Pokémon superfans touch grass: the National Trust is turning its Belton House estate into a real-life gotta-catch-em-all trail this summer.

If your childhood personality was choosing between Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur, this is your moment.

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From May through to September 2026, Pokémon is basically taking over the historic house and grounds in Lincolnshire and turning them into giant, slightly chaotic playgrounds.

In an official collab absolutely no-one saw coming, The Pokémon Company has teamed up with the National Trust to create official trails at a number of their properties across the UK. In the East Midlands, Belton House, we chose you!

So what’s actually happening?

The main event is a series of Pokémon Trading Card Game trails inspired by the Mega Evolution series. Starting from May 23rd and running until early September, you can rock up, grab a trail sheet, and head off on a self‑guided quest. No booking stress, no ticket panic — just turn up and get stuck in.

Each trail has ten stops, all themed around different Pokémon Energy types, so you’ll basically be wandering around the stately home and gardens pretending you’re on a quest.

And yes, it’s included in normal admission, or completely free if you’re one of those organised people with a National Trust membership.

This is all part of the National Trust’s annual “Summer of Play” programme — aka the thing where they try and convince kids to ditch screens and go outside by making it actually fun. This year though, they’ve clearly decided to go hard by bringing in one of the biggest franchises of all time.

So whether you’re dragging your younger siblings along or just leaning into the nostalgia yourself, you can now justify a trip to places like Belton House by saying it’s “for the activity” — when really, you’re just going to relive your Pokémon era.

No shame in that.