completely shut off Pikachu's conscience and essentially slowly kill him from existence within his own body. The full conversation of the first game's ending turned out to be "Pikachu" remembering in full who he was, only he told Mewtwo to re-inflict amnesia on him again to keep investigating with Tim. Luckily, both consciences go back to their respective bodies at the end of Returns.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Lacks the Playful Cat Smile Pikachu usually have.
- Plucky Comic Relief: He's where most of the humor in these games come from. Many of the Pika Prompts often have him get into slapstick shenanigans with other Pokémon, and he's usually on the receiving end.
- Pokémon Speak: Only Tim and Sophia can understand him, with his voice towards him being entirely in English. Other people just hear Detective Pikachu talking like other members of his species, leading to a deliberate and comedic use of Vocal Dissonance. After Harry's consciousness is returned to his body in the second game, Pikachu goes back to Ikue Otani's vocals.
- Rule of Cool: Word of God states this Pikachu drinks coffee because it's one of the other things that goes with the image of a cool sleuth (the other one was smoking a pipe, but that had to be dialed down for younger audiences). For an in-game explanation, it's mostly because of Harry's consciousness almost overwriting Pikachu's own.
- Signature Headgear: His Sherlock Holmes-style deerstalker cap. Besides being an obvious tell of his mystery-solving abilities, it's the one visual trait that distinguishes him from all other Pikachu. Harry gave it to Pikachu after they first met.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Naturally, being a Pokémon himself, and akin to the ones in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, Detective Pikachu is able to converse with other Pokémon who can't speak human. This is a major factor in how he solves cases, being able to get information out of them that others can't.
- Sweet Tooth: He tends to eat all the sweets laid out for clients in the Detective Agency, much to Amanda's annoyance.
- Talking Animal: Is a rodent that can speak to humans. Well, one human and his sister, it seems.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Loves coffee. He knows a great deal about coffee, has a favorite café, and will tell Tim what he enjoys about different blends.
- Tragic Keepsake: His deerstalker cap; it came from Harry, who went missing after a car crash. Ultimately subverted in the sequel as Pikachu has agreed with Mewtwo to implant Harry's conscious into his body to save him, but Harry's body was taken away.
- Uniformity Exception: Detective Pikachu looks exactly like any other Pikachu. Tim can only tell them apart by Detective Pikachu's unusually deep voice and his deerstalker cap.
- Unnecessary Combat Roll: He occasionally does one in personal skits. "Just in case."
- The Unreveal: In the first game, you never find out why he can talk to Tim only, why he can't use any moves, or why he is so knowledgeable about coffee and likes drinking it. It's heavily implied he's connected to Tim's father in some way, but how or why is never explained until the sequel, where he is also Harry — his mental form, that is.
- Uplifted Animal: He always moves on two legs, even when he's running. Detective Pikachu also can't use any moves, or discharge electricity very well.
- Vocal Dissonance: A Pikachu with a deep, manly voice. Even his Pokémon Speak is still in this voice. At the end of the second game, after Harry's consciousness is put back into his body, Ikue Otani voices Pikachu once again.
Tim Goodman
An 18-year-old boy who arrived in Ryme City for clues regarding his father, who has not been seen for the last two months.
- Bad Liar: In Detective Pikachu Returns, Jessica notes that he's a really bad liar, since his questions made it obvious what he actually wanted.
- Disappeared Dad: The whole reason he decides to investigate his disappearance.
- Diving Save: Pulls one to save Pikachu from Glalie.
- The Everyman: Much like protagonists in other games, Tim is only kind of average. So he serves as a good foil for the extremely unusual titular character, Detective Pikachu.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: His hair becomes much less generic by the time the sequel takes place, resulting in him resembling his father a fair bit.
- Extreme Doormat: Tim has problems saying no and often just goes along with what everyone else is doing, unless it's clearly illegal.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: He claims there are no such things as ghosts, yet lives in a world where Ghost-type Pokémon are well known. When he makes the claim he isn't far from a Pumpkaboo (a grass/ghost type) and encounters a Dusknoir (a ghost type) later.
- Friend to All Living Things: Tim is eager to befriend Pokemon and is able to win their trust with his easygoing attitude, compassion, and willingness to help.
- Generation Xerox: His skills as a detective are said to be on par with his father's, though no one else knows Pikachu does a lot of work as well.
- Just a Kid: Mike Baker worries for Tim's safety and tries to dissuade him from investigating Harry's disappearance until Tim proves himself as a detective, with a little help from Pikachu of course. In Returns, everyone's more trusting to let him handle things.
- Nice Guy: Tim is reservedly cheerful and outgoing enough to help anyone he can with his sleuthing skills.
- Only Sane Man: He constantly has to reel Pikachu in whenever his imagination or love for coffee gets the better of him.
- Punny Name: He's a good young man.
- Red Is Heroic: Wears a red hoodie and is the human protagonist of the game.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Despite what Pikachu and his younger sister Sophia claim, he and Rachel are just classmates, and he states the Trope Namer numerous times. Even the Quiz Professor gets on it.
