One Piece Creator Hides Surprise in Pokemon Go for Special Crossover Event

One Piece fans are the definition of ride-or-die followers, and their devotion is all thanks to one person. Eiichiro Oda, the creator of the series, inspires just as easily as Monkey D. Luffy does. The artist has become a bonafide icon, and it seems Oda has a special gift in store for fans who happen to enjoy Pokemon Go.

And no, we're not talking about the special One Piece event going on with Pokemon Go. Oda dropped an even bigger surprise in the game but fans have to know where to look.

Over on Reddit, fans were met with the special gift when a Pokemon Go player shared a screenshot of their game. A user known as Hoosier_Jedi informed