Pokémon Gets Fila

The thing about Pokémon gear as a kid is that you’d get destroyed for it. Showing up to school in a Pikachu shirt in the 90s wasn’t just uncool—it could actually get you in trouble, or at least mocked relentlessly. Then nostalgia became a real cultural force in the 2010s, and suddenly the same people who would’ve shamed you were buying the same merch without a trace of irony.

Nintendo knew early that only the original 151 matter. Everything after Mew is noise, but Pikachu, Charizard, and Bulbasaur hit different. They’re wired into people my age as proof of something simpler, some earlier version of ourselves. The hipster revival cycle picked it up and ran with it, and now twenty-to-thirty-year-olds can wear Pokémon without looking stuck in childhood. It’s retro. It’s legitimate.

Which is why Fila Korea bothered making Pokémon sneakers. The collection includes a Pikachu-specific shoe, type-based colorways, and the Pokéball worked into the design itself. They’re clean without being precious about it. They’re available through Fila Korea, though exact pricing and release date are still up in the air.

What actually happened is the nostalgia became valuable enough to monetize, and we’re old enough to buy it. The shoes are probably overpriced. I’d probably want them anyway.