Pokémon’s latest teaser image looks straight out of Five Nights at Freddy’s

Out of nowhere, Pokémon just announced a YouTube premiere that’s scheduled for Thursday, August 21, with a very off-brand, eerie image. The new video is linked to Pokémon Legends: Z-A in some way and already has us speculating on what it could be.

We already received new information about Pokémon Legends: Z-A‘s four-person battles this week as part of the World Championships closing ceremony, but it seems that The Pokémon Company wants to keep the hype train chugging along towards the new Switch game. The official social media account post is extremely vague, simply stating that there will be a YouTube premiere on Thursday, with “viewer discretion advised.” Of course, it’s Pokémon, so it won’t be anything too scary, unless Game Freak has decided to turn this spin-off into a horror game.

The accompanying images are the real star of the show, revealing a chain link fence with a slash through it, surrounded by purple goo, and a similarly gooey disheveled building corridor. Many fans, including myself, have immediately attributed the purple ooze to a poison Pokémon, with some speculating on a new Eeveelution. The Kalos region was the last place we discovered a new evolution for the gen 1 Pokémon back in X and Y, but I think this is unlikely.

The more plausible cause of this “building incident”, in my opinion, is a new mega Pokémon form. Mega Dragonite’s appearance during the Pokémon Presents showcase proves that fresh mega forms aren’t off the table, so maybe a past poison Pokémon is getting an upgrade. The building image also features glitches, which brings paranormal activity to mind for me. The poison and ghost Pokémon, Gengar, already has a mega evolution, and the only other ‘mon with the same type combo is Pecharunt, and I don’t expect the newest mythical to get a new form so quickly.

Maybe a rogue Pokémon didn’t cause this incident, but it was instead orchestrated by humans. Corbeau of the Rust Syndicate specializes in poison types, and the official website tells us that he’s “up to his own business in Lumiose City,” suggesting that he could be the villain of the story. He could use his team of poison Pokémon to break into the building and do his bidding, without leaving behind any fingerprints.

It’s clear that there’s still plenty more to uncover about Lumiose City in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. The teaser video is set to premiere on the official Pokémon YouTube channel at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm BST on August 21, 2025, so make sure to check it out when it’s live. In the meantime, take a look at our Pokémon Legends: Z-A release date guide to find out more about the latest title.