"Schillok and the Rest of the Summer": New POKÉTOON Short Film by Shingo Yamashita Released

With "Schillok and the Rest of the Summer" (Japanese original title "Kamēru to, Natsu no Tsuzuki"), a new installment of the Pokémon short animation series "POKÉTOON" has been released. The film premiered on August 12, 2026, on the official Pokémon YouTube channel. The series, which has been spotlighting individual Pokémon in their own short stories since 2020, has already produced 20 previous episodes, which have been viewed over 300 million times worldwide.

At the center of the new episode is the boy Rikut, who visits his grandmother on an island at the end of summer. There, he encounters an unusually old Schillok, whose shell is covered in moss and whose tail has a different color than described in the Pokédex. As Rikut discovers, this Schillok was already a friend of his father 30 years ago, when his father was still a child. The plot thus picks up on the Pokédex lore, according to which the tail of a Schillok changes color with age. Until nightfall, Rikut and the old Schillok play with numerous wild Pokémon in the water—a memory of a single summer day that connects past and present.

The fact that a Schillok is at the center of its own story is a special feature: the middle evolution stage between Schiggy and Turtok has rarely appeared as a main character in the series so far. Shingo Yamashita is responsible for the direction, who has already worked in the world of Pokémon multiple times with "Pokémon: Twilight Wings" and several POKÉTOON episodes, and is especially known for the opening sequences of "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Chainsaw Man." His film "Chō Kaguya-hime!" ("Cosmic Princess Kaguya!"), released on Netflix in January 2026, was his debut as director of a feature-length animated film. The animation was created in collaboration between Yamashita's studio Chromato and Studio Colorido.

In the main roles of the Japanese version, Ayaka Senbongi as Rikut, Kana Hanazawa as Schillok, Yū Hatano as Gaku, Akiko Hiramatsu as Shuri, Natsumi Haruse as Folipurba, and Michiyo Murase as Knofensa can be heard. The screenplay is by Satsuki Aya, the character designs and overall animation are handled by Riki Miura, and the music was composed by Kyōsuke Kagawa.