Gengar hasn’t changed since 1996. Same stout body, same pointed ears, same red eyes, same grin that suggests it just did something to your Pikachu it isn’t planning to admit to. Thirty years of that face.
That’s over now, and the reason is a sneaker.
Adidas has officially confirmed the Pokémon x Adidas Originals 30th Anniversary Collection, arriving September 2026 after months of rumors and leaked info fueling speculation about a new line of Pokémon-themed sneakers. Tucked into the announcement: previously unseen new designs for Charmander, Charizard, Mewtwo, Rayquaza, Pikachu, and the Ghost trio of Gastly, Haunter and Gengar.
Why this one actually counts
Gengar has been tweaked before. Sprites got cleaner, proportions shifted a little from generation to generation. And the Ghost/Poison-type has picked up alternate forms along the way, Mega Gengar and Gigantamax Gengar among them.
But a permanent redesign? Never. Not since Pokémon Red & Blue introduced it.
The shoe handles it well. Gengar’s mischievous eyes sit on the sides of the sneaker, the signature grin is there, and the whole thing reads as Gengar without leaning on a giant printed logo to tell you so. Of the several options in the full lineup, this is the one people are going to fight over.
The rest of the lineup skews hard toward Kanto
Pikachu gets multiple Superstar and Pro Model designs. Mewtwo turns up across the Samba, ZX 8000 and Handball Spezial. The complete Charmander evolutionary line is in there too.
Rayquaza is the surprise. The Legendary breaks the collection’s heavy focus on original Kanto Pokémon and gets two distinctive performance-inspired models, which is a strange and welcome swerve in a collection otherwise built almost entirely out of the first 151.
Thirty years in, and the games aren’t slowing down either
The anniversary lands while Pokémon is already deep into its fourth decade of projects, chief among them Generation 10’s Pokémon Winds & Waves. Game Freak has confirmed an island-based setting, three new starters and a planned 2027 release.
Everything past that is leak territory. Alleged leaks have teased some amazing and unexpected evolutions, including Houndour and possibly even Onix.
Rumors have gone further still, suggesting Winds & Waves could introduce hundreds of new Pokémon, some with brand-new types, along with battles involving multiple enemies, expanded online features and one of the franchise’s largest regions yet.
Treat all of that as rumor. Treat the sneakers as real.
A good week to like both things
Sneakerheads and Pokémon fans don’t overlap as neatly as brand partnerships like to pretend, but this is one of the rare drops built for the people standing in both lines. The Ghost trio alone justifies the collection.
September 2026. Start deciding now whether you’re a Gastly, a Haunter or a Gengar, because the Gengar pair isn’t going to sit on shelves.
