As the official mascot for the Pokémon brand, Pikachu is perhaps the most recognizable and well known of all the hundreds of pocket monsters. But as of today, the electric yellow rodent better start working on his corner kicks, because he's been selected to represent yet another group.
Replacing the team's traditional three legged crow, Pikachu is stepping in as the mascot of the Japanese National Soccer Team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
Pokémon Soccer, now there's an idea. Hell, worked for Megaman...
Polygon reported over the weekend that Adidas, the team's official sponsor, and rights holder The Pokémon Company announced the team's choice. Obviously, the pokemon is definitely more well known for his ability to conduct electricity instead of fancy footwork, but that's actually why the yellow fur ball was picked. According to the outlet, "the partnership is part of Adidas' "Engine Project," which encourages players in uniform to act as a single "engine" and foster unity."
You can see the team and their new uniforms when they play their first 2014 World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on June 14.
So pikachu obviously has his work cut out for him, but later today, the remaining seven hundred and however many other pokémon there are will get a nice nap, becuase Pokémon X and Y are scheduled to go offline for maintenance later today. The maintenance begins at 1 PM PST / 4 PM EST and is set to end four hours later, 5 PM PST / 9 PM EST. So take the time to enjoy a guinness or four.
Pokémon X and Y released this past fall to rave reviews as well as great sales numbers. It's also been reported by Nintendo Life that Masuda expressed interest in making more Mega Evolutions, and the French influenced region will also appear as a stage in the next Smash Bros. game, as will at least one of the new legendary pokémon.
The games represent a radical change for the franchise, the top down perspective having been replaced with more of a three quarter perspective, and battles look radically different. As per usual, players will see several new pokémon, 5 of which were teased in the game's trailer at the time of the announcement. There's the usual array of new starter Pokémon, and each game will play host its own type of new, legendary Pokémon. And what's more, a number of classic Pokémon have earned mega-evolutions they can transform into during battle.
