Ed Sheeran performs at Pokémon World Championships

Musician Ed Sheeran made a surprise appearance at the 2026 Pokémon World Championships held at the Chase Center in San Francisco. During the finals on August 30, Sheeran performed an acoustic cover of the original Pokémon anime theme song.

Sheeran also performed his song ‘Celestial’ against a backdrop of animated visuals featuring an anime-style version of himself. The singer has a long-standing history with the franchise, having previously collaborated with The Pokémon Company for Pokémon Go events and having his music featured in titles such as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

In addition to the musical performance, The Pokémon Company announced ‘Pokémon: Wild Card’, a new feature-length animated film centered on a trading card game player and their partner Mimikyu. The film is being produced in partnership with the Japanese animation studio CloverWorks.