Days Before Apple Changes CEOs, Pikachu Showed Up at Apple Park

Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus met The Pokémon Company team and Pikachu at Apple Park on Thursday. Tim Cook shared the visit on X ahead of the September 1 handover.

Cook gives up day-to-day control next week. The meeting, therefore, introduced Apple’s next chief to one of the biggest franchises in gaming.

Apple CEO John Ternus Talks Gaming Before the Handover

Cook kept the tone light. He set out a three-item agenda for the day, namely introducing Ternus to the Pokémon team, discussing gaming, and keeping Pikachu away from the Apple Park pond. Two of the three worked, he joked.

The video he posted follows Pikachu across the campus. The mascot dances under the rainbow arch and helps itself to fruit in the orchard. The pond, judging by Cook’s punchline, won in the end.

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

Ternus arrives with a low public profile after two decades inside Apple’s hardware engineering group. Apple named him chief executive in April. Cook has led the company since 2011 and keeps his board seat as executive chairman.

Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and chief executive of The Pokémon Company, joined the visit. Pokémon has shipped mobile titles on iOS for a decade. Apple, meanwhile, keeps treating games as a services growth engine.

Apple shares closed at $314.58 on Thursday, up 0.36% on the day. The stock has added 37.6% over the past year. It has slipped 7.5% in the past month, however, after the Q3 earnings reaction in late July.

Ternus also takes the job eight days before Apple’s September 9 iPhone keynote. Apple has billed the event with the line “Surprise and shine,” and the iPhone 18 Pro, plus a first foldable iPhone lead expectations.

Nintendo Stock Climbs as Pokémon Worlds Opens in San Francisco

Nintendo gained 3.5% to ¥9,032 in Tokyo on Friday, or about $57 at current rates. The stock still trades roughly 38% under its ¥14,630 record from last year, worth close to $92.

Nintendo co-owns The Pokémon Company with Game Freak and Creatures. Pokémon revenue therefore reaches Nintendo indirectly, on top of Switch software sales.

Nintendo’s fiscal 2026 revenue nearly doubled to ¥2.31 trillion, around $14.5 billion, as Switch 2 shipped. Management has since reaffirmed guidance of 16.5 million Switch 2 units for the current year.

The timing helps. The Pokémon World Championships open at San Francisco’s Moscone Center on Friday and run through Sunday. Gaming has moved markets repeatedly this month. Take-Two lost billions in value after a GTA 6 leak, then answered with a Netflix reveal.

For crypto readers, the Apple CEO handover matters less for games than for App Store policy. Ternus inherits the rules that decide how wallets and payment apps reach iPhone users, an overlooked crypto angle of the transition.

Apple CEO John Ternus starts on September 1. Cook stays on as executive chairman, however, so his influence does not disappear overnight. The September keynote should show how much of Apple’s gaming talk turns into product.