The beloved Pokemon franchise is turning 30 this year and to celebrate a new 30th anniversary animation was shared revealing fat Pikachu is back.
The new animation was posted ahead of the series 30th birthday next month, which lands on February 27th (the games came to the USA nearly two years later) with the original Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green for the first Game Boy.
While it’s not much, the animation shows off the Pokemon 30th Anniversary logo (Seen above) as well as the design evolution of its mascot, Pikachu, starting with the original and very chunky fat Pikachu from three decades ago:
ポケモン30周年、はじまる！
『ポケットモンスター 赤・緑』の発売から30年。
2026年2月27日（金）にポケモンは30周年を迎えるよ。
今年は最高の1年になる予感！
お楽しみに！#ポケモン30周年 pic.twitter.com/iPXR83Ib66— ポケモン公式 (@Pokemon_cojp) December 31, 2025
It’s been years since we’ve seen anything remotely close to original artist/designer Ken Sugimori’s final version, which you see above alongside all of its other versions through the years.
“Pokemon’s 30th Anniversary Begins! It’s been 30 years since the release of Pokemon Red and Green,” The Pokemon Company said in a new post. “On Friday, February 27, 2026, Pokemon will celebrate its 30th anniversary. This year is shaping up to be the best one yet! Stay tuned!”
Between the big Pokemon 30th anniversary and the purported “teraleak” revealing lots of possible art and details for the tenth generation Pokemon games – expectations are high. The above teaser doesn’t promise any reveals, however it’s safe to bet we’ll get something new on Pokemon’s 30th birthday.
Despite being around for three decades Pokemon hasn’t slowed down at all and remains quite comfortably the most profitable IP of all time, even moreso than Mickey Mouse. Nintendo is consistently releasing new games and new content for existing Pokemon games.
The next Pokemon game, the crafting/building/farming spinoff Pokemon Pokopia, is set to launch worldwide on March 5th for Switch 2. The last main entry, Pokemon Legends: Z-A, got its big DLC “Mega Dimensions” last month. The popular mobile version of their Pokemon TCG also regularly launches new content packs.
We’ll report on any new reveals or announcements on Pokemon’s big 30th birthday – stay tuned.