- Talking to Themself: Since other people can't understand what Pikachu is saying, other people believe he's doing this.
Baker Detective Agency
Harry Goodman
Voiced by: Kōichi Yamadera (English), Kaiji Tang (English)
Tim's father. A skillful detective who went missing looking into the Pokémon rampage incidents in Ryme City.
- Agent Peacock: He's a silly man who likes to show off his detective skills by saying a similar catchphrase to Pikachu ("a flash of brilliance!"), though his detective skills are the real deal.
- Bad Liar: Irene notes that Harry could never look her in the eye whenever he was hiding something, making it obvious when he's lying.
- Bumbling Dad: Though silly at times, he very much loves his family.
- Disappeared Dad: But of course. Tim is unable to find him at the end of the first game, but Mewtwo assures Tim his father is still alive. Turns out that Mewtwo himself took Harry's unconscious body for safekeeping until Harry-in-Pikachu could find the culprit behind the Chemical R distribution as a deal with the real Pikachu, who wished to save Harry from his fatal car crash accident no matter how risky the method.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Like Pikachu, he likes saying "a flash of brilliance!"
- He Knows Too Much: He was targeted by the Big Bad because he was getting very close to uncovering the truth behind the R chemical incidents and was taken out by another perpetrator tampering with his car.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Discussed. He likes to declare himself a great detective, even though he only does that so that he can eventually become one worthy of it.
- Significant Double Casting: His voice actors are shared with Pikachu, indicating a connection between them.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He basically looks like an older version of Tim, just with a beard. A kid in Bamboo Borough, who met both of them, even says Tim looks familiar.
- The Unreveal: His disappearance is never solved, though the sequel reveals it.
Mike Baker
Voiced by: Yosuke Akimoto (Japanese), David Lodge (English)
The detective agency chief and a good friend to Harry. His partner is Accelgor.
- Flash Step: Accelgor moves so fast that it almost seems like it's teleporting from place to place.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As head of the Baker Detective Agency, Mike's initially worried about Tim's safety in regard to getting involved in the case of his father's disappearance, but comes around when Tim proves himself as a capable detective. He has Accelgor accompany Tim and Pikachu to the warehouse for extra assistance and it proves helpful in the investigation many times.
- Sweet Tooth: Accelgor really likes donuts.
Amanda Blackstone
Voiced by: Yuuka Hirose (Japanese), Erica Mendez (English)
The detective agency assistant and secretary. Her partner is Fletching.
- Drives Like Crazy: She has a boat license, but she doesn't see the point on slow rides, which makes Pikachu and Tim feel nauseous.
- The Gadfly: Pikachu mostly sees Fletchling as an annoyance.
The Goodmans
Irene Goodman
- Voiced by: Dorah Fine (English)
Harry Goodman's wife, and Tim and Sophia's mother. She comes to Ryme City with Sophia to celebrate Tim's achievements as a well-known detective.
- Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Before Harry's disappearance, he wanted to divorce Irene out of the blue before leaving, doing it because he didn't want his family to be targeted by the Chemical R perpetrator. Irene knew very well that Harry wasn't being honest with his words, however, as she knew whenever he lied he'd avert his eyes from hers, and so she waited for him to come back.
- Good Parents: She looks out after her children, especially Tim, considering that she lost her husband during detective work.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Her special mac and cheese.
Sophia Goodman
- Voiced by: Michelle Marie (English)
Harry and Irene's daughter, and Tim's younger sister.
- Adapted Out: Played for Laughs when she complains to Tim that she and her mother didn't appear in the film inspired by the R incident.
- Early-Bird Cameo: She appears in the prequel as a baby depicted in the picture inside Harry's locket, but she isn't called by name until the sequel when she appears.
- Foreshadowing: Every cutscene with her has her giving Pikachu lasting stares. The reason why being that she understands his words.
- Secret-Keeper: Like Tim, she can also understand Pikachu since she is also Harry's blood daughter, though she only reveals the fact by the final chapter before the two leave.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Much like Tim, she looks a lot like a younger version of her same-gender parent, just with Harry's eye color.
GNN
Emilia Christie
Voiced by: Risa Shimizu (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)
A new assistant director working for GNN.
- Contrived Coincidence: The many times Tim and Pikachu bump into her makes the latter think it must be destiny...for her to be Pikachu's girl.
- Demoted to Extra: From the majority of other characters who debuted in the first game that were Put on a Bus in the sequel, she's the only one (besides Pablo and Inspector Holiday) to return in the sequel, though she's relegated to being a news anchor on TV and is never met personally.
- Nice Girl: She's always polite and helpful.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: While she's already pretty, Tim is stunned when he sees Emilia in her dress for the auction.
- Ship Tease: A few comments from others try to paint her as Tim's girlfriend. Only Tim seems to fall for her, but she isn't aware of it.
- Those Two Girls: With Meiko.
- Two First Names: Christie isn't exactly a last name. Except for one very famous writer and a former Governor of New Jersey.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Meiko's Tomboy.
Meiko Okamoto
Voiced by: Rei Shimoda (Japanese), Cherami Leigh (English)
An energetic TV director and senior to Emilia.
