Pokemon 30th Anniversary Celebration: Games, TCG Cards, Merchandise and More

It’s February again, and this is the month where we get the biggest Pokemon events and surprises of the year. Pokemon Day is celebrated on February 27, and this year the franchise will be celebrating its 30th Anniversary. To commemorate this occasion, games like Pokemon GO, Pokemon TCG Pocket, and others are getting juicy events and bonus rewards for players. On top of that, we have the official new merchandise and new TCG releases to look out for. That said, let’s dive into all the details of Pokemon’s 30th Anniversary Celebration.

Author Note: Updated with new information on February 28, 2026.

All Pokemon’s 30th Anniversary Celebration Events

Pokemon’s 30th Anniversary Celebration features a wide range of events, bonuses, and merchandise for players and fans of the franchise. Here’s everything compiled in a list with start and end dates:

Events	Start Date	End Date
GameBoy Themed Device for Pokemon Music	February 27, 2026	Unknown
Pokemon World Championships and XP fan event	April 2026	August 2026
Social Media Promotionals and Teasers	January 1, 2026	Unknown
Pokemon GO 10th Anniversary (“What’s your Favorite” and All Out event)	February 8, 2026	March 31, 2026 (Special Research will be available forever once claimed)
Pokemon TCG Pocket New Expansion and Event	January 26, 2026	Unknown
Red Returns in Pokemon Master EX	February 27, 2026	Unknown
Pokemon Cafe Remix	February 28, 2026	Unknown
Pokemon Sleep	February 27, 2026	Unknown
Pokemon Unite New Unite Liscences	February 27, 2026	Unknown
Mega Garchomp Z in Pokemon Legends ZA	February 27, 2026	Unknown
Pokemon Champions Release Date Announcement	February 27, 2026	Nil
Pokemon Pokopia New Trailer	February 27, 2026	Nil
Pokemon 30th Anniversary Logo Campaign	February 23, 2026	March 9, 2026
Pokemon Day 2026 TCG Collection	January 30, 2026	Unknown
Pokemon TCG Classic Cards	February 27, 2026	Unknown
Pokemon League eEents	February 27, 2026	Unknown
First Partner Illustration Collection Series 1	March 20, 2026	Unknown
McDonald’s and Pokémon Happy Meals Collaboration	Unknown	Unknown
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen on Switch	February 27, 2026	Unknown
Gale of the Darkness Switch 2	March 2026	Unknown
Pokemon Winds and Waves	Unknown	Unknown
30th Anniversary Merchandise	March 2026	Unknown

Now that you know about all the events for Pokemon’s 30th Anniversary, let’s look at all of them with more details.

Gameboy Themed Device for Pokemon Music

If you love Pokemon music, then a cute Game Boy-themed device is what you need. This music player was announced during the 30th anniversary celebration livestream. It resembles a small Game Boy where you can insert cartridges and listen to some funky or calming Pokemon Red and Blue-themed music.

Pokemon World Championship Overview

The Pokémon World Championships 2026 will be held in San Francisco alongside the Pokemon XP fan event. This will run from August 28 to 30, and 3000 players will compete in the Pokemon Trading Card Game, Pokemon Go, Pokemon Unite, and Pokemon Champions.

Social Media Promotionals and Teasers

The Pokemon Company first teased their Anniversary celebration on January 1, 2026, revealing the Pokemon 30th Anniversary logo. Later this year, we saw more of the trailers and announcements.

• Pokemon feat. Hatsune Miku Project VOLTAGE: Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku Project VOLTAGE music video, Departure Song, was released on January 28, 2026, in celebration of the Pokemon 30th Anniversary. The song commemorates every single mainline game by showing each Pokémon featured on each of the game covers.

• Super Bowl LX: Pokemon’s Super Bowl commercial for the 30th Anniversary aired at Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026. It was announced alongside a teaser trailer featuring Jigglypuff. The ad officially announced the “What’s Your Favorite?” feature in Pokemon GO, starring some pop stars, athletes, and actors, as they describe their favorite Pokemon.

