Internet reacts to Ed Sheeran’s Pokémon song ‘Celestial’

Ed Sheeran released his latest music video, a collaboration with Pokémon called “Celestial,” on Thursday. The Pokémon Company confirmed in a tweet that the song will also make an appearance in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

We’ve teamed up with @edsheeran on a new track! ‘Celestial’ will be featured in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet! 😍

Check out the full video featuring Squirtle, Pikachu, Machamp, Snorlax and more: https://t.co/3jhj6QbnpJ pic.twitter.com/5nIRPotcej

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) September 29, 2022

The “Celestial” video alternates between live-action scenes with Ed Sheeran and animated sections where he interacts with Pokémon, drawn by Yu Nagaba. There is even a scene where Ed Sheeran appears in the animation style of the Pokémon anime.

The music video features a number of Pokémon, primarily from the Kanto region — including Ed Sheeran’s favorite Pokémon, Squirtle. Alongside Squirtle, the following Pokémon show up at some point during the “Celestial” video:

• Pikachu
• Charmander
• Slowpoke
• Snorlax
• Machamp
• Lapras
• Bulbasaur
• Eevee
• Charizard
• Mew
• Mewtwo
• Sobble
• Grookey
• Scorbunny
• Hypno

Internet reacts to Ed Sheeran’s Pokémon song ‘Celestial’

“Celestial” has been met with positive reception from many Ed Sheeran fans and Pokémon fans alike — and especially from fans of both. On the other hand, a sizable amount of Pokémon fans who aren’t Ed Sheeran fans have naturally been more critical.

Pokémon was my childhood. Thank you Ed for making this collaboration 💖💖💖💖💖💖

— Sheerio (@Ed_Sheeran_Fan6) September 29, 2022

In addition, some have pointed out the inherent silliness of putting a song by a British pop musician in a pair of official Pokémon games. Meanwhile, others seem to be content just to have the opportunity to make jokes about the interesting situation.

Imagine fighting the Elite 4 and Shape of You starts playing in the background https://t.co/8iIusviX6H

— Momo 🇵🇸 محمد (@MomoOnTheMic) September 29, 2022

“Celestial” is not the first collaboration that Ed Sheeran has done with Pokémon. In November of 2021, he held a concert inside of the Pokémon GO app. That performance included songs like “Perfect” and “Thinking Out Loud,” as well as a number of songs from the “=” album.

The Ed Sheeran collaboration for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was first leaked in August by Centro Leaks. Centro Leaks has since claimed that “Celestial” will play near the end of the games amid what will apparently be an emotional portion of the plot.