Joe Jonas helped front a limited-time Pokémon collection that launched at Target as the franchise marked 30 years, a project that arrived with the kind of nostalgia he says still drives what people buy, wear and sing along to. Fresh off a surprise Coachella performance with Teddy Swims, Jonas said the collaboration fit the same instinct that now powers his music career: when something feels real, people respond.
“I met Teddy a couple of years ago in London and was completely floored,” Jonas said, adding that Swims delivered “one of the best live performances I’ve seen.” The surprise set came just before he sat down to talk about the Target collection, giving the moment an extra lift: a pop star who grew up on trading cards and a singer he had long admired sharing the same burst of attention.
Jonas said he has been a Pokémon fan since he was a kid and still keeps his red binder. He used to collect the cards, and, he said, “at one point, I was even teased for it.” Now, he said, the appeal is obvious. “Authenticity wins,” he said, calling nostalgia “part of our DNA” and adding that “the good old days are now.”
That view fits the moment at Target, where the anniversary collection is aimed at people who grew up with the franchise and younger fans discovering it for the first time. Jonas said his own household made room for it, even when his parents were careful about what the family watched. “Pokémon was always okay,” he said. “It was fun, it was cute, and we were outside playing with the cards.”
He also turned the conversation toward family, casting his brothers in Pokémon terms. “Kevin is Charizard,” Jonas said. “He deserves it. Nick? Detective Pikachu - not just Pikachu,” he added. Asked which character he would be, he chose Squirtle. “I love water. I live in Miami - it feels right,” he said.
The timing matters because Jonas said he is moving out of a quieter start to the year spent writing and creating and into a much busier stretch. “It’s non-stop now,” he said. The Jonas Brothers are taking on international tour dates and Las Vegas shows, and new music is on the way. “We’re staying quite busy,” he said, a line that captures where he is now: part nostalgia pitchman, part touring artist, and fully back in motion.
For Jonas, the connection between Pokémon and music is simple. Fans keep showing up for the things that shaped them, and he says that includes his own story. “We’re seeing fans bring their kids - and even their grandkids - to our shows now,” he said. In his telling, that is why the cards, the concerts and the anniversary campaign all land at once: they are built for people who never stopped caring.