Apple CEO Tim Cook will officially step down as CEO on September 1, with Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus taking over. During his final week in office, Pikachu and the Pokémon team paid a visit to Apple Park for a rare and fun interaction, which in a way seemed to serve as a symbolic handover ceremony—Cook isn’t just passing the company to Ternus, but also transferring his network of connections.
Cook’s connection with Pokémon runs deep. In September 2025, when he traveled to Japan for the reopening of Apple Ginza, he met Pikachu during his trip and posed for photos, sharing them on X at the time. During that Japan visit, Cook also stopped by Bandai Namco Studios to try out the iOS game *Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra*, showing his continued interest in the gaming industry. This meeting at Apple Park marked the second time Cook appeared in the same frame with the “Electric Mouse,” except this time, he was joined by Ternus, who is set to take over the reins.
Met Pikachu, connected with developers using our software features in amazing ways, and played Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra at Bandai Namco… Japan is a gamer’s paradise! pic.twitter.com/WIilg7NWrM
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 24, 2025
The imaginative space of the three characters “聊遊戲”
2026 Pokémon World ChampionshipsOn the eve of the Pokémon World Championships, which took place in San Francisco from August 28 to 30, the Pokémon team’s visit to Apple Park occurred exactly one day before the tournament, inevitably sparking speculation about potential further collaboration between the two parties.
Currently, the Apple App Store already features several Pokémon-related games, including Pokémon GO, Pokémon TCG Pocket, Pokémon Champions, and Pokémon Sleep. In the video, Cook handed an apple to Pikachu, and Tsunekazu Ishihara even used Pokémon GO to summon the apple-based Pokémon Applin, which many netizens saw as a deliberate and playful touch.
What trouble did Pikachu get into?
As for the video itself, Pikachu’s “adventure” at Apple Park was the biggest highlight of the meeting. In the video, Pikachu can be seen running around the campus, first drawn to the apple trees and trying to pick apples from them, then ignoring Cook’s “polite request” and heading straight for the pond. This also echoes Cook’s self-deprecating remark in his post that “two out of three things were accomplished.” Clearly, the task of “asking Pikachu not to jump into the pond” was not fulfilled.
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
With only days to go before Apple’s September event, Pikachu’s visit to Apple Park at this time, along with Cook’s specific mention of “talking about games,” has added plenty of room for imagination about the upcoming launch.
Conclusion
Regardless of whether this meeting implies deeper business collaboration, one fact is clear: in the final moments before Tim Cook steps down, he chose to introduce the Pokémon team to John Ternus. This means the relationship between Apple and The Pokémon Company will continue under Ternus’s tenure. And for players worldwide, more than speculating about whether the two companies are planning something big, what they might look forward to is: the next time Pikachu visits Apple Park, will it successfully jump into the pond.
Source: KOCPC Chinese