‘Pokémon Go’ Teams Up With ‘One Piece’ To Help Kumamoto Reconstruction After 2016 Japan Earthquake

Pokémon Go will be collaborating with One Piece starting next week. Players will be able to start catching Pikachu that are wearing a straw hat, the same kind worn by One Piece protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. The event will be unlocked July 22, and is part of supporting the Kumamoto Prefecture reconstruction project, the area that was hit by an earthquake back in 2016 that devastated plenty of cities in Japan.

The creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, is a native of Kumamoto and has contributed to its restoration throughout the three years since the devastation. This isn’t the first time Kumamoto was supported by Pokémon Go; they previously helped by spawning Snorlax in the area to help attract players to come visit more frequently. This time it’ll be a world-wide event, allowing Trainers across the globe to catch special Pikachu and purchase their own straw hat for their avatars through the in-game Style Shop. Players will also earn triple the amount of the typical XP they get for capturing Pokémon during the Kumamoto event.

In related news, Mudkip is the featured Pokémon of the month and will have an increased chance of spawning around you. The Water-type Pokémon debuted back in 2001’s Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. Also, strong Trainers can encounter armored Mewtwo this month in five-star raid battles. This Mewtwo’s design is taken from the new Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution film, and this incarnation of the legendary Psychic-type also harbors different stats than the standard Mewtwo.

The One Piece Kumamoto Pikachu Straw Hat event will start on July 22 and run through the 29, and players can obtain the stylish Pikachu during that period. Visiting the in-game store will help contribute to the reconstruction of the area that was devastated during the 2016 Japan earthquake.