Pokémon Go’s found-footage Ultra Beast horror short films are great

On Saturday, Niantic and The Pokémon Company held the finale for Pokémon Go’s big Go Fest 2022 event, which spanned three months and culminated in players getting access to the mobile game’s Ultra Beasts. The people behind the event were able to watch the final moments unfold. Pokémon GoA series of short horror films featuring the Ultra Beasts was created to hype up the event. While there’s only about 90 seconds of footage in total, the shorts make a compelling argument for a Cloverfield-style Pokémon horror series or film — because who wouldn’t be terrified to see a hive of Buzzwole emerging from Seattle’s Space Needle?

For Pokémon fans who haven’t seen the shorts yet, they’re extremely well done. The first video shows Nihilego, the Ultra Beast Nihilego, relaxing in Tokyo’s underpass. A second later footage shows a large swarm Nihilego flying to the sky. The Ultra Beast Pheromosa is seen sprinting along the streets of Berlin, almost invisible to the naked eye. Footage was taken from a Berlin traffic camera. The best — and most terrifying — footage shows a Xurkitree draining the electricity from a Japanese office building, and attacking a man filming its feast.

Will The Pokémon Company ever make a feature-length version of these terrifying Pokémon tales? Unlikely. This company appears to be content with being family-friendly Detective Pikachu-style fare with the property, and it’s hard to fault it for that. But hopefully we’ll get something more substantial in his vein in the future, even if only for next year’s Go Fest event. Pokémon GoThere are still plenty of Ultra Beasts available, even the most frightening one: Blacephalon.