Ed Sheeran and the folks at Pokémon have forged a strong relationship in recent times. The singer had his own Pokémon Go collaboration in late 2021 and now he’s teamed up with the world’s highest-grossing media franchise for a new song, “Celestial.”
The tune isn’t explicitly about Pokémon in its lyrics (unless you want to count the mention of a “silver lining” as a nod to Pokémon Silver), but it touches on themes of love, friendship, and dealing with adversity. The video is certainly straight-up Pokémon, though. The clip starts with Sheeran sleeping in a bedroom (decorated with plenty of Pokémon goodies) before the world turns animated and he’s woken up by an electric shock from a Pikachu. From there, things flip back and forth between reality and an animated world as Sheeran goes about his day, interacting with various creatures from the Pokémon universe. There’s even an anime sequence where Sheeran becomes a Pokémon trainer himself.
Pokémon fans may also enjoy spotting some of the more obscure items that appear in the video, like some small plastic pucks from the Japan- and Taiwan-only Pokémon Battrio arcade game from 2007 (seen in a bowl at 19 seconds in) and the 1998 Pocket Pikachu handheld virtual pet toy (on a nightstand at 21 seconds).
In a post from last week announcing the song, Sheeran explained his long relationship with the Pokémon franchise, writing:
“I started off with Pokémon cards when the craze hit primary school when I was about 7, then the tv show was on tv so I used to try and record it over the same VHS every week. After this me and my brother shared a game boy and Pokémon blue. I got a game boy colour with Pokémon yellow for my 8th birthday, obsessed was an understatement. Flash forward to me at 31 I still have the same game boy colour and still I play Pokémon silver on long haul flights. I really really love it. It gave me a proper escape as a kid into a fantasy world that seemed to go on and on, and in adult life it’s nostalgia that makes me feel like a kid again. I met the people from Pokémon when I was travelling in Japan, and we joked about me writing a song for them. But now here we are. Celestial comes out next Thursday, and the video is insanely amazing, animated by the incredible people at Pokémon. I love it, you’re gonna love it. And we all gotta catch ’em all.
The new song, by the way, will be featured in the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games, set to release for the Nintendo Switch on November 18.
Check out the “Celestial” video above.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.