Can you believe it’s been 25 years of trying to catch them all? That’s right – Pokémon is turning 25 this year, and The Pokémon Company has promised that there’s lots of announcements to come throughout 2021. It all kicked off when the anniversary logo – featuring a Pikachu with “25” in its cheeks – was revealed during the 2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Now, another announcement has arrived – and this is definitely not one that fans were expecting.
According to a press release by The Pokémon Company, they are teaming up with Universal Music Group and a number of international artists for a program entitled P25 Music. Although details have not yet been revealed, the anniversary program will presumably include the creation of new music or re-imagining classic tunes from throughout the series. The press release described P25 Music as the “playlist” for the year-long “party” which the anniversary celebration is intended to be.
Singer/songwriter Katy Perry will be working as one of the lead collaborators on P25 Music. The Pokémon Company explained that Perry was chosen because her “bright, fun, and uplifting” attitude was a perfect fit for the Pokémon series.
Perry herself was thrilled, describing herself in as a lifelong Pokémon fan. She reminisced about playing the original Game Boy video games, the trading card game, and the mobile app Pokémon Go, as well as visiting the Pokémon Cafe while touring in Japan. The singer described the feeling Pokémon invokes in its fans as an “electric joy” – a pretty accurate description, given series mascot Pikachu’s signature electric powers!
Other collaborators, including other musicians participating in the project, will be announced throughout the year. The Pokémon Company also has several other anniversary-related announcements in store – so it looks like it’s going to be a pretty exciting 2021 for fans of the franchise.
What song from Pokémon history would you like to see Katy Perry cover? Let us know!
