🎵 On March 9, 2026, Miku Day, the Pokémon x Hatsune Miku collaboration known as PokeMiku released "Crossroad," written by kz of livetune with TAKU INOUE. In the video, the protagonists and rivals of every Pokémon generation cross paths with Miku's journey. Eleven days later, Hatsune Miku rode into an arena in Funabashi on the back of a Miraidon.

"Crossroad," Released on Miku Day

Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku Project VOLTAGE High↑, universally shortened to PokeMiku, is a collaboration between The Pokémon Company and Crypton Future Media. Creators from the Vocaloid scene build songs and videos that sample Pokémon game audio and put Miku and her fellow virtual singers on vocals.

"Crossroad" is the seventh track of the project's second phase. The video was directed by the illustrator Rella, and follows Miku through the worlds of each Pokémon generation, meeting protagonists and rivals from Red and Blue's Red and Green all the way to the recent Pokémon LEGENDS: Z-A. Thirty years of them. Each is drawn like a story in a picture book, so whichever generation you started with, there's a version of your own memory in there.

The other talking point was the chorus: Rize Helesta, Yashikizu and Yashiro Kizuku of Nijisanji sing on it. kz produced Nijisanji's album SMASH The PAINT!!, hence the connection. Vocaloid, Pokémon and VTubers, in one track.

kz and TAKU INOUE

This only works because of who these two are.

kz is one of the founding figures of the Vocaloid producer scene, behind "Tell Your World" and "Hand in Hand." "Tell Your World" being used in a Google Chrome commercial is arguably the moment Vocaloid music crossed over to a general audience. TAKU INOUE started out writing music for the Idolmaster games and is now known for Midnight Grand Orchestra, his project with Hololive's Hoshimachi Suisei. He's worked on Pokémon before, scoring the Pokkén games.

kz has said that if you hadn't met a particular person somewhere along the way, your life would have taken a very different road, and that the journey starts where your path crosses someone else's. He's cited raid battles, teaming up with strangers, as the seed of it.

TAKU INOUE's comment is lighter. He explains he came on as kz's helper, handling about half the arrangement and the lyrics for the second verse, then adds that their ability is Slow Start but they were given until turn 27, so it should be fine. That joke only lands if you play the games.

Eleven Days Later, She Rode In on a Miraidon

From March 20 to 22, 2026, Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku VOLTAGE Live! ran at LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY in Funabashi, Chiba. It was the first live event in PokeMiku's history: six shows across three days, drawing more than 50,000 people according to Crypton.

It opened on the melody of "Relic Song," sung by Meloetta. When the opening movie ended, an engine could be heard approaching from a distance. Miku arrived riding a Miraidon, dismounted, and raised a Poké Ball. That, Crypton writes, is where the voltage in the room spiked.

The main set ran all 27 PokeMiku originals, played live by a professional band. Kagamine Rin and Len, Megurine Luka, MEIKO and KAITO shared the stage, with Kasane Teto as a guest, and Pikachu, Meloetta and a good number of other Pokémon moving around on it. Before the evening shows, Pikachu and Miku turned up in the venue lobby unannounced.

The live costume was designed by the character designer Take. Unlike the eighteen type-themed Mikus, the starting idea here was: what if Hatsune Miku turned up in the Pokémon world incognito. Look closely and there's a Poké Ball motif in it.

It spilled outside the arena. From March 7 to 22, LaLaport TOKYO-BAY and LaLa Terrace TOKYO-BAY held photo spots and a Miraidon sculpture, and the ticket gates at the nearest station, JR Minami-Funabashi, were decorated with PokeMiku song thumbnails. Three more stations got photo spots.

The stream of the final show ended April 5, but a Blu-ray special edition of it arrives on August 26, 2026.

What PokeMiku Has Been Doing

It started on August 31, 2023, Hatsune Miku's birthday. The concept: what if Hatsune Miku were a Pokémon trainer specializing in one type? Eighteen types, eighteen Vocaloid producers, one original song and one illustration each, released over time.

The first phase pulled in DECO*27, Pinocchio-P, Jin, Kanaria and Eve, among others. Every track samples Pokémon background music and sound effects, so if you've played the games there's a lot for your ear to snag on. Phase two, Project VOLTAGE High↑, began on August 31, 2024.

Cumulative views across YouTube and Niconico have passed 100 million.

Pokémon began in 1996 with Red and Green. Hatsune Miku began in 2007 as voice synthesis software. One is a game where you assemble a party nobody else has. The other is a system where anyone can write the song and draw the picture. Both got large because of how much room they left for the person on the receiving end to do something. The title "Crossroad" probably means that too.

Which generation of Pokémon did you start with? And if Miku came to visit that game's protagonist, what would the song sound like?

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