Pokemon and Iwate team up to elect Geodude as tourism ambassador to the prefecture

There are tons of cute and cool Pokemon among the 700-plus creatures in the franchise, but Pikachu and Eevee always seem steal the limelight. That’s why we’re always happy to see another Pokemon get to take center stage, like Geodude. The rock-type creature that looks like a head with arms may not exactly be the cutest, or the coolest, or the strongest Pokémon around, but that didn’t stop Iwate Prefecture from picking it as their official Pokemon ambassador.

The choice wasn’t completely random, of course. The name Iwate combines the words for stone (岩, iwa), and hands (手, te), which is basically what a Geodude is, so it’s a perfect match!

The designation of Geodude as an ambassador had a major flaw, however, as the Pokémon doesn’t have legs, so how would they make it into a costume? The designers found a humorous solution to this problem, by decorating the legs in the transparent background pattern used in Illustrator and Photoshop, which effectively makes the legs “transparent”, for all intents and purposes!

Overall, with the transparent legs, the costume’s enormous, rocky head, and its scowling face and flexing arms, it looks pretty cool from afar (albeit with the potential to be slightly terrifying).

The Official Pokemon YouTube Channel has also released a promotional video with a catchy song, entitled “Iwa to Te! Iwate! Ishitsubute!” (“Stone and Hands! Iwate! Geodude!”, though sadly it does not ring nearly as well in English). It features the Iwate-born vocalist from the rock band SaToMansion and has an uptempo, fun beat to it.

▼ ♫♫“People say I’m tough / I’m a stone head of pride and endurance / But when I’m stepped on like some kind of pebble / I’m not gonna just quietly laugh and accept it!”♫♫

Putting aside the jarring legs in the costume, we are happy that Geodude is getting the respect it deserves, and we’ll look forward to seeing it in all the upcoming events that promote tourism in Iwate Prefecture. We’re also glad that Geodude isn’t the only overlooked Pokemon to land a gig as a prefectural ambassador; Slowpoke and both forms of Sandshrew have also been designated as local mascots (although their costumes are decidedly more appealing).

Source: Twitter/#いわて応援ポケモン (Iwate Ouen Pokemon), Otacom

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