In 2016 when news broke that Pokemon’s first-ever live-action movie would be the story of Detective Pikachu , it threw the Pokemon fandom for a loop. After all, kid trainer Ash Ketchum has been the face of the long-running Pokemon animated series for over two decades now, not to mention he’s already the star of numerous animated features. Detective Pikachu, on the other hand, was from a franchise spin-off game that tasked players with solving mysteries with a talking Pikachu (sans Ash) rather than quest to defeat gym leaders in battle. So why go with this new property instead of the old standby? At this weekend’s 2018 Pokemon World Championships in Nashville, TN, IGN was on the case.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu Cast at the 2018 Pokémon World Championship 12 IMAGES

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During the opening ceremony for the event, director Rob Letterman took the stage with the film’s two human leads, Justice Smith (playing Tim Goodman, who teams up with the titular Pokemon to find his missing father) and Kathryn Newton (the truth-seeking Lucy Stevens, who has a Psyduck as her partner Pokemon). They revealed a noir-inspired neon logo on big screens above the stage, finally putting an official title on the project, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. They also prompted the crowd to chant as though they were rooting on Pikachu and Charizard, respectively, so the audio could be recorded and used during a battle scene between the two fan-favorites in the movie. The crowd cheered for the logo and enthusiastically participated in the chants, earning Team Detective Pikachu a positive first impression from a room filled with some of Pokemon’s most dedicated fans.After exiting the stage, IGN had a chat with the trio, where Letterman let us in on the thinking behind the film.“The Pokemon Company, they’ve already made many, many movies of Ash, and they came to Legendary with this idea of using a new character. So when I came onboard, I was pitched this character of Detective Pikachu, and I fell in love with the story behind it,” Letterman said. “It’s a really great story. It was something with a lot of heart, and it was just very unique. And because there’s already been so much work done with Ash, for the first live-action movie I thought it was a really good idea to try something new with a new character, but bake it into the universe of Pokemon. So it still follows all the rules, and we get to see a lot of our favorite things.”The digital creation of Detective Pikachu is being voiced by none other than Ryan Reynolds, who this summer took his second spin as the foul-mouthed Merc With a Mouth in Deadpool 2. The two leads lit up at the mention of Reynolds. “He’s hilarious, and he just brought so much to the character,” Smith enthused, with Newton adding, “He brought Pikachu to life.”Before Reynolds was cast in the role, rumors swirled that many iconic faces (with iconic voices) were being considered for the role, from The Rock to Danny DeVito. Reynolds had a unique quality that made him perfect for the role, according to Letterman.“There was something delightful about that big personality and voice that he has in this small package. There’s something really fun about that idea. It sounds like a mismatch, but it’s really organic. It’s really hilarious, they’re hilarious together," Letterman said.With a whopping 802 Pokemon to choose from, Letterman and the film’s production team had their work cut out for them deciding which to use in the film.“There was a long process, before [Smith and Newton] were even involved, of working closely with The Pokemon Company, with Game Freak, with [The Pokemon Company president] Ishihara-san, [Pokemon illustrator] Sugimori-san, and the whole team. Of going through every single Pokemon, different evolutions, and really narrowing down not only the favorites - which, we tried to do as many of those as possible. But also, what worked in the story, and from the visual effects teams’ point of view, what would actually work really well for a live-action movie. Because you do have to remember, the movie is live-action, it’s not animated. We’re using some of the best visual effects companies in the world to bring the characters to life. So it was a combination of all those things,” Letterman explained.Letterman shared that he has an affection for the Generation I Pokemon, but audiences can expect to see a "good spread" of Pokemon from old and new generations.Letterman’s goal is to present Pokemon that look as authentic as possible.“They’re incredibly real, you should think of it as the way [Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy character] Rocket Raccoon sits in the movie as if he’s really there. It’s that technology. The same group of people that worked on that, or worked on Jungle Book. We’ve got the people on it that worked on Fantastic Beasts. They’re technically, some of the most high-end visual effects in the world,” Letterman said. “It’s completely photorealistic, like they are alive and in the movie.”“I will say that it’s exactly how I wanted to see the Pokemon portrayed when I was a little kid,” Smith said.

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Joshua is Senior Editor of IGN Comics. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN