Chicago’s Field Museum Features Real Life Pokémon Fossils!

Originally published on June 3, 2026. This article discusses news and information about the Pokémon Fossil Museum. It includes details about the overall exhibition, the history of the project beginning in Japan, and the latest stop at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

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Calling all Pokémon Trainers! Have you ever wanted to immerse yourself in the history and science behind your favorite pocket monsters? With the Pokémon Fossil Museum, now you can.

Launched in Mikasa City, Hokkaido in 2021, this interactive, traveling, ticketed exhibition was created through a collaboration between the Pokémon Company and Japan’s National Museum of Nature and Science. Now the Pokemon Fossil Museum is making its first stop outside of Japan at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois from May 22, 2026 to April 11, 2027.

Want to know more so you can start planning your journey to the Field Museum? Here is what the Pokémon Fossil Museum is all about:

• Excavator Pikachu is the exhibition mascot.
• The museum features life-size models of fossil Pokémon and new illustrations.
• Real-world fossils and prehistoric creatures are also on display.
• The Pokémon Fossil Museum consulted real scientists for their expertise.
• A virtual tour of the museum is still available online.

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Excavator Pikachu is the exhibition mascot.

• Excavator Pikachu is an exclusive costume variant of Pikachu introduced when the Pokémon Fossil Museum launched.
• This version of Pikachu is featured heavily in the merchandising and marketing of the museum exhibit.

Many unique Pokémon events, stores, and experiences have mascot characters on the marketing and merch. Fans can almost always expect to see the universally beloved Pikachu featured in some way.

The full Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibit features dozens of fossil Pokémon (and their evolutions), but the traveling installation introduces fans to an exclusive new costume variant of the electric rodent — Excavator Pikachu!

Excavator Pikachu wears a light blue work shirt, a dark blue vest, a red bandana and a wide-brimmed hat topped with a small ammonite-style fossil. In its hand, it carries an excavation pick, greeting visitors and welcoming them into the scientific world behind their favorite fictional characters.

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The museum features life-size models of fossil Pokémon and new illustrations.

• The Pokémon Fossil Museum features “life-size”, three-dimensional models of many fossil and dinosaur-like Pokémon and their evolutions.
• These models depict the imagined skeletons of Pokémon alongside information and displays about their real-world inspirations.
• Biological illustrator Genya Masukawa and artist Hitoshi Ariga created new illustrations for the exhibition.

In the Pokémon games, players can discover ancient fossils that can be revived into living Pokémon through scientific research. These fossil Pokémon have long been a staple of the media franchise, but never before have fans gotten to see their full fictional skeletons. The Pokémon Fossil Museum features brand-new illustrations and life-size, three-dimensional sculptures of full skeletal representations of many iconic characters.

The exhibition also features unique illustrations and key art from the Pokémon series designed by biological illustrator Genya Masukawa and artist Hitoshi Ariga. These two-dimensional artworks further immerse guests in the interactive exhibit, with Pokémon professors, scientists, and diagrams deepening the connections between our world history and the franchise’s origins.

Some of the Pokémon sculptures featured in the exhibit include:

• Aerodactyl
• Anorith
• Archen and its evolved form Archeops (Archeops is a new addition to the Chicago stop!)
• Aurorus
• Bastiodon
• Kabuto and its evolved form Kabutops
• Lileep
• Omanyte and its evolved form Omastar
• Rampardos
• Relicanth
• Tirtouga
• Tyrunt and its evolved form Tyrantrum

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Real-world fossils and prehistoric creatures are also on display.

• The Pokémon Fossil Museum showcases the scientific research of paleontology in the exhibits.
• Fans can see fossil Pokémon alongside the real prehistoric creatures and fossils that inspired their designs.
• Depending on which museum the exhibition is displayed at, various real-world fossils may also be available for viewing.
• At the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, guests can also see the famous Sue the T. Rex, an archaeopteryx, and more.

The Pokémon Fossil Museum artfully combines the fictional world with paleontological knowledge in the real world. There is factual science to be seen and discovered throughout the experience. Diagrams and various visual explorations will help guide guests on their exciting journey.

The real fossils on display with each museum stop depend on the host museum’s capacity and available materials. Visitors to the Field Museum can also view Sue the T. Rex, one of the most extensive and best-preserved specimens of a Tyrannosaurus rex in the world. See how this fearsome tyrant lizard inspired the development of Pokémon Tyrunt and Tyrantrum!

Plus, museum guests can also see the Chicago archaeopteryx, which is only one of 10 of these creature fossils on display in the world, and the only located in a major city in the Western Hemisphere. This historical creature inspired the evolutionary line of Archen and Archeops.

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The Pokémon Fossil Museum consulted real scientists for their expertise.

• The concept for the Pokémon Fossil Museum was proposed and developed by Dr. Daisuke Aiba of Japan.
• Many academic researchers and scientists have been consulted on the exhibition, as well as official Pokémon Company representatives.
• Three academic curators are supporting the Chicago, IL stop — Dr. Arjan Mann, Dr. Akiko Shina, and Dr. Jingmai O’Connor.

Bringing the scientific world and the fictional world into conversation for this exhibit was taken very seriously. From its inception, the Pokémon Fossil Museum consulted scientists, academic staff, and peer reviewers to ensure that the paleontological information presented is accurate and engaging. Some of these contributors were even drawn in new, original artwork by Misaki Yoshikawa. This art depicts them as Pokémon professor characters throughout exhibit materials.

Senior researcher Dr. Daisuke Aiba of the Mikasa City Museum originally proposed and developed the exhibit beginning in 2019, serving as the chief curator. It has traveled to over 15 different museums across Japan, with the Field Museum in Chicago, IL being the first stop outside of the country.

At the Field Museum, three academic curators are credited with supporting the exhibit — Dr. Arjan Mann, Dr. Akiko Shina, and Dr. Jingmai O’Connor. They each received unique in-world artistic depictions of themselves for the new exhibit materials as well.

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A virtual tour of the museum is still available online.

• A web-browser virtual tour of the Pokémon Fossil Museum launched in July 2022 and is currently still available.
• This virtual tour is virtual reality compatible for those with VR headsets. Oculus Quest 2 is the recommended viewing equipment.

At the time of writing this, the Pokémon Fossil Museum virtual tour is still live and functioning for fans who want to browse through the curated experience from the comfort of their homes. It can be accessed on a web browser, smartphone, or VR headset.

Through the 3D capture, viewers can navigate the space as it was laid out at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo. There are incredibly high-quality scans and renders of the space you can move around. (Note, the exhibit text is all in Japanese.)

Get up close and personal with the fictional fossils of your favorite prehistoric Pokémon. See the real tools of the trade used by scientists and paleontologists worldwide!

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