The track is titled Celestial and is out on September 29, with the accompanying video animated by Pokemon creatives. Sharing a sketch showing him with the toy character Pikachu, Sheeran wrote on social media that he “started” his Pokemon craze at the age of seven, collecting the themed cards. He said he then went on to become a fan of the animated TV show and then on his eighth birthday received a “Gameboy Color” handheld console. “Obsessed was an understatement,” said the British singer. He continued: “Flash forward to me at 31, I still have the same Gameboy Color and still play Pokemon Silver on long haul flights. “I really, really love it. It gave me a proper escape as a kid into a fantasy world that seemed to go on and on, and in adulthood it’s the nostalgia that makes me feel like a kid again. “I met the Pokemon people when I was traveling in Japan and we joked about writing a song about them. But now we’re here.” The series, short for Pocket Monsters, was created in 1996 but has since expanded to include several TV series, movies, and card games. It centers around trainers living in a fantasy world who catch and train hundreds of different Pokemon species before using them to battle against each other. In November 2021, Sheeran performed a performance that was available through a Pokemon app. And in June this year, the four-time Grammy winner was named the UK’s most played artist of 2021, and also claimed the most played single of the year with Bad Habits. It is the second time he has claimed both awards, having previously achieved the double in 2017 with the release of his album Divide and single Shape Of You.