- Action Girl: Goes with her Intrepid Reporter status.
- Boyish Short Hair: She's more tomboyish than Emilia and has short hair to match.
- Going for the Big Scoop: This woman doesn't let a rampaging Charizard convince her to run away.
- Intrepid Reporter: Highly passionate about filming anything remotely dangerous.
- Skewed Priorities: Again, she didn't flinch or scream when she taped the rampaging Charizard. She was thrilled to stay there and film the start of the chaos, unlike how Emilia wanted to flee.
- Those Two Girls: With Emilia.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Emilia's Girly Girl.
Roger Clifford
Voiced by: Hiroki Tochi (Japanese), Xander Mobus (English)
Meiko's boss and TV producer at GNN. A proud man happy to have reliable workers.
- Big Bad: He's the true mastermind behind the distribution of R.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Portrayed as a nice person among his associates. His true personality is quite cunning.
- Breath Weapon: His Noivern fires a purple-blueish beam from it's mouth to defend against (changing from a sonic wave attack to use the breath attack) Pikachu's Thunderbolt at the end of the game.
- Heel–Face Turn: Implied. One of the Pika Prompts in Returns reveals that he's been doing volunteer work after the events of the first game. Detective Pikachu theorizes that he feels remorse for what he did.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: What linked him to being the Big Bad was casually telling Tim to be careful since Pikachu can't use any moves - a fact he was never told about before - during the carnival in Chapter 9.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: At the end of the game he has his Noivern release sonic waves to destroy a tank that contains R, which also harms Tim, when he moves in front of the tank.
- The Man Behind the Man: He is the real Big Bad of the story and behind the R incidents, ordering Keith to be the face in exchange for money compensation.
- Put on a Bus: In Returns, a Pika Prompt reveals that he's busy doing volunteer work.
- Walking Spoiler: His identity as the main villain.
Ethan Graham
Voiced by: Michio Hazama (Japanese), Paul Stewart (English)
The president of GNN and boss of everyone working there. Highly passionate about reporting news.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Invoked. The fact his nice attitude drops the moment accidents happen on the set make him change gears quickly. This was even more invoked in Chapter 9, but he really wasn't corrupt.
- Red Herring: Once evidence about the carnival's shootings were produced after Keith fled GNN, Graham is suspected to be the Man Behind the Man behind the R incidents (and even Meiko would have believed it was him), but he is ultimately innocent.
- Skewed Priorities: He's basically a male version of Meiko when it comes to focusing his attention of possible big scoops.
Keith Norman
Voiced by: Tooru Sakurai (Japanese), Chris Hackney (English)
A scatterbrained assistant director working for GNN. His partner is Skorupi.
- Big Bad: He is the leading cause of Chemical R incidents in Ryme City and the one who attacked Harry at Fine Park. Except he is not the real culprit and is working for someone else.
- The Cameo: He appears in Returns in a flashback segment, attacking Harry and Pikachu with an R-drugged Lairon at Bamboo Forest.
- He Knows Too Much: In a flashback from the sequel game, Keith's use of R was found out by Harry. Keith drove a Lairon berserk with R in an attempt to kill Harry along with Pikachu.
- The Klutz: He often messes up on the set. This is all but a big ruse.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: As part of the ruse as his assistant director persona.
- Only in It for the Money: His entire motivation on spreading Chemical R.
- Smug Smiler: Once his villainy is exposed, he is prone to doing this showing how extremely arrogant he is.
- Walking Spoiler: The fact he is the main bad guy AND the fact someone else is controlling his moves.
Hiro Morgan
Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese), Greg Chun (English)
The director of GNN. His partner is Hoothoot.
- Melting-Pot Nomenclature: It's ambiguous where Ryme City is, and his first name is Japanese, but his surname is more American-sounding.
Max Warhol
Voiced by: Tetsuo Sakaguchi (Japanese), Brad Venable (English)
A comedian and co-host to Olga in Maximum Music. His partner is Chatot.
- Butt-Monkey: His Chatot apparently doesn't have a high opinion of him and often makes fun of him for real. Even when Max is found out as the culprit, Chatot can only say "Admit it! Admit it!"
- Hidden Depths: Chapter 8 reveals he was planning on selling the violin in the black market auction aboard the S.S. Prime Treasure.
- Polly Wants a Microphone: Max's Chatot is an extremely adept mimic who can imitate other characters on command from cues. This becomes important in proving he is the only without an alibi to stealing Carina's violin behind the set.
- Tragic Villain: Stealing Carina's violin to sell for 2 million dollars as a backup plan for his apparent termination in GNN was all for nothing when he was told the executives never, ever wanted to fire him despite his low ratings.
Olga Ellison
Voiced by: Michiko Neya (Japanese)
The other co-host of Maximum Music and a general horror to anyone who ever gets to talk to her outside the shows. Her partner is Purugly.
- Doting Parent: Towards her prune Purugly.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: On her show, she is pleasant. Outside the show, everyone wants to avoid her wrath like the plague.
- Red Herring: She constantly harassed Carina about wanting her violin and knew that her violin was a prized artifact that could be sold for 2 million dollars, but she is completely innocent in the case to find it.
Carina Mitchell
Voiced by: Reina Ueda (Japanese), Brianna Knickerbocker (English)
A rising violinist star who performs using a very valuable violin with her partner Kricketune at GNN.
- Like a Daughter to Me: How her Kricketune sees her.
- MacGuffin: The violin she has was made by her late grandfather, who was actually a very skilled craftsman in prized instruments, making her violin a one-of-a-kind rarity that can go up to 2 million dollars in value though she isn't interested in selling it as it is a memento from her grandfather. But then it gets destroyed in a set accident by someone. Then it's revealed the violin that got wrecked was a fake and swapped to make everyone believe it was gone for good.
- Shrinking Violet: She has to deal with being on TV... and Olga.
PCL
Dorothy Fisher
Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)
The current head of PCL, succeeding the previous head.
- Disappointed in You: She gives one of these to Carlos when he gets arrested.
- Neat Freak: Her Minccino is usually cleaning around the facility. It even gives Pikachu and Tim some trash.
- Team Mom: Said to be like a motherly figure to her employees, though she gives a more professional air around her.
Frederick "Fridge" Hartfield
Voiced by: Tomohiro Waki (Japanese), Edward Bosco (English)
A staff member of PCL, who works with his partner Garbodor in recycling garbage to use for his purification research. Shares the lab with Nina.
- Big Fun: The largest and most excitable member of PCL.
- No OSHA Compliance: If his machine isn't working the moment he uses Garbodor, the lab ends up with a stinky smell Nina has to endure.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His first name is given in a subtitle when he first shows up, but he's only ever called "Fridge" in dialogue.
- Walking Wasteland: Fridge's partner is a Garbodor. It likes working at the facility since it gets fed trash all day.
Nina O'Hara
Voiced by: Miyuki Kobori (Japanese), Cristina Valenzuela (English)
A staff member of PCL, who works creating medicines and concoctions for Pokémon using the help of her partner Shuckle. Shares the lab with Fridge.
- Cuteness Proximity: She states her medicines have to look cute besides having a pleasant aroma, which is the reason why she won't accept unpleasant-looking colors.
- Shrinking Violet: Shuckle is a timid Pokémon that hides in its shell when something unexpected happens.
Carlos Hernando
Voiced by: Tsuguo Mogami (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)
A staff member of PCL, who works with engines together with his unreliable partner Rotom.
- The Mole: He produced the R chemical in a secret basement lab and was paid for it from his unknown benefactor.
- Starter Villain: The first of the R distributors to be arrested.
Wallace Carroll
Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)
An aggravated staff member of PCL wary of newcomers and other members in general, who works with his partners Solosis and Duosion.
- Red Herring: Due to the nature of what he studies and his general personality, you're led to believe that he's the one who produced Chemical R, but he isn't.
- Surrounded by Idiots: He used to be more open to his colleagues and other people until he had bad experiences with newbies working at the lab, so much so that he causes issues with the others by changing the password lock to the yard.
Rita Partridge
The receptionist working at PCL who also acts as a security guard of sorts. Her partner is Floette.
- Cuteness Proximity: She is initially indifferent toward Pikachu apart from a quick downward glance when he and Tim first arrive at PCL. When both of them return later, Rita apparently loses the will to resist and plays with a surprised Pikachu.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She doesn't have an outstanding role to play unlike her colleagues, but she provides the duo a recording that shows the culprit behind Trevenant going nuts.
Cappucci Island
Louise Milligan
Voiced by: Masako Katsuki (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)
A wealthy resort developer wishing to build a resort in Cappucci Island. Her partner is Spritzee.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: She endangered the habitat of local Pokémon by releasing a rabid Crawdaunt in the lake and went a long way to frame Waals for it just because his house was in the way and he wouldn't agree to be relocated.
Milo Green
Voiced by: Megumi Han (Japanese), Danielle McRae (English)
An aspiring Pokémon Ranger who is dedicated to helping Pokémon in need. Dr. Waals' protege. He has no partner, but he is good friends with a Feebas at the lake.
- Androcles' Lion: Feebas. When first encountered, Feebas is weakly floating in water on the Hidden Path, and after Milo gives it a potion to heal it, they accompany them. In the confrontation with Crawdaunt, it jumps out of the water to save Milo from a savage blow, and then evolves into a Milotic powerful enough to drive Crawdaunt away.
- Friend to All Living Things: Comes with his aspiration. Always eager to help Pokémon in need.
- Nice Guy: Is nothing but nice and helpful towards Tim and Pikachu.
John Waals
Voiced by: Osamu Saka (Japanese), Paul Stewart (English)
The former head of PCL who retired from experiments following the incident at the facility and now resides in Cappucci Island.
- It's All My Fault: Regarding the incident at PCL while he worked there and the creation of Chemical R.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His research into using Mew's gene to create a vaccine to help Pokémon ended up being the birth of Chemical R using the wrong gene - Mewtwo's Berserk Gene - that resulted in the first PCL building's destruction by its rampaging Pokémon and pretty much the whole reason the story is even happening as the basis for the vaccine was stolen.
