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Space-themed Pokémon trail and shop coming to the Science Museum

Writer: maxwell museums
maxwell museums
1 minute ago
3 min read

Pokémon is taking over the Science Museum in London this autumn with a space-themed trail.


In a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), the free-to-visit Pokémon Space Trail will launch on 02 October 2026 and aims to help visitors discover more about space science. It’ll feature large-scale installations starring Pokémon spread across the museum’s galleries, with each stop focused on a real story of European space science.


Pikachu plush in a white astronaut suit floats inside the ISS cupola, framed by Earth and space outside the windows.

Astronaut Pikachu onboard the International Space Station © ESA NASA S. Adenot


One stop will be in the museum’s brand new Space gallery. It opened in September 2025 and features remarkable objects including the Russian Soyuz capsule that carried British astronaut Tim Peake into orbit in 2015. This gallery's contribution to the Pokémon route will explore how NASA and ESA are returning to the Moon with the Artemis programme, as well as highlighting the Moon’s impact in the world of Pokémon, from Eevee’s moonlit evolution to Lunatone’s lunar powers.


New Pokémon x ESA Shop

Launching alongside the trail will be a pop-up Pokémon gift shop. A range of merchandise inspired by the ESA collaboration will be available to purchase on the mezzanine level of the Science Museum shop.


Museum display of an astronaut suit and Apollo capsule as two men quietly look on under dramatic blue lighting.

Visitor looking at Helen Sharman’s spacesuit in the Space gallery at the Science Museum © Science Museum Group


But to visit the store, visitors will need to book a free timed ticket in advance because demand is expected to be huge.


When a similar Pokémon shop opened at the Natural History Museum earlier this year (which is actually next door to the Science Museum), the booking website crashed on opening day as so many people rushed for tickets.


To try and not repeat their neighbour's tech problems, the Pokémon space shop tickets will be released in weekly batches. So far, it seems to be working. The first batch of tickets are still available to buy days after they were put on sale. The next tickets will be released on 02 October.



One of the most sought-after items Pokémon fans will want to get their hands on will be an Astronaut Pikachu plush.


One of these plush toys has just spent 67 days in orbit on the International Space Station during ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot’s recent mission. It’s thought it completed approximately 1040 orbits of Earth. The museum warns that they'll only be “available while stocks last.”


Smiling ESA astronaut in a blue flight suit holds a Pikachu plush, with patches and name tag S. Adenot.

Astronaut Sophie Adenot and Astronaut Pikachu plush © ESA - A. Conigli - D. Dos Santos


But there will also be plenty of other Pokémon merchandise on offer, including clothing, stationery, selected Pokémon Trading Card Game products from the Scarlet & Violet series and collectables.


The Science Museum’s trail is just one part of a Europe-wide programme of events the ESA is hosting in partnership with the Japanese brand this autumn. Incidentally, The Pokémon Company is the world’s highest-grossing media franchise — it's recorded lifetime revenues exceed $147 billion (£110 billion), according to Guinness World Records.


Other venues taking part include Space Expo in Noordwijk in the Netherlands, where a special scavenger hunt will ask children to find ten small Pikachu figures throughout the museum.


There’ll also be trails and exhibitions landing at Cité de l’espace in Toulouse, Euro Space Center in Transinne in Belgium, and the Deutsches Museum in Nuremberg.


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