Pokémon’s new 30th anniversary merch has just been unveiled — and it has fans foaming at the mouth.
Pokémon Day 2026 kicks off on Friday (February 27), and to mark the occasion the Pokémon Company has given fans a look at a host of new merch at an event in Japan.
On Wednesday (February 25), Japanese publication Game Watch shared photos of the memorabilia, including charms, keychains, camping equipment, t-shirts, plushies, and more, some of which is based on the earliest iterations of Pokémon.
One standout piece is a black and white Pikachu plush replicated from the original Game Boy. The stuffed character is even more nostalgic because it’s pixelated, and, according to the website Kotaku.com, it "carries all the distinct features the mouse had in the original games, long before it was morphed into the universal design we see today."
Fans flooded social media to gush over the merch. One X user shared a pic of the black and white plushy, writing: "Oh my god. This Pokémon Center merch for the 30th anniversary is insane. LOOK AT THIS."
Another wrote (in Japanese): "The cassette keychain designs are so insanely god-tier I'm literally dying… The plushies are absolute must-cop, I’m dying to turn my daily life into Pokémon mode with the pouch. Dropping this kind of luxurious lineup for the 30th anniversary… the official team is actually going all out huh… Which one is everyone’s oshi merch? Waiting for your reports〜"
One fan, however, wasn't as impressed, noting that the merch was a little too "adult orientated."
"The 30th anniversary merch is definitely luxurious, but... honestly, isn't it a bit 'too adult-oriented'?" they wrote in Japanese. "Back when I was a kid, I just loved Pokémon for its own sake, but now I find myself viewing everything through the lens of 'investment' or 'fandom support,' and that side of me feels a little sad... Poké Center, are you really trying to turn us otaku into full-fledged adults with this?"
Currently, it appears that none of the items in Game Watch's images are available to purchase in the US. However, this could change on Pokémon Day, when the company celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Pokémon recently made headlines when Logan Paul sold his Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card at auction.
"This sorta feels like that moment when you beat the Elite Four, get inducted into the Hall of Fame, and the game restarts," Paul wrote, when saying farewell to his collectible. "As this Grail changes hands, I’m excited to go on my next Pokémon journey."
Paul’s Pikachu illustrator card is one of few made in the late 1990s that wasn’t commercially distributed, but instead created and given to winners of the Pokémon Card Game Illustrator Contest. It’s estimated that only 40 exist.
Paul originally bought the card for $5 million in 2021. Bidding opened in January and concluded on February 15, with it ultimately selling for $16.492 million.