This past Friday was not without some exciting news from the Pokemon Center!
Although not exactly new, next month’s Monthly Pikachu was announced on the main website, along with his little story. I had a feeling we would see a raincoat Pikachu for June, as June in rainy season in Japan, and I am definitely not disappointed with the design! Thankfully, this plush comes out right before I leave for my summer break in America, which means I get to pick the perfect raincoat Pika with the perfect cute face.
My prediction for July’s Monthly Pikachu is “Tanabata Pikachu”. Tanabata (literally “the seventh evening”) is a Chinese originated Japanese festival that falls on the 7th of July and celebrates the reunion between the two deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (Vega and Altair). Legend states these two deities are separated by the Milky Way all year except for one day, when they can meet temporarily. One traditional form of celebration is to write wishes on pieces of paper (tanzaku) and hang them on bamboo. The pieces of paper are often burned or set afloat (or both) after the festival is finished. There are many Tanabata festivals all throughout Japan, offering usual festival goodies, especially delicious festival food.
And now that I have my prediction written down, watch me be completely wrong!
The next expansion pack for the official Pokemon card game was announced. Bandit Ring comes in the usual single pack containing 5 cards and goes on sale June 20th. Although the official listing of cards included in the expansion pack will most likely leak closer to release, we know for sure that Hoopa will be included. At this moment, there are no deck sleeves or other related merchandise listed on the website, but this might also change over the next month or so.
Finally, the most exciting (or stressful!) news of the day – the next Pokemon Time series is coming out June 6th, and this year, the focus is on Eeveelutions. I am both elated and annoyed. Last year’s Pokemon Time was semi boring for me as I didn’t really collect any of the plush and I don’t even think I bought anything. This year, I figured I would be safe to go back to the States for the summer to escape the Tokyo heat and humidity as the last year’s movie related merchandise was boring, and I have no interest in this year’s movie. The Pokemon Center must have found out and decided to punish me for escaping by bringing out Eevees. At least I have friends in Japan who can get me the things that I want, but I would have preferred to be here myself!
More information on merchandise will be announced closer to the end of May, so stay tuned! I am sure everything will be adorable.
