adidas is putting Mewtwo on the ZX 8000 as part of the Pokemon 30th anniversary collection, in a colorway listed as Ice Lavender, Violet Fusion, and Bliss Lilac.
The ZX 8000 is a 1989 running shoe and one of the models that introduced adidas Torsion to a wide audience. It has spent most of the last fifteen years as a collaboration platform, largely because the layered nylon and suede panels hand a partner five or six separate surfaces to work with. That makes it a natural fit for a character shoe.
Here the purples get split across those panels, with molded heel pieces and a Master Ball lace dubrae doing the character work instead of a printed graphic. It is a more restrained approach than the Superstars in the same collection, which carry faces, flames, and in Charizard’s case removable wings.
The wider collection stretches across the Superstar, Pro Model, Samba, Handball Spezial, ZX 8000, Megaride F50, and several adiStar silhouettes. To me the range is the real story. adidas is not treating this as a two-shoe licensing exercise. It is running a franchise partner across nearly the entire Originals catalog, which is closer to how the brand handles a fashion house than a cartoon, and it says something about where licensed product now sits on the priority list.
Release details: $170. September 2026. Style code KI5326.
Where to buy: adidas and select retailers.
More adidas coverage is here.
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