S.S. Prime Treasure
Gino Farina
Voiced by: Anri Katsu (Japanese), Brad Venable (English)
A world-renowned chef in the S.S. Prime Treasure for an interview with GNN. He has no partner, but later it turns out he actually does and it's Kecleon.
- Supreme Chef: A world renowned chef who is in the process of replicating lost recipes from the Henry Brothers. He gave up on trying to do it that he decided to steal a valuable mask to avoid heavy spending losses trying to buy their genuine - yet stolen - recipe book from the black market aboard the ship.
Rose Wilton
Voiced by: Hiroko Suzuki (Japanese), Karen Strassman
An elderly woman and passenger in the S.S. Prime Treasure who is the victim of switched luggage. Her partner is Snubbull.
- Shrinking Violet: Her Snubbull is very easily frightened.
- Spanner in the Works: Her luggage getting switched with Gino's by accident causes Tim to get involved investigating and uncovers the secret auctions held on the S.S. Prime Treasure.
Walter Eckhart
Voiced by: Takahiro Fujiwara (Japanese), Grant George
Captain of the S.S. Prime Treasure, although he doesn't exactly own the ship and doesn't know what happens in it since the passengers are the actual owners. His partner is Nosepass.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Even if he is only in charge of the ship's navigation and emergency protocols, he takes it upon himself to allow Tim to investigate the recently uncovered criminal activity aboard the ship.
Denis Residence
Sanjeev Denis
Voiced by: Maaz Ali (English)
A jeweler who wishes to donate his prized jewel, the Aurora Drop, as his contribution for Pokémon Friendship week. His partner is Growlithe.
- Benevolent Boss: He's completely devoted to the workers in his house, and specifically refuses to believe that Barnes could be guilty of the theft because of how the latter had been a loyal friend and servant to him for years, even in the face of his own wife's complaining.
- Nice Guy: He's immediately cooperative with Tim and doesn't have a bad word to say about anyone.
Claudia Denis
Voiced by: Rebeka Thomas (English)
Sanjeev's wife who disagrees with donating the Aurora Drop. Her partner is Clefable.
- Jerkass Realization: Claudia spends the whole chapter whining about how they should just keep the Aurora Drop for themselves instead of donating it and near constantly stating that Barnes, who she held a personal grudge against, just be arrested for the crime already. But upon learning that Turner's whole motive for stealing the jewel was to try and keep it for themself due to its monetary value, along with the fact that they had specifically intended to frame Barnes for the whole incident, she realizes just how badly she's been letting herself behave over the whole ordeal and encourages her husband to donate the jewel after all.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She appears to be very snobbish and snappy, but she's nice to her Clefable and does care about her husband to the point of eventually agreeing to donate the Aurora Drop, since she sees how important it is to him.
- Morality Pet: According to Clefable, she's only ever nice to her.
- Red Herring: When you witness her behavior, it may indicate that she was an accomplice to Turner's crime. In fact, she had no clue about it and quickly has a Jerkass Realization over how she acted over the investigation.
Brandon Barnes
Voiced by: Michael Sorich (English)
Sanjeev's butler and childhood friend. His partner is Ducklett.
- The Butler Did It: He's suspected by the police to be the one who stole the Aurora Drop, considering that only he and Sanjeev have access to the key to the storage room. Turner framed him on purpose to cover his tracks.
- Childhood Friends: With Sanjeev, despite the fact he's his butler.
- Cuteness Proximity: He is really fond of his Ducklett.
Larry Turner
Voiced by: Y. Chang (English)
The newest employee of the Denis household. His partner is Cramorant.
- Cuteness Proximity: He really adores his Cramorant. In the epilogue, he's happy to see Cramorant visiting him in prison.
- Saying Too Much: Once his Cramorant shows up to the mansion, he slips that he told it to stay outside.
- Spotting the Thread: Turner claims that he was knocked out by a red Pokémon who punched him shortly before the jewel was missing. Except, as Tim later points out, since the 'red Pokemon' was a Pawniard, its bladed hands would have left a different, more permanent injury on him.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: He's taken over from Barnes in preparing the meals for the Pokemon living in the manor, so at one point it's discussed that he may have done something to the food. It turns out he did; he slipped in Sleep Powder into the food to allow him to steal Growlithe's key.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Since he ordered his Cramorant to stay put outside, it was tagged with a Control Cube that allowed Unitas to steal the Aurora Drop.
Ryme University
Rachel Myers
Voiced by: Laura Stahl (English)
A classmate of Tim and the daughter of the Mayor who is passionate about Pokémon.
- Berserk Button: She's got quite a few.
- Anytime she sees people being abusive towards Pokémon, Rachel gets mad.
- She's even more angry when she discovers the Control Cubes and how the cubes take away free will from Pokémon.
- The fact that her mother's research was stolen and misused by an organization her father founded.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Even before the end of the game, she wasn't afraid of telling her father that the wording in the new bill was morally wrong.
