Beats wants you to catch something new. The Apple-owned audio brand posted a short teaser video today built around Pokémon, and all signs point to a Pikachu-themed Beats Pill speaker.
The clip is light on details by design: a Beats Pill, a Poké Ball icon, and the tagline "Time to catch something new." But this isn't coming out of nowhere. Earlier this month, Pokémon creator BritBratTV shared photos of what looked like a Pikachu-themed Beats Pill box spotted at a U.S. Target — today's teaser all but confirms that leak was the real thing. No release date or pricing has been disclosed yet.
The collaboration makes sense for both sides. Pokémon is in the middle of a sustained cultural moment, and special-edition hardware has become one of the most reliable ways to make a gadget feel like an event rather than a spec sheet. Beats, meanwhile, has been on a tear with this exact playbook: the brand has spent the last two years turning product launches into cultural moments, from artist tie-ins to the recent Beats 360 headphone launch and its push into customizable hardware.
There's also a longer thread here. The Beats Pill was discontinued in 2022, brought back in 2024 at $149.99, and has been quietly holding its own in a crowded Bluetooth speaker market. A limited Pikachu edition is exactly the kind of drop that gives a mature product a second news cycle — and if the Target box photos are anything to go by, the design leans all the way in.
One more breadcrumb: Pikachu reportedly visited Apple Park back in August. In hindsight, that wasn't a mascot appearance — it was a press tour.
The pattern to watch is whether this stays a one-off or becomes a series. Pokémon has thirty years of characters to work with, and Beats has shown it likes a franchise. If the Pikachu Pill sells out, don't be surprised when the next Poké Ball drops.