Pokemon GO Announces Collab with One Piece in Support of Kumamoto Prefecture

Expect more cuteness with the Pokemon GO’s newest collaboration! This time, it’s with the Straw Hat Pirates crew from One Piece, as the game’s Japanese Twitter account has announced that Pokemon GO will be collaborating with One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda.

The collaboration will feature a limited-edition Pikachu wearing Luffy’s straw hat appearing around the world for players to catch from July 22 to 29. The hat will also be available as an in-game item for players worldwide.

The collaboration is actually to support the revitalization campaign of the Kumamoto prefecture, which was hit by an earthquake in 2016. Eiichiro Oda, a native of Kumamoto, donated 800 million yen to the prefecture’s rehabilitation efforts. As a gesture of gratitude, the prefecture erected Straw Hat Pirates statues last April, with eight more being planned to be erected until next year. These statues will play a special role in the Pokemon GO collaboration, as these will be turned into in-game PokeStops.

One Piece was first released in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in July 22, 1997. Written by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy who gained the ability of stretching his body like rubber after accidentally eating a Devil Fruit. Together with his band of pirates named the Straw Hat Pirates, he explores the Grand Line in search of the “One Piece”, hailed as the greatest treasure in the world and the key to become the next Pirate King. Since its publication, Oda’s magnum opus has enjoyed critical and commercial success in Japan and abroad, even setting a Guinness World Record in 2015 for “most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author”. In 1999, Toei Animation has adapted his work into a TV anime and has been running ever since, enjoying great popularity as well.

Source: Anime News Network