The Pokémon Company is bringing space-themed Pokémon to one of London's most iconic venues, and the centerpiece is exactly what you'd expect: an exclusive Pikachu plush dressed in an astronaut suit that is almost certainly going to sell out within hours.
The collaboration pairs The Pokémon Company International with the London Science Museum and the European Space Agency for a full-scale Pokémon Space Trail, timed to coincide with World Space Week. The trail opens Friday, October 2 and runs through January 3, sitting inside the museum's general admission, so no extra ticket cost beyond your standard entry.
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What the Space Trail actually involves
The trail features large-scale installations connecting Pokémon to real-world space science, which sounds like exactly the kind of thing that works brilliantly for kids and quietly delights the adults dragging them around. The timing is sharp too: it opens just before World Space Week and lands right at half-term, giving families a genuinely solid reason to visit.
Here's the thing, though. The event isn't just for families. The Science Museum is also running adult-only Lates sessions starting October 4, with bespoke activities for grown-up Pokémon fans who'd rather not fight through a crowd of eight-year-olds to see an Eevee installation.
For the overnight crowd, Astronights events let families spend the night at the museum and experience the Space Trail after dark. Those aren't free, with standard tickets starting at around $105 (approximately), and they're limited to three dates: November 14, November 28, and December 5.
The merch situation (and the scalper problem)
The exclusive astronaut Pikachu plush is the real draw here, and the Science Museum already knows what's coming. The museum's booking page explicitly warns that purchase limits will be in place on the plush, which is a direct acknowledgment that demand is going to wildly outstrip supply.
Purchase limits help, but they don't solve the problem. Anyone who's tried to grab limited Pokémon merch at a physical event in the last few years knows the drill: scalpers show up early, hit the per-person cap, and the plush you wanted is on a resale listing before you've even made it through the museum entrance.
Beyond the plush, the museum shop will stock a broader range of space and science-themed Pokémon merchandise, though none of it is likely to generate the same frenzy as the astronaut Pikachu.
Pokémon Go players get in on it too
Starting October 4, Pokémon Go players can take part in special raids at the Science Museum. Niantic has confirmed that a Pikachu in an astronaut outfit will be available to encounter through those raids, and it has the potential to appear as a shiny. That adds another layer to the event for players who can't make it to London in person, or who want to extend the experience beyond the physical trail.
The collaboration isn't limited to the UK either. Similar events are running at the Cité de l'espace in France and the Deutsches Museum in Germany, making this a genuinely European rollout rather than a one-city pop-up.
This follows an earlier Natural History Museum partnership at the start of the year, which suggests The Pokémon Company has found a formula it likes: pair with a major cultural institution, add exclusive physical merch, and watch the queues form. The Science Museum collaboration is bigger in scope, with the ESA involvement giving it a thematic hook that actually makes sense for the franchise.
If you're in London and want the plush, book your museum visit now. The trail runs until January 3, but limited merchandise has a habit of disappearing long before the event ends. For more on Pokémon events and what's worth your time, check out our gaming guides covering everything from in-game events to limited-time rewards.
Pokémon Pokopia players chasing their own limited-time event items should also check out the Wish Upon a Jirachi event guide for a full breakdown of what's available and how to earn it before the window closes. And if you're just getting started in Pokopia, the best items to buy first guide will save you a lot of wasted resources early on.
