Pokémon x adidas Calls This a Superstar II Mid. Everyone Else Calls It a Pro Model.

The loudest shoe in the Pokémon x adidas 30th anniversary collection is a yellow pony hair mid with a Pikachu tail hanging off the laces, and nobody agrees on what it is called. Sneaker Bar Detroit and most of the sneaker press have it as a Pro Model. adidas, on its own product page and in its only corporate announcement of the collection, calls it a Superstar II Mid. Both camps have a real case, and the reason is older than either name.

A correction to this post first, since we ran the other version. We originally published this shoe as a Pro Model, following the release reporting. adidas’ own listing for KI2862 reads Pokémon SST II Mid, the URL slug says the same, and adidas Japan’s September announcement lists it as a Superstar II Mid at ¥24,200 with no Pro Model anywhere in the document. The brand’s name is the one that governs, so the name at the top of this page has changed.

Here is why the confusion is legitimate rather than sloppy. The Superstar is the low-cut Pro Model. adidas built the Pro Model in 1965 alongside the low-top Supergrip as its first basketball shoes, and the Superstar arrived afterwards as the low cut of the same idea, with the same molded rubber shell toe. adidas dates that arrival to 1970 on its own pages while Wikipedia says 1969 and most of the internet follows Wikipedia. Either way, a mid-cut shell toe lands exactly on the seam where the two models were once the same shoe, which is why an experienced eye reads it as a Pro Model and why adidas can file it under Superstar without lying.

What is actually on it, per adidas’ own description: a mid-cut upper in yellow pony hair, oversized Pokémon detailing, Pikachu’s tail fitted as a lace charm, and two collectible lace charms in the box. It is a texture exercise rather than a graphic one, which is the harder version to pull off. Descriptions of the heel differ across outlets, one calling it a charm that nearly spans the height of the upper, another a puffy badge, another a chenille patch, so treat that detail as unsettled.

The useful comparison is not another Pokémon shoe, it is the last Pokémon shoe. When adidas and Pokémon worked together in January 2020, the franchise did not get a heritage silhouette. That collection ran on the Advantage, the Hoops Mid 2.0 and the Phosphere, entry level and kids’ product, announced through a vice president of core apparel and accessories rather than through Originals. Six years later Pokémon gets the Superstar family, the Samba OG, the Handball Spezial and the ZX 8000. That escalation is the story, not the pony hair.

Look at how Pikachu specifically is handled and a second decision shows up. The character gets three shoes and all three are Superstars, two low and this mid. Mewtwo is spread across a Samba OG, a Handball Spezial and a ZX 8000. Rayquaza gets an F50, an Adistar Control 5 and a ZX 500. The most valuable character in the franchise never leaves the model adidas can sell the most of, and the silhouette experiments went to characters with smaller followings. The two low-tops are covered separately here.

adidas has not confirmed a United States price for the mid, and nobody credible has either. Sneaker Bar Detroit’s collection table carries hard prices for eleven other pairs in this run and lists this one as TBA. Resale platforms posted $180 ahead of release, which is a listing rather than an announcement. What is confirmed is the Japanese figure, ¥24,200, which is roughly half again what the two Pikachu low-tops cost there at ¥16,500 and ¥17,600. Anyone quoting this one at $110 alongside the low-tops has it wrong.

Style code is KI2862. Japan has had it since September 15, sold through adidas stores, adidas.jp and select retailers, with the wider release reported for September 22 at adidas.com. adidas’ global newsroom has published nothing about this collection, and the only corporate announcement of it anywhere is a Japanese language filing from adidas Japan, which is why the American coverage disagrees with itself on so much.

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The Sneakers Team

The Sneakers Team is the editorial desk behind becausesneakers, founded and edited by Nick Engvall. Nick has spent more than two decades in the sneaker industry. He built the original Eastbay Blog, led the first dedicated sneaker team at Complex, ran the first UGC and seeding programs at Finish Line, was employee number nine at StockX, and served as Senior Director at Stadium Goods. He hosts the Sneaker History podcast, and his first book, Small Luxuries: Sneakers, arrives in October 2026 from Motorbooks. Release details on this site are checked against the brand's own product information before publication, and anything we cannot confirm is labelled rather than stated.

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