Pokémon is back in the Disney family.
Disney+ and The Pokémon Company International announced a global distribution deal on August 28, headlined by a brand-new stop-motion animated series from Aardman: Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, which debuts on Disney XD and streams exclusively on Disney+ in 2027.
The announcement arrived alongside the series’ first teaser trailer, which premiered during a panel at Pokémon XP, the franchise’s first-ever official fan convention taking place this weekend alongside the 2026 Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco.
Aardman’s Mystery Pokémon Project Lands At Disney+
This is the payoff to a reveal nearly two years in the making.
Back in December 2024, Aardman — the British studio behind Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, and Shaun the Sheep — announced a “special project” with The Pokémon Company set for 2027 and said nothing else about it.
Netflix was widely assumed to be the destination, since the streamer is the U.S. home of the Pokémon anime and the franchise’s first stop-motion series, Pokémon Concierge. Instead, Disney walked away with it.
The series follows Sirfetch’d and Pichu across the Galar region — the setting of Pokémon Sword and Shield — as the unlikely duo sets out on a gallant quest to help and protect Pokémon.
Their missions rarely go as planned, which is where the comedy comes in, with the official description promising peril, alliances, rivalries, extraordinary Pokémon, and endless laughs. Notably, the stories are told from the perspective of the Pokémon themselves — no human trainers leading the way.
“Aardman has brought Galar to life in a way that makes you feel like you can smell the air, touch the tree bark, and want to adventure alongside our series heroes,” said Phil Rynda, Pokémon’s director of original animation, who was joined on the Pokémon XP panel by the Aardman creative team: director Tom Parkinson, Creative Director – IP Development Nat McKay, and Model Making Creative Lead James Young.
Ash And Pikachu’s First Adventures Are Already Streaming
The Aardman series is the headliner, but the deal is already live.
Pokémon the Series: The Beginning — the earliest Ash and Pikachu adventures — is the first title under the agreement. It started airing on Disney XD earlier this month and is now streaming on Disney+ in the U.S. and select international markets.
It’s a full-circle moment: the Pokémon anime aired on Disney XD for years before moving to Netflix with Pokémon Journeys back in 2020, and now the episodes that started it all are bringing the franchise back home to Disney.
“Pokémon has that rare ability to mean something to longtime fans while continuing to feel completely relevant to young audiences today,” said Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family, adding that the new series “brings Aardman’s signature stop-motion artistry with a bold, playful new perspective to this beloved world.”
“Pokémon Tales” Sounds Like Just The Beginning
Pay attention to the title structure: “Pokémon Tales” is the banner, and The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu is the first story under it.
That reads like Disney and The Pokémon Company setting up an anthology brand, with future series spotlighting different Pokémon duos, and fans clocked it immediately.
The teaser cracked YouTube’s movies trending chart within hours of going up, with top comments already asking which Pokémon get the Tales treatment next.
Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu hits Disney XD and Disney+ in 2027. Check out the teaser trailer below.
