A Canada Line SkyTrain in Vancouver is now wrapped in Pokémon, for the franchise’s 30th anniversary.
We spotted it pulling into a Canada Line station, with cars 106 and 206 covered in stickers of Pokémon old and new.
Charizard, Squirtle, Pichu, Sylveon, Rowlet and Umbreon are all in the mix, packed so tight there’s barely any train showing.
Next to the doors, a big panel asks “What’s your favourite?” above a Pikachu face with a 30 on its cheeks.
That’s the line from The Pokémon Company International’s yearlong 30th anniversary campaign, which kicked off with a Super Bowl ad in February and runs through 2026.
Pikachu doesn’t get the biggest spot, though.
One of the two oversized characters is Morpeko in its purple, red-eyed Hangry Mode, stretched right across a set of doors.
It seems to be pushing Pokémon’s newer releases as much as the classics, though the wrap doesn’t spell out a product on the sides we saw.
From what we’ve seen, it’s the only train on the line dressed up like this, so catching it is luck of the draw.
This isn’t Pokémon’s first stop on SkyTrain, either.
A big wall ad at Vancouver City Centre Station promoted the Mega Evolution and Phantasmal Flames card sets.
Fully themed trains and planes have been a thing in Asia for a long time.
Japan’s All Nippon Airways first flew Pokémon jets back in 1998, painted with Pikachu to mark the first Pokémon movie.
Character and anime activations are still pretty rare here, but they’re slowly getting more common.
If you’re riding the Canada Line in the next little while, it’s worth looking up before you board, since there’s no word on how long the wrap stays on.
It joins other fan moments around town this year, like the Pokémon GO Fest celebration at Science World on July 11 and Miniso’s Gundam and Naruto pop-ups at Metrotown.