- Fiery Redhead: Or "fiery pink-haired girl," but she's not afraid to speak her mind at all.
- Missing Mum: Her mother perished in an incident involving R.
- Remember the New Guy?: She's a classmate of Tim's, though as lampshaded by Pikachu, he has never mentioned her before, though it's justified as Tim had just applied to university in the first game.
- Replacement Goldfish: She's essentially Emilia Christie's replacement in the sequel; from the fact she appears as often in chapters, to the Ship Tease Tim gets from other characters wondering if she's his girlfriend.
- Secret-Keeper: When Pikachu is detained, Tim tells her about him. She's more than okay with the reveal, and helps to distract a guard so he won't witness Tim and Pikachu's chat.
Jessica Miller
Voiced by: Anairis Quiñones (English)
A friend of Rachel who works at a pizzeria in Bamboo Forest.
- Friend to All Living Things: Pretty much all of Bamboo Forest's wild Pokémon are friends with her due to her Nice Girl traits, and they always are up to helping her by giving her pizza ingredients.
- Tragic Keepsake: She carries around a thumb drive that contains Emma's unfinished research. Though the data in it is better off being destroyed, Jessica decided to keep it safe because it's very sentimental to her as she looked up to Emma.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The fact that she saved Emma's thumb drive means that Merloch is able to get the last bit of data he needs to complete his Fusion Dance with Deoxys. Jessica clearly feels guilty about this when some Unitas grunts show up in Bamboo Borough to track her down.
Professor Trevor Gordon
Voiced by: Imari Williams (English)
One of Rachel's professors who specializes in mineral archaeology. His partner is Slowpoke.
- Adventure Archaeologist: He's so dedicated to his work that it's not uncommon to see him away for months on impulses alone. He's even able to survive trapped inside ruins for two days and is quick to resume investigating when he's rescued.
- Mundane Utility: Instead of a canteen, he relies on his Slowpoke for water. Pikachu seems disgusted by the idea.
- Signature Headgear: He and his Slowpoke wear hats, though Trevor is never seen wearing his after it's found. In fairness, he's got bigger things to deal with by that point.
Chris Honor
Professor Gordon's aide, who assists him in his expeditions. His partner is Munchlax.
- Big Eater: His Munchlax is around to "clean" all plates completely.
- Call-Back: The fact that he is into cooking curry is an obvious nod to Pokémon Sword and Shield.
- Supreme Chef: The main role he has. He prefers to make many different curry dishes.
Quiz Professor
A recurring student who quizzes Tim on numerous Pokemon. Her partner is Toucannon.
- Pop Quiz: She quizzes you to find a Pokemon on the level that match her descriptions.
- Recurring Extra: She shows up in every chapter except the final one. Both Tim and Pikachu wonder if she's following them.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Inverted. It's implied that she writes the daily crossword puzzle for the newspaper, and uses her hints verbatim for them. Tim and Detective Pikachu quickly catch on to this.
Pokemon Protection Bureau
Will Butler
Voiced by: SungWon Cho (English)
The Chief of the newly established Pokemon Protection Bureau.
- Dirty Cop: He's been paid by Unitas to have numerous innocent Pokémon detained and transferred to their research facility.
- Heroic Build: Though he's a bit on the old side, he's huge and muscular in appearance. He doesn't do justice to the "heroic" part, though.
- Revealing Cover Up: Every attempt Butler makes to cover his tracks backfires spectacularly, especially since he has never once presented his "photographic evidence" of Pikachu's guilt to the press. Very tellingly, the staged photos all have obviously glowing control cubes present on a transformed Ditto. His reactions to the evidence stolen from his office nail him as a perpetrator, not as a victim of a frame-up.
Unitas
Charles Merloch
Voiced by: Yong Yea (English)
A scientist who has an interest in Pikachu. He's a bit too enthusiastic about his work.
- Big Bad: He orchestrated the events of the game to grant him the resources needed to fuse with Deoxys.
- Decomposite Character: Alongside Mayor Howard Myers, he's one to Howard Clifford, in that he's the Big Bad who fuses with a powerful Psychic-type Pokemon at the climax of the story.
- Fusion Dance: What he perceives as how human coexistence with Pokemon should be, and has built a machine that puts his mind in a Deoxys in the climax.
- A God Am I: Once Charles Merloch plants his mind in the body of Deoxys, the power very quickly goes to his head. While he only ever refers to himself as a Pokémon as opposed to a god, the mentality is still the same.
- Godhood Seeker: Well, "Pokémon-hood Seeker" would be more accurate in this case, but his true goal is to place his mind in the body of the Mythical Pokémon Deoxys.
- Laughing Mad: His last voice recording has him breaking down laughing at his discovery about Harry's body and Pikachu's situation.
- Put on a Prison Bus: The credits revealed that he survived the explosion at Unity Lab, although he is now behind bars. Observant players will note that the pod which saved Harry and Pikachu also has Merloch stuck unconscious inside it with the Aurora Drop after Harry exits the thing.
