Pokémon’s Official X Account Briefly Hacked to Push a Memecoin Ahead of the World Championships

The official Pokémon account on X was briefly taken over on August 27 by an unknown attacker who used the handle to advertise a so-called “official Pokémon memecoin” tied to the franchise’s ongoing 30th anniversary celebrations.

The Pokémon Company International acknowledged the incident on the same handle shortly after the post was removed, telling followers that the @Pokemon account had been “temporarily compromised” for roughly 30 minutes and that the unauthorized posts had been deleted. “We’re aware that our X account was accessed without authorization and used to publish posts promoting a cryptocurrency,” the company wrote. “Those posts were not created or approved by Pokémon and have been removed. We have secured the account and are investigating the incident. We’re sorry for the confusion and appreciate your patience.”

The rogue post framed itself as part of the brand’s 30th anniversary push, inviting followers to “Celebrate 30 years of Pokémon in a whole new way” and “join trainers around the world” through the linked memecoin site. Community Notes quickly appeared underneath the post on X, and most replies suggested the audience recognised the scam in real time, though Pokémon has not publicly said whether anyone clicked through before access was restored.

The timing is awkward for The Pokémon Company. The 2026 Pokémon World Championships begin on August 28 in San Francisco, drawing thousands of competitive players and a global livestream audience. The breach lands one day before the opening ceremony and during a period when followers are actively seeking official updates, scheduling information, and tournament brackets from the verified account.

This is not the first time a high-profile gaming or entertainment brand has been hit by a crypto-themed X intrusion. Past incidents include hacks of the Stellar Blade and Activision Blizzard social channels in 2024 and 2025, all of which used similar memecoin or token pitches. In late 2024, Game Freak — the developer behind the mainline Pokémon series — suffered a separate, much larger leak of internal materials, including source code and concept art, following a server breach; that incident remains unrelated to the X compromise.

Pokémon has not yet provided a technical explanation for how the @Pokemon handle was taken over or whether two-factor authentication, internal credentials, or a third-party tool were involved. The company’s statement indicates only that the account has been “secured” and that the incident is being investigated.

The Pokémon Company’s full public statement is on the official Pokémon X account.