Pokemon GO 10th Anniversary (“What’s Your Favorite”)

Alongwith Pokemon’s 30th Anniversary, Pokemon GO is also celebrating its 10th Anniversary with the new “Who’s Your Favorite” feature during the 10th Anniversary event. This feature allows you to take pictures with your favourite Pokemon using the in-game AR+ camera. You can click pictures with any Pokemon without owning them, while also decorating them with stickers and frames.

An “All Out” event will be held in Pokemon GO celebrating the franchise as a whole. This event will run from March 7-9, and feature almost every Pokemon in the game.

Pokemon TCG Pocket New Expansion

Pokemon TCG Pocket announced its next set, Paldean Wonders (B2a) expansion, and its booster pack, which was released on Thursday, February 26, 2026. The pack introduces Gen 9 starters and other Pokemon cards from the Paldea region. You can check more details about the announcement in our article.

Alongside the new expansion, you can also enjoy the Pokemon TCG Pocket Pokemon 30th Anniversary Celebration event. This will be a four-month event, from February 27, 2026, to June 27, 2026, that gives a surplus amount of rewards. Log in to the game for 30 days, complete missions and earn up to 20 free packs and 360 free Pack hourglasses.

Red Returns in Pokemon Master EX

The greatest Pokemon trainer of all time, Red, is returning in Pokemon Masters EX, but in his nostalgic form and classic look. He’ll be a part of the EX Sync Pair featuring Pikachu (1996). Additionally, another Sync Pair, Florian and Ogerpon, arrives on February 28, while Juliana and Terapagos debut on March 2nd. To make things better, you’ll get 3000 gems after logging in.

Pokemon Cafe Remix

Pokemon Café Remix is getting an anniversary celebration event featuring all starter Pokemon from each region, starting with the Kanto starters on 28th February. You can also expect 30th Anniversary decorations to arrive in the game soon.

Pokemon Sleep

Pokemon Sleep doesn’t have a lot going on other than a Mew and some in-game missions.

Pokemon Unite New Unite Licenses

To celebrate Pokemon Day, three legendary birds from Kanto will make their debut in Pokemon Unite. You can participate in events to unlock Unite licences for Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno. Meganium, Typhlosion, and Feraligar Unite licences will be released soon.

Mega Garchomp Z in Pokemon Legends ZA

From 27th February, Pokemon Legends ZA players can claim a Mystery Gift that’ll let them detect a special hyperspace distortion leading to Mega Garchomp Z. After defeating it, you’ll get a Garchompite Z stone that your own Garchomp can hold to Mega Evolve into Mega Garchomp Z.

Pokemon Champions Release Date Announcement

Pokemon Champion’s release date was a mystery, and now the dates have been announced. The game will be released in April 2026 for Nintendo Switch 1 and Switch 2, and later this year for mobile platforms. Additionally, HOME connectivity was announced with more details, which you can check from our Pokemon Champions guide.

Pokemon Pokopia New Trailer

While a lot about Pokemon Pokopia has been revealed already, a small glimpse of Pokemon Pokopia showed two new special Pokemon: DJ Rotom as a handy music player and Chef Dente Greedent for learn new food recipes. The trailer also gave us a sneak peek at four-player mode, and some Pokemon from the Pokopia Pokedex.

Pokemon 30th Anniversary Logo Campaign

 As a part of the celebrations, the Pokemon Company is now distributing a free custom 30th Anniversary logo to X users, featuring one of the many Pokemon known so far. You can get it from the official Poke Times X account from Monday, February 23, 2026, to Monday, March 9, 2026. Upon posting the image shared by the account, you’ll receive a randomly generated digital version of one of the 1025 Pokemon that exist to date.

Pokemon Day 2026 TCG Collection

A Special Pokemon Day 2026 TCG Collection box was released on January 30, 2026, to commemorate the release of the very first Pokémon video games in Japan. The box contains a 2026 Pokémon Day logo and a Cosmos Holofoil print of Pikachu from the Temporal Forces expansion with a Pokémon Day stamp. It also contains three sets for different Pokemon TCG expansions.

