Fender's Pokémon Guitars Have a Hidden 8-Bit Mode, and in Japan You Have to Win a Lottery to Buy One

The Red Version Stratocaster and Green Version Telecaster add Game Boy-style tones at the press of the volume knob, cost 396,000 yen each and go to lottery winners first.

TOKYO - Thirty years after Pokémon Red and Green first appeared on the Game Boy in Japan, the games are coming back as electric guitars with a trick built in. Fender Music Corporation Japan and Pokémon Center, the company that runs the official Pokémon stores, on Friday announced a Made in Japan Pokémon “Red Version” Stratocaster and a “Green Version” Telecaster, each with what the companies call an “8-Bit Sound System,” according to Fender’s announcement.

Press the volume knob and the system mixes 8-bit sounds into the guitar’s natural output, a tone Fender says is meant to recall the background music of the original games. Each guitar costs 396,000 yen including tax.

The Red Version Stratocaster carries pixel-art graphics under a pickguard that shifts color with the viewing angle. Image: Fender / Pokémon Center

Buying one in Japan takes luck as well as money. The guitars will be sold only through a lottery on Pokémon Center Online, with applications open from noon on Nov. 19 to 4:59 p.m. on Nov. 24, Japan time. Shipping is limited to addresses in Japan, and the companies say results will be announced on the store’s site later.

Fans in the United States will get a different route. Pokémon’s American site says the pair will be offered for preorder through Pokémon Center “soon,” though the guitars “won’t release until 2027,” according to the company’s post. It did not give a U.S. price.

Screenshot: @Pokemon on X, Oct. 30, 2026 Screenshot: @Pokemon on X

The design work goes well past a paint job. Both bodies are covered in pixel art drawn from the original games, and the pickguards have pixelated edges and a fluorescent-like effect that changes as the light moves. Guitar World reports Poké Ball inlays on the fretboards, rosewood on the Stratocaster and maple on the Telecaster. A neck plate is engraved with a pixel-art logo for the 30th anniversary, and each guitar ships in a hard case with an illustrated certificate of authenticity and a tin of 11 picks, 10 with Pokémon pixel art and one marking the anniversary.

The Green Version Telecaster pairs a maple neck with green pixel-art graphics. Image: Fender / Pokémon Center

Underneath, the two guitars are tuned differently. Fender says the Stratocaster uses custom high-output single-coil pickups for a “powerful, focused tone,” while the Telecaster’s custom single coils aim for balanced output and the crisp highs the model is known for.

Control knobs on the Stratocaster, left, and the Telecaster. Pressing the volume knob turns on the 8-Bit Sound System. Image: Fender / Pokémon Center

“For 80 years, Fender has helped generations express themselves through music, while Pokémon has inspired creativity and imagination around the world,” Giorgio Guerrini, president of Fender Asia Pacific, said in the announcement.

The custom neck plate marks the Pokémon 30th anniversary. Image: Fender / Pokémon Center

Fender has made collector guitars before, but few that ask a player to push a knob and hear a handheld game console. Pokémon’s official YouTube channel posted a short clip of both guitars on Friday, and the bigger test comes on Nov. 19, when the lottery opens and shows how many fans want one.

Video: The Official Pokémon YouTube channel