Announced at the 2026 World Championships closing ceremony on 30 August 2026. It is a feature-length animated film about a Pokémon TCG player and a Mimikyu, directed by Katsuhiko Kitada and animated by CloverWorks, in cinemas in 2027.
On 30 August 2026, at the closing ceremony of the Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco, The Pokémon Company announced Pokémon: Wild Card. It is a feature-length animated film about the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and it opens in cinemas in 2027.
It is the first new Pokémon film since Secrets of the Jungle, which opened in Japan in December 2020. By the time Wild Card arrives, that is a gap of roughly seven years.
Pokémon: Wild Card — official teaser trailer, via Pokémon’s official YouTube channel.
The 2026 World Championships ran from 28 to 30 August at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The closing ceremony ended with a short teaser for a film nobody had heard of. The Japanese announcement followed on 31 August, with an official site at pokemon.co.jp/ex/wildcard carrying one line: 2027年劇場公開決定 — confirmed for theatrical release in 2027.
The teaser gives away very little: a hooded boy in a night-time city, a Mimikyu, cards on a table, and the logo. What it does establish is the look, which is darker and more urban than the Pokémon anime.
Every previous Pokémon film has been built on the video games and the television anime, with a trainer, a journey and usually a legendary Pokémon. Wild Card is built on the Trading Card Game.
The Pokémon Company describes it as an original story following a Pokémon TCG player and his partner Mimikyu. The official line: “When the time comes to put their cards on the table, will they have what it takes to achieve their goals?” Japanese coverage frames the player as chasing a championship. No character names have been released.
Mimikyu is the lead Pokémon, not Pikachu. It is a Ghost/Fairy type from Generation VII that hides under a hand-made Pikachu costume.
| Role | Credit |
|---|---|
| Director | Katsuhiko Kitada (北田勝彦) |
| Character design | Akemi Hayashi (林明美) |
| Animation production | CloverWorks |
| Planning and production | STORY inc. |
The studio is the headline. Every Pokémon film to date, and the television anime, has been animated by OLM. CloverWorks has never worked on Pokémon before; its recent work includes Spy × Family, My Dress-Up Darling and Bocchi the Rock!. A different studio, a different house style, and a premise from the card game rather than the games — this is not a continuation of the existing series.
No writer, composer or voice cast has been announced.
For what is coming to the card game itself, see our TCG release calendar. For the animated series, the anime tracker covers every season.