After the $16.49M sale of ‘Pikachu Illustrator,’ Kelvin O’Leary, Canadian businessman and TV personality, announced that he’s going to unveil the next holy grail of Pokemon cards. This will happen on February 27, 2026, during the livestream.

Pokemon TCG Classic Cards

The latest Pokemon TCG set is bringing back classic cards from expansions from the past. These cards include the base set Jungle Pikachu, German version of Charizard, Thai tag team version of Pikachu and Zekrom, Legends cards, E-Readers and more.

Pokemon League Events

The official Pokemon League locations are hosting Pokemon Day celebrations to celebrate Pokemon’s 30th anniversary around February 27, 2026. These celebrations will see the distribution of a Mirror Holofoil Bulbasaur from the Mega Evolution expansion with a Pokemon Day stamp and the Play! Pokémon logo behind the card text.

The Pokemon Company International also provided Leagues with the following prizes:

• Mega Evolution TCG Series
• Pokemon Day 2026 TCG Collection
• Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Box
• Mega Venusaur EX Premium Collection

First Partner Illustration Collection Series 1

To celebrate the joyous occasion of Pokemon’s 30th Anniversary, a First Partner Illustration Collection Series 1 will be released on March 20, 2026. It would feature a special booster pack containing three of nine illustration rare-style MEP Black Star Promos of the Kanto, Sinnoh, and Alola first partner Pokemon. More First Partner Illustration Collections featuring first partner Pokémon from other regions will be released later this year.

Here’s everything that this bundle would include:

• 1 Pokemon TCG pack containing three of all nine promo cards
• 2 Pokemon TCG booster packs
• 1 sticker sheet

McDonald’s and Pokémon Happy Meals Collaboration

McDonald’s Happy Meals and Pokemon collaborations are always loved by fans. It’s something that we eagerly wait for. While there is no official announcement, we might see a potential McDonald’s and Pokémon Happy Meals Collaboration around Pokemon Day 2026, celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Pokemon.

Leaks have surfaced on X about the potential TCG Happy Meals and Promo cards. The cards include Dragonite, Charizard, Rayquaza, and Roaring Moon. It is also speculated that the Japanese edition of the Pikachu #20/M-P will also get an English print during the 30th Anniversary.

FireRed and LeafGreen on Nintendo Switch

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, the original remakes of Pokemon Red and Blue, have been added to the Nintendo Switch eShop. The Preorders for the games are live, with their release currently set for February 27, 2026. Before you preorder the game, make sure to check our Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen guide to learn about all the bonuses. Additionally, Pokemon HOME support is also announced.

Gale of the Darkness Switch 2

Pokmon XD: Gale of the Darkness, which originally was a GameCube game, is being remade for the Nintendo Switch Online and Expansion Pack subscribers as part of the Nintendo Classics range. This will be available from March 2026, but exclusively for Switch 2 users.

Pokemon Gen 10 Announcement

Pokemon Waves and Winds have been officially confirmed for a 2027 release. Made by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, Winds and Waves will bring new Gen 10 Pokemon for the first time ever. Professor Oak is returning to aid your adventure with three new starters: Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua. Aditionally, more details regarding the gameplay has been revealed, which you can find in our Pokemon Winds and Waves guide.

30th Anniversary Merchandise

Looking for some wearables, accessories, or soft toys? Plenty of merchandises have been released for Pokemon’s 30th anniversary, and they will be available throughout the year. You can buy them all from the official website of the Pokemon Centre. Some of them are Pokémon TCG accessories, Wearables, an insulated tumbler, Glasses, and more.

On top of that, you can preorder LEGO Pokemon sets from the official LEGO Website. While the Eevee and Pikachu LEGO set is currently available for preorder, the Kanto Starter trio will be released on Pokemon Day.