It had been teased for a while that famous pop star Ed Sheeran would be releasing a song in collaboration with Pokémon called Celestial, and just recently the music video dropped on YouTube, along with the confirmation by Pokémon that the song will be featured in the upcoming Generation 9 titles, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
The lyrics aren’t really connected to Pokémon, if that’s what you were hoping for, but the music video does show a lot of fun animations of Sheeran being aided by different Pokémon to wake up, cook, fly around, and finally record the song itself. It ends with a stunningly detailed 2D animation, akin to the more traditional Pokémon anime, that has Sheeran portrayed as a trainer using a team of Pokémon to try and stop Mew and Mewtwo from fighting. It even recreates the iconic scene from Pokémon: The First Movie, where Ash jumps in between Mew and Mewtwo’s attacks and dies; thankfully, this recreation wasn’t as traumatizing.
Its inclusion in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is noteworthy, as a modern pop song with prominent lyrics is quite different from what you tend to hear in Pokémon soundtracks. It’s usually orchestral or electronic instrumental themes meant to be repeated over and over again. It begs the question of when and how much will the song be played within the game, though this may have already been answered by leakers.
Reliable leak reporter Centro Leaks, which accurately detailed the new ‘terastallizing’ mechanic, the Paldea region name, and the Convergent Evolution concept, claimed that the song will be played near the end of the game. CentroLeaks also wrote, “The leaker says that everyone cried while playing the final chapter of the game.” Though this is nothing more than a subjective reception, it does suggest that the song will complement the game’s climax.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are the upcoming mainline entries of the most successful media franchise of all time. They will introduce the 9th generation of Pokémon games, the prior of which began 3 years ago with the decently received Pokémon Sword and Shield. The most recent title in the series, however, came earlier this year in the form of Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Though considered a spinoff, the game was regarded by fans as one of the biggest gameplay evolutions the franchise had ever had. Many wonder how much Scarlet and Violet will be able to advance with such little development time between titles.
