McDonald’s Announces New Pokémon Collab for Summer 2026
McDonald’s Japan has announced a major summer collaboration with Pokémon, celebrating the restaurant chain’s 55th anniversary and Pokémon’s 30th anniversary with exclusive promotions and new surprises.
Pokémon began with the release of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green in Japan in 1996 before growing into one of the world’s biggest entertainment franchises through video games, animation, trading cards, movies and merchandise enjoyed by fans across multiple generations.
The new campaign, titled “Pokémon Summer at McDonald’s,” will roll out in stages from mid-July, with a series of themed promotions planned throughout the season.
Four major campaigns have been confirmed as part of the celebration, a “Tokunirald” promotion, which looks set to include exclusive vouchers/discounts, the “Summer Chance Bag” campaign, offering fans the chance to get limited edition merchandise, a Pokémon-themed burger and a special Pokémon Happy Meal/Happy Set promotion.
McDonald’s has teased the event by revealing silhouette artwork of each part of the new campaign, with the standout item being the Summer Chance Bag campaign, which appears to hint at the inclusion of a figure combining Pikachu and McDonald’s fries.
More information about both the “Tokunirald” and “Summer Chance Bag” campaigns will be revealed on July 10, followed by the burger campaign on July 16 and the Happy Meal campaign on July 31.
Alongside the in-store collaboration, McDonald’s Japan has also confirmed a new official partnership with Pokémon GO, marking the first collaboration between the two since their previous partnership around six years ago.
Pokémon GO celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2026 and continues to be one of the world’s most popular augmented reality mobile games, encouraging players to explore real-world locations to catch Pokémon and take part in community events.
The game’s 10th anniversary celebrations recently saw the launch of a Pokémon Center exclusive range of merchandise, which featured the first appearance of the new Professor Willow Assistant Pikachu.
As part of the renewed partnership, approximately 3,000 McDonald’s restaurants across Japan will become official PokéStops in Pokémon GO between July 20 and September 1, giving players even more locations to visit while playing the game.
Additional details surrounding the Pokémon GO partnership and the wider Pokémon Summer at McDonald’s campaign will be announced at a later date.
“Pokémon Summer at McDonald’s” is scheduled to begin rolling out across Japan from mid-July 2026 through participating McDonald’s locations.
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