Pokémon Company Eyes Wearables as Next Frontier for Smart Device Integration

Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and CEO of The Pokémon Company, stood before an audience at PokémonXP in San Francisco and sketched out where the franchise is headed next: into the wearables on your wrist, your face, and your finger.

During a panel titled "Producing Pokémon: A Conversation with Mr. Ishihara," he reflected on how the company has had to recalibrate its strategy with each major shift in consumer technology. When smartphones arrived, the approach to companion devices changed. Accessories that once felt like pocket-sized novelties—the Pokéwalker, the Pokémon GO Plus—had to be reimagined for a world where everyone already carried a powerful computer. Now, Ishihara said, the next challenge is figuring out how to weave Pokémon into the wearables people are beginning to adopt: smartwatches, smart glasses, smart rings.

"In the past, these gadgets or companion accessories were kind of like these cool secret weapons you could pull out of your pocket and do something really cool with," Ishihara explained. "But today I was thinking, going forward, maybe a challenge for us is going to be figuring out how we can integrate Pokémon more with some of the wearable technology, like smart watches, smart glasses, or even smart rings, for example."

The company is not speaking in abstractions. Earlier this year, Pokémon launched the Fitbit Air Special Edition, a health tracker designed specifically to work with Pokémon Sleep, an app that turns the act of sleeping into a game where users collect Pokémon based on their rest patterns. The device represents the kind of integration Ishihara is describing—a wearable that does something useful on its own while deepening engagement with the Pokémon ecosystem.

Ishihara brings a particular vantage point to this conversation. He is the founder and former CEO of Creatures Inc., one of three companies that jointly own the Pokémon franchise alongside Nintendo and Game Freak. He has been present for the entire arc of the property, from the original Red and Green games through the anime and trading card game. During the panel, he spoke about his long affection for handheld gadgets and toys, describing it as a personal passion that has shaped his work.

His vision extends beyond the next product cycle. "I really hope Pokémon and the people who are stewarding it will continue to be creating entirely new forms of play that really excite people," he said. "And also that humanity, in general, will continue to really enjoy those experiences. And maybe even across three or four generations in the future." The comment suggests Ishihara is thinking not about quarterly earnings but about how Pokémon might remain relevant and engaging across decades, as consumer technology continues to evolve in ways that are still difficult to predict.