Hatsune Miku, virtual pop idol, is teaming up with Pokémon for a real-world crossover event set to take place next year. The partnership began around 2023, when an illustration series released depicting Hatsune Miku as a Pokémon trainer, each specializing in one of the 18 different Pokémon types.

After the art released, 18 Hatsune Miku tracks dropped that reworked several iconic Pokémon game soundtrack motifs. Each song paired with one of the images. Under the title Project Voltage, several more tracks dropped in 2024.

Now, Project Voltage is becoming a reality. Celebrating the second anniversary of the collaboration, a real-world concert will run from March 20 to March 22, 2026. Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku Voltage Live will take place at Japan’s LaLa Arena Tokyo-Bay. Tickets are sold through a lottery system, with applications open now.

For the event, the virtual pop star will perform all existing Project Voltage tracks. Several new songs will be included during the concert as well. Unlike earlier this year when Hatsuke Miku headlined Fortnite Festival, which is confined to a video game, this is an in-person concert.

Hatsune miku and pokémon collaboration gets a real-world concert event

“To make Pokémon music available to as many fans as possible, mainly through YouTube, under this project we partnered with Crypton Future Media, Inc. and their virtual singer Hatsune Miku, who has been a well-known feature of the music scene since 2007,” said The Pokémon Company in a statement.

The statement continued, “Hatsune Miku shares two important traits with Pokémon: she evolved out of software, and her sound is produced electronically. So in Hatsune Miku we were sure we had the perfect partner for Pokémon.”

Vocaloid designed Hatsune Miku in 2007. The company describes her as an “android diva in the near-future world where songs are lost.” Since then, she appears on more than 10,000 songs, including collaborations with Ashnikko and Set It Off.

The Pokémon Company is hoping to remain relevant for another 70 years, according to CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara. “If we become complacent and go with the flow, that’s when it will go downhill,” he said.

This spirit of innovation certainly sparked the Project Voltage concert. But, more traditionally, it led to a brand new Pokémon game. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is launching later in 2025, and the game mechanics are something totally different for long-time Pokémon fans. An RPG storyline, a single city, and a real-time battle system will make this new installment a completely unique experience in the franchise.

Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns