Look, let's be honest, fans have been waiting quite a while for this. Pokémon has finally dropped the teaser trailer and visual for the upcoming feature-length animated film, Pokémon: Wildcard, aiming for a release in 2027. This marks the first feature film from the franchise in seven full years, and quite boldly, it is the very first attempt to tackle the Pokémon Trading Card Game as its core subject matter. The teaser was initially screened at the closing ceremony of the Pokémon World Championships 2026 held on August 31, Korean time, before landing on the official Pokémon YouTube channel and other social media platforms for everyone to dissect.

Clocking in at roughly 35 seconds, the teaser treats viewers to fleeting glimpses of card imagery alongside everyone's favourite draped mystery, Mimikyu, perched on a railing against a neon-lit nightscape. Shortly after, we are introduced to Mikiya, a Pokémon card player sporting a yellow hoodie that heavily channels Mimikyu's iconic aesthetic. The super teaser visual released on the same day paints a very similar picture, framing Mikiya engaged in a card duel against that neon backdrop while Mimikyu lurks on the bridge railing.

Pokémon: Wildcard is built around the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which is rapidly approaching its 30th anniversary in October 2026. Direction duties are being handled by Katsuhiko Kitada of The First Slam Dunk fame, while Akemi Hayashi of BANANA FISH takes charge of character design. Animation production falls to CloverWorks—the studio you probably know best from Spy x Family and Bocchi the Rock!—with planning and production spearheaded by STORY inc. The creative team assures us they are pouring all their energy into production with a worldwide premiere targeted for 2027. You can watch the trailer here: available on the official Pokémon YouTube channel.

For the uninitiated, the Pokémon Trading Card Game takes the core battling and collecting DNA of the main video game series and translates it into Japan's very first trading card game. Matches revolve around strategic duels utilizing a 60-card deck. As of late March 2026, the cumulative manufacturing volume of Pokémon cards has smashed past the 85 billion mark, now sold across more than 90 countries and regions worldwide.