Most character collaborations work the same way. Take a shoe, print the character on it, add a logo to the tongue and call it a partnership.
The Pokémon x adidas 30th Anniversary collection does not do that, which is the only reason it is worth fourteen pairs. The shoes have been rebuilt to look like the characters rather than decorated with them, and in a few cases you have to be told what you are looking at before you see it.
Pokémon x adidas 30th Anniversary
Fourteen shoes across six characters
Main adidas release: 22 September 2026
Most pairs are already on KLEKT, so most of this is not a wait, it is a decision. Here is what each character got.
Pikachu and the Fire Starters
Pikachu takes three shoes and three different approaches. The yellow Superstar goes full plush suede with face badges on the heel and soft ears pinned to the tongue, and it is as cute as that sounds. The white and black Superstar is far quieter, with a character mosaic running wall to wall across the upper and pre-aged trim, and reads as a normal shoe from any distance. The Superstar Mid is the loud one, in yellow pony hair with a Pikachu charm on the heel that runs almost the full height of the upper.
Shop the adidas x Pokémon Superstar 'Pikachu Yellow' on KLEKT
Charmander, Charmeleon and Charizard get a Superstar each, which is a neat way of putting an evolution line onto one silhouette. The Charmander is white, yellow and orange with flames set into the Three Stripes. The Charmeleon swaps the shell toe for Predator-style branding in a darker red. The Charizard is the one people will want, in scaly orange with a green fabric collar and removable wing attachments on the laces.
Shop the adidas x Pokémon Superstar Vintage 'Charizard' on KLEKT
The lace details run through the whole collection. Pokéball laces on the Pikachu Superstar, a Master Ball dubrae on the Mewtwo ZX 8000, alternating face and Pokéball dubraes on the Rayquaza ZX 500. Small things, but they are the parts that make a pair feel like it came from somewhere rather than from a licensing deal.
Mewtwo, Rayquaza and the Ghost Line
Mewtwo takes the widest spread. The Handball Spezial carries blush gradients through the sole and a buckle on the heel shaped after the character, with the same form printed on gilded insoles. The Samba OG is the clever one: the eyestay has been modified to hold three lace holes instead of the usual run, a nod to Mewtwo having three fingers. It comes in adults and kids sizing, with the smaller run on a solid colour sole. The ZX 8000 adds moulded ears at the heel in lavender.
Shop the adidas x Pokémon Samba OG 'Mewtwo' on KLEKT
Rayquaza moves onto stranger silhouettes. The ZX 500 keeps it simple in green, red and yellow. The F50 Tunit Mega adds a large lace shroud with glowing yellow etchings and a scaled upper. The Adistar Control stays close to its usual mesh and synthetics but adds shine through the base layer.
Shop the adidas x Pokémon ZX 500 'Rayquaza' on KLEKT
The ghost pairs carry the most interesting design work. Gastly sits on an Adistar in a nocturnal purple on black. Gengar takes the Adistar XLG 2.0, with mirrored eyes pushing out of the side walls and white mesh at the toe, so that looking down at the shoe from above gives you his face. It is the only pair in the collection that changes depending on where you stand.
Shop the adidas x Pokémon Adistar XLG 2.0 'Gengar' on KLEKT
Pokémon x adidas 30th Anniversary Release
The main adidas release is on 22 September 2026, with several pairs already appearing at selected retailers ahead of it. The collection covers adults and kids sizing, and the style codes run from KI2855 through KJ5611 depending on the pair.
Fourteen shoes is a lot, and collections this size rarely sell evenly. The Charizard Superstar and the Gengar Adistar are the two most likely to disappear on the day, and the quieter Pikachu Superstar is the one people tend to come back for months later.
Most of the collection is already on KLEKT. You can see every adidas x Pokémon pair listed, or start with the Superstar 'Charmander', the Handball Spezial 'Mewtwo' and the F50 Tunit Mega 'Rayquaza'.
Check out the Pokémon x adidas 30th Anniversary collection on KLEKT.
Images: adidas / The Pokémon Company / KLEKT
