Pokemon Happy Meals Land Nov. 10: Gotta Catch ‘Em All
Calling all Pokemon trainers: Are you hungry? On Nov. 10, Pokemon Happy Meals are returning to participating McDonald’s restaurants. Each Happy Meal will include one of 15 collectible Pokemon toys and two of 15 collectible Pokemon cards.
The Pokemon-themed Happy Meal comes with the standard menu options. You (or your child, or both of you) choose between the Hamburger meal and the four- or six-piece Chicken McNuggets meal, each including a kid-sized fry order, a side of apple slices and a beverage.
Customers can also scan the QR code on their Happy Meal box to access a digital game featuring the 15 Pokemon Happy Meal toys hidden throughout a virtual classroom and playground.
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The toys are Bulbasaur, Charmander, Eevee, Espurr, Minccino, Munchlax, Pikachu, Piplup, Rowlet, Sobble, Sprigatito, Squirtle, Torchic, Umbreon and Weedle. The figurines of each character are shaped like a Happy Meal box and squared off, with the Golden Arches as handles.
In addition to the 15 toys, there are 15 different Happy Meal boxes, one for each Pokemon. Don’t let Torchic overhear this, but it looks uncomfortably like a McNugget.
The promotion launches Nov. 10, but if you’re intent on landing one of the meals, don’t wait. Whenever Pokemon cards and toys are involved, there’s almost always a rush and items sell out quickly. McDonald’s tells me the promotion will continue while supplies last, but that could be a very short window.
In August 2025, McDonald’s Japan ran a similar Pokemon Happy Meal promotion and was swamped by scalpers buying up the meals for the included Pokemon cards (and then wasting the food). The company ended up restricting customers to a maximum purchase of three Happy Meals per group. Once that limit was created, only Pokemon toys, not cards, were handed out with the meals, our sibling site IGN reported.
I’ve reached out to McDonald’s to ask if similar purchase limits will be enforced in the US, and will update this story with any news.
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line. See full bio
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