- Take Over the World: This is heavily implied to be his end goal, considering that after planting his mind in Deoxys' body, he attempts to leave the lab behind in order to "enjoy the outside world." Fortunately, Mewtwo shows up in time to fight Merloch and give Tim and Pikachu time to undo his scheme.
Pokémon Allies
Growlithe
A Pokémon that lives with a Sanjeev Denis in the residence, and acts as the guard dog for the Aurora Drop.
- Heroic BSoD: She's pretty downcast over the theft, as it meant she wasn't doing her job properly.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the final chapter, she's the first of the group to stay behind to buy more time for the others.
- The Nose Knows: Like all canine-like Pokémon, Growlithe has a great sense of smell.
- The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female ally of all the other Pokémon allies. More so exemplified when Pikachu gathers the whole team to infiltrate underneath the Pokémon Unity Lab.
Darmanitan
A Pokémon originally from Galar who was kidnapped by Unitas, before escaping.
- Birds of a Feather: Due to being physically strong, he and Pangoro share this in common. Both of them comment on it when they team up to help Pikachu out at the Pokémon Unity Lab.
- Dumb Muscle: He isn't as bright as he looks and mostly resorts to using his strength.
- Heroic Second Wind: Seeing his friend Eiscue get her ice face shattered by an attack from a Unitas grunt is enough to trigger his Zen Mode.
Luxray
A Pokémon from the streets of Ryme City that Pikachu meets at the Pokémon Protection Bureau.
- The Ace: Every Pokémon detained at the Pokémon Protection Bureau holds him in high respect...not because of his strength, but because he just looks too intimidating in general. Even Pikachu deems him too cool.
- The Comically Serious: As the resident sane man among the rest of the allies, even to Pikachu. More so when they're all together in the final chapter.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: Other Pokémon respect him because he just looks intimidating, meaning he may have Intimidate as his ability.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: He was friends with a Mightyena before they started attacking each other, which resulted in Luxray getting detained for it. Though Luxray was framed because of Will using a Ditto to impersonate Mightyena and force a scuffle. Later on, Mightyena fell for the same trick when Ditto impersonated Luxray in turn. Luxray and Mightyena manage to make amends near the end of the story.
- Shock and Awe: A powerful Electric-type, which he demonstrates when he hits Pikachu with an attack to show him his place in the prisoners' hierarchy - something which quickly clues him in to Pikachu being unusual, since he was instantly knocked out by a move he should have resisted.
- The Stoic: Described as such. He's the most level-headed among the rest of the Pokémon allies.
- X-Ray Vision: As is standard for a Luxray, which is made available to Pikachu when the two of them partner up.
Pangoro
A Pokémon from Bamboo Borough that Pikachu meets in the cells of the Pokémon Protection Bureau.
- Birds of a Feather: Due to being physically strong, he and Darmanitan share this in common. Both of them comment on it when they team up to help Pikachu out at the Pokémon Unity Lab.
- Chekhov's Gunman: After being released from the PPB, he reappears in the next chapter, where it turns out he evolved from a Pancham that Pikachu was protecting when he first met Harry.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Compared to Darmanitan prior, he has more strength, but he can't properly regulate it so he's better off pushing things with one hand. He also points that out to Darmanitan when they rejoin for the final chapter.
- I Got Bigger: Naturally, since he used to be a little Pancham until he evolved. A Shiftry who knew him before points it out.
- Unskilled, but Strong: He has overwhelming physical strength, but he keeps himself from going overboard by resorting to just pushing rocks with one hand.
Other
Pablo Milan
Voiced by: Kunpei Sakamoto (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English)
The barista at the Hi-Hat Cafe. His partner is Ludicolo.
- Supreme Chef: Or supreme drink-maker, as Pablo's coffee is noted to be the best in town.
- Genki Girl: Pablo's Ludicolo is female and like all Ludicolo, she loves to dance. Unfortunately, she has a habit of dancing when serving, causing drinks to spill.
Frank Holiday
Voiced by: Katsuhisa Hoki (Japanese), Jamieson Pricenote (English)
Chief inspector of Ryme City who investigates the Pokémon incidents and Harry's disappearance.
- He Knows Too Much: In the sequel, his scrutiny of how the Pokémon Protection Bureau operates nearly gets him attacked by Unitas.
- Police Are Useless: Zigzagged. He's plenty useful when he starts showing up in person, but he admits that Tim wouldn't have had to do so much work if his men had gotten more done sooner. To be fair to the police, they can't interpret Pokémon cries, so they have a lot fewer resources to use for their work.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He does his best to be friendly and helpful to Tim.
Brad McMasters
Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (Japanese), Bill Rogers (English)
Frank Holiday's apparent reliable police force partner who is quick to jump to conclusions and can't stand people trying to prove his facts wrong. His partner is Manectric.
- Fair Cop: In Detective Pikachu Returns, two female citizens of Ryme City gush about how attractive he is.
- Inspector Lestrade: Brad essentially functions this way, making his conclusions based on what evidence is available. Unfortunately, he takes a lot of this evidence at face value, which either stymies his own investigation or nearly results in an innocent person being arrested. He gets better at it in the sequel when he finds the proof of the detained Pokémon causing havoc a bit too strange to swallow, conducting his own investigation.
