Pikachu Visits Apple Park, Meets Tim Cook and John Ternus

Thursday August 27, 2026 3:10 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Tim Cook shared an inside look at the work he is doing behind the scenes as he prepares to step down as Apple's CEO next week. Cook has been preparing incoming CEO John Ternus for the transition over the last several months, and today he introduced Ternus to popular Pokémon character Pikachu.

cook ternus pikachu
Cook said he and Ternus met with the Pokémon team to talk gaming. The accompanying video features Pikachu exploring the Apple Park campus, including dancing under the rainbow arch and picking an apple from the orchard.

Today's agenda at Apple Park: Introduce the @Pokemon team to John, talk gaming, and politely ask Pikachu to stay out of the pond. Two out of three were accomplished. pic.twitter.com/KzirV3VX8U — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) August 27, 2026

It's not clear why the Pokémon team was at ‌Apple Park‌, but Cook first met Pikachu in September 2025 on a trip to Japan for the reopening of Apple Ginza in Tokyo.

There are several Pokémon-themed games available on Apple's platforms, including Pokémon GO, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, Pokémon UNITE, and Pokémon Champions.

Tags: John Ternus, Pokemon, Tim Cook

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Top Rated Comments

CalMin

7 weeks ago

Either I accidentally ate an edible at lunch, or Tim Cook just introduced his successor to Pikachu at Apple Park.

Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)

adomadosado

7 weeks ago

There to remind John who’s really in charge.

Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Ctrlos

7 weeks ago

I mean it will probably never happen but if Nintendo released the old Gameboy games on iOS at $10 a pop they’d make a fortune.

Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)

timshundo

7 weeks ago

Imagine being a suit and having to deal with nonsense like this for media relations. I wouldn't tolerate it personally.

It's ****ing Nintendo. This is their bread and butter.

The suit in question btw. Literally one of the inventors of Pokemon.

Reminded that this forum is just a bunch of ghouls.

Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Naraxus

7 weeks ago

What a sad pile-of-piss on everything bunch of posters some of you are. Can't even have a cute article go by without some of you taking digs & cheapshots. Smh.

Find better things to occupy your time with.

Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)