Shota Kageyama, composer for Pokémon X and Y and the man responsible for the music in Pokémon games since HeartGold and SoulSilver, has decided to step away from Game Freak, he announced on Twitter.

On New Year’s Day, Kageyama tweeted that after being with Game Freak for over six and a half years he was planning to pursue personal ventures and leaving to form a new band called Spica Musica.

Besides Pokémon, Kageyama has contributed music to Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Atlus’s Luminous Arc. He also scored the recent Pocket Monsters: The Origin anime special.

Kageyama added that he still plans on working in game music even though he’s going independent. According to the composer, his Game Freak colleagues were supportive of the decision and he would not say this was a farewell to everyone there, since he thinks it’d be great if they could work together again in the future.