Pokémon anime will lean into mobile portfolio with Unite, Sleep and Pokémon Go references teased

• The Pokémon anime has traditionally relied on the main series games for a new setting and new Pokémon.
• During an unprecedented gap between main series releases, the show appears set to leverage Pokémon's mobile games as inspiration.

Pokémon appears poised to leverage its mobile games portfolio in the next arc of the anime series.

Pokémon Horizons’ upcoming story arc Wonder Voyage has been teased with a new poster ahead of its May 22nd release in Japan. The poster contains three mobile game references to Pokémon Go, Pokémon Unite and Pokémon Sleep.

Mobile inspiration

The latest anime poster has been revealed via the Pokémon anime's Japanese Twitter account. It portrays five scenes from the upcoming anime arc, three of which heavily reference mobile games.

The image directly features a Poké Stop from Pokémon Go, a goal from Pokémon Unite, and Pokémon Sleep mascot Snorlax resting beside a cooking pot.

Elsewhere on the poster, new Mega Pokémon from 2025 Switch game Legends: ZA can be seen. Ditto’s presence may also be a reference to 2026’s Switch 2 spinoff Pokopia, suggesting spinoffs overall will play an important role as source material for the coming anime arc.

Mobile now serves as home to the majority of modern Pokémon spinoffs, as The Pokémon Company has expanded its mobile catalogue to six live service games over the past decade.

The Pokémon anime has always served as a transmedia initiative, building on the main series games with the latest region, Gyms and new Pokémon species taking the spotlight. The original series was set in Kanto, for example, based on Red and Blue. When sequels Gold and Silver released, set in Johto, Ash Ketchum’s journey took him to the same place.

References to spinoffs have been few and far between.

A Pokémon generation has typically lasted three years before shifting to another new region coinciding with a game launch. However, Scarlet and Violet released in 2022, and the next main series entry, Winds and Waves, won’t release until 2027.

As a result, the Pokémon Horizons anime has more time to fill before the new generation.

While the anime has previously tiptoed around occasional mobile references, a strong emphasis on mobile games would be a new element to the series, and featuring those games in a promotional poster also places unprecedented importance on those titles.

Previous light mobile references included the character Goh, who joined Ash on his adventures between 2019 and 2023 and had a talent for catching Pokémon without battling them.

Pokémon Go famously broke the mould with capture mechanics not built around battling a wild Pokémon first, but simply throwing Poké Balls at them. Furthermore, the geolocation title shares a pronunciation with Goh.

Another potential reference was made in a one-off episode where Goh brought a Magikarp to a high jump competition, which may have been inspired by 2017 mobile game Magikarp Jump.

As the anime has become more experimental, it moved away from Ash Ketchum as the protagonist in 2023 and launched a new show, Pokémon Horizons. It appears the next arc of Horizons will continue to experiment by building on games outside the main series.

Pocket Gamer Connects has expanded its scope to include transmedia. Our next event, Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona, takes place on June 15th and 16th, 2026.