- The Nose Knows: His Manectric has a very keen sense of smell that he is able to detect any faint smells very well. He can even detect the gaseous state of Chemical R in balloons and avoid being affected by it.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Brad's conduction of a personal investigation into Pikachu after the latter was detained tips Tim off to the fact that Brad has his doubts about the official story.
- Plot Allergy: His Manectric is allergic to Louise's Spritzee's smell whenever he smells it. It ends up becoming the final decisive evidence connecting Louise to the Crawdaunt at the lake.
- The Rival: Towards Tim and Pikachu.
- Saying Too Much: Because he is full of himself, he tells some people information they shouldn't know. Even when information is supposed to be guarded. He tells Roger Clifford, who turns out to be the mastermind, about how the police are looking into R at the carnival. This violates police protocol as the cops already knew that Keith, who was a GNN employee, was a distributor of the drug.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Brad is very much defiant in his thinking that he will not accept anyone else trying to refute his claims and will stick to them if the proof isn't decisive enough.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
- He has no choice but to assist Tim and Pikachu during Chapter 9 to rout out the spots that contain Chemical R in the carnival route.
- In the sequel, even though he's full of glee at being able to arrest Pikachu, he's had his own private reservations about the increase in Pokémon incidents caught on CCTV, conducts his own private investigation, and reluctantly takes the role of the Reasonable Authority Figure when Tim presents him with sufficient evidence of Pikachu's innocence. As he and several cops hold no good feelings towards Will Butler, it's all the more cathartic when Brad gets to cuff the guy and lead him away for interrogation.
Alexander Wilde
Voiced by: Koji Okino (Japanese), Joshua Tomar (English)
A man working at a warehouse in Ryme Wharf.
- Badass Normal: Was prepared to fight Accelgor with nothing but his bare hands.
- The Brute: Alexander is a burly man who happens to be employed by whoever is in charge of the whole operation.
- Distracted by the Sexy: The Machamp who work at the wharf can't forget him...all because he has a stunning physique.
- Violence is the Only Option: It's said that this is best solution for any problems.
Simon Yen
Voiced by: Toshiki Masuda (Japanese), Grant George (English)
Dr. Waals' former lab assistant. His partner is Pansage.
- Distressed Dude: Being the other person who knew how to make Chemical R, he was abducted and forced to make it for months while trapped at a warehouse in Ryme Wharf.
Howard Myers
Voiced by: Alain Mesa (English)
The Mayor of Ryme City.
- Anger Born of Worry: Behind closed doors, he vehemently cares deeply about his daughter's wellbeing because he doesn't want another R incident that could kill her as the last one took his wife.
- Decomposite Character: Alongside Charles Murloch, he's one to Howard Clifford, sharing his first name as well as seeking to foster greater harmony between humans and Pokémon, starting numerous programs such as the Pokemon Protection Bureau and Unitas for that purpose.
- Horrible Judge of Character: He went at least two years without realizing that allying with a scientist that was very clearly unhinged would lead to trouble. Even worse, he had no idea that Unitas would start acting like Team Rocket.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Once Rachel makes it clear her mother would have never wanted what Merloch was planning, he finally realizes what would have occurred had Tim not raided the lab in time.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He founded the Unitas project out of a desire never to see a repeat of the R incident, since his wife was a casualty. This blinded him to the fact that Merloch was using the project - and his wife's research - for his own ends behind his back.
Mewtwo
Voiced by: Tōru Furuya (Japanese), Christopher Corey Smith (English)
- Big Damn Heroes: When Charles Merloch, freshly fused with Deoxys, attempts to leave his lab to "enjoy the outside world", Mewtwo sends him packing back down and gives him one hell of a fight.
- Expy: Of the Mewtwo from Pokémon: The First Movie. It has a mellow, masculine telepathic voice, serves a major antagonistic role due to its mistreatment at humans' hands, and uses Shadow Ball as its Signature Move.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: It's basically any Mewtwo's thoughts on them at this point. It does acknowledge people like Tim are still worthy of...not being massacred by its hands.
- Olympus Mons: One of the few Legendary Pokémon to appear in the game, it is a major focus of the game's story in the retail/international release.
- Red Herring: It is hinted to be the one responsible for brainwashing the Pokémon rampaging through Ryme City. Ultimately, he turns out to be an Unwitting Instigator of Doom, as its body was used to create the chemical R, but its Berserk Gene was what caused Pokémon to go crazy. While Mewtwo remains vicious and dangerous, it is in fact a victim of the true Big Bad.
- Secret-Keeper: It knows fully well about Pikachu's amnesia since it caused it in the first place as a desperate plea from the real Pikachu to save Harry from succumbing to his wounds after the deadly car crash occurred. It also took Harry's unconscious body into its cave so it could recuperate enough to return Harry's mind back to it, but Mewtwo was held back by Unitas hunting Harry's body down to use Mewtwo's stored energy for a scheme.
