Pokemon is heading back to McDonald's, and this time it's bringing mini Happy Meal boxes shaped like your favorite Pokemon alongside the usual promo cards. Leaked promotional materials, apparently sent to restaurants ahead of the official announcement, have spilled the start dates, toy lineup, and card details well before either company made anything official. If you grew up playing Pokémon X and still have a soft spot for Pokemon collectibles, this one is worth knowing about.
When the promo kicks off in each region
The US gets first access on November 10, with the promotion running through December 14. Canada jumps in a week earlier on November 3, wrapping up December 7. Australia sits in the middle, starting November 5 and closing out December 9.
No official confirmation has come from McDonald's or The Pokemon Company yet, which makes the timing a little awkward given how close those dates actually are.
What's inside the Happy Meal this time
The big twist this promo is the toy format. Instead of standard plastic figures, McDonald's is going with miniature Happy Meal boxes, each one designed around a different Pokemon. The leaked lineup covers 15 designs:
- Pikachu
- Bulbasaur
- Charmander
- Squirtle
- Sprigatito
- Espurr
- Minccino
- Munchlax
- Piplup
- Sobble
- Eevee
- Umbreon
- Rowlet
- Torchic
- Weedle
The mix leans heavily on fan favorites and starter Pokemon, though Espurr and Minccino are the kind of picks that will genuinely surprise people. Good surprises, for what it's worth.
The cards: 15 to collect, two per pack
Here's the thing that will raise eyebrows among TCG collectors. The promo pack reportedly includes just two cards, down from the four that McDonald's booster packs have traditionally contained. There are 15 cards total in the set, and while the full list hasn't been confirmed, Hawlucha (from Scarlet & Violet), Metagross (Temporal Forces), and Palafin (Obsidian Flames) are believed to be among them. All are expected to be reprints with either holofoil confetti treatment or a McDonald's stamp to distinguish them from standard prints.
The scalping problem that never really went away
Every time Pokemon and McDonald's team up, the scalping conversation follows. The most extreme case saw buyers in Japan purchasing Happy Meals in bulk purely for the cards, discarding the food in the street. That incident got bad enough that the Japan promo was restructured and cards were swapped out for toys entirely.
The situation hasn't improved much since. Scalpers continue targeting Pokemon TCG products aggressively, though The Pokemon Company did score a win earlier this year by adjusting pull rates on its 30th anniversary set to the point where bulk buyers were left holding overpriced stock they couldn't flip. Whether that strategy carries over to McDonald's promos remains a genuine open question.
Reducing the pack from four cards to two could be a quiet attempt to lower the appeal for bulk buyers, or it could simply be a cost decision. Either way, collectors going in for the full 15-card set will need more Happy Meals than before to complete it.
For anyone who wants to brush up on Pokemon strategy while waiting for November, the Pokémon X guide collection has you covered. And if you're looking for broader gaming prep, the full gaming guides hub is worth bookmarking ahead of the holiday season.
