There are many noble Pokemon in the world that I could see taking on ambassadorial roll, but I have to say that the floating rock ‘mon Geodude wasn’t one of them.
It’s not that Geodude isn’t a good, reliable Pokemon to have in your corner, it’s just… well, it’s a rock with arms that hovers slightly above the ground. I just never pegged it for a life as a tourism ambassador for Japan.
Clearly I know nothing, since that’s exactly what’s happened. NintendoLife reports that Japan’s Iwate Prefecture has partnered with the Pokémon Company to officially crown Geodude as the official tourism ambassador for the area.
It does make a certain kind of sense, I’m told, as Geodude was selected because Iwate’s kanji literally translates to “rock” and “hand.”Fair enough, then.
Obviously whichever poor soul they stuffed into a Geodude costume doesn’t actually have the ability to float above the ground without the use of legs, so they’ve opted to adorn his legs with a white and grey pattern. I think the idea is that we won’t really notice the limbs sticking out from the bottom of Geodude, but the actual result is just a little bit terrifying in my opinion.
The Huffington Post in Japan asked about this practical – if unusual – design choice, and a representative from The Pokemon Company said they wanted “Geodude to have an appropriate form” and were keen for everyone to have a “pleasant encounter” with the Pokemon.
Oh, and Geodude has its own official theme song now, because of course it does. I’m honestly really glad that the OG rock Pokemon is finally getting some time in the sun. Why not celebrate with me by checking out the Geodude song below? You might say it… rocks.
No but seriously, the song does actually have a pretty cool punk/surf rock vibe to it, and I’m fully here for it.
In other Pokemon news, it was recently revealed that reprinted Ancient Mew cards will be given away at screenings of the upcoming Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution. Give us Ancient Geodude, you cowards.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.