Kumamoto is a city on the Japanese island of Kyushu that was unfortunately hit by two earthquakes back in 2016, the disaster killed at least 50 people and injured nearly 3,000 others in total. Needless to say, the city was completely ravaged after the incident. While this wasn’t necessarily a joyful way of starting the news, the follow up is much more wholesome.
One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda is teaming up with The Pokémon Company, bringing a special event that will take place from July 22nd through July 29th in Pokémon GO, all for the sake of the Kumamoto Reconstruction, we say it’s a win-win! The Straw Hat Pirates are getting immortalized as actual statues in the Kumamoto prefecture and in Pokémon GO, well, they are Pokéstops! The event will also feature sequential images drawn by Oda himself forming a continuous manga. And yes, you’ve been waiting for it, YOU can also pick up Luffy’s straw hat as an avatar costume item. The icing on the cake, this event is also meant to celebrate Pokémon GO‘s third birthday in Japan.
Note that we still have no info on the impact of such an event in the west, while we obviously can’t join these Pokéstops from here, it would be nice to still have those themed costumes that could very well be rare collector items in the future.
Pokémon and One Piece are two of the biggest franchises ever created and this event while being a “cool news” over there in the west is absolutely gigantic in Japan. This also could open the gate for future partnerships with Pokémon GO, what franchise would you like joining the hunt to catch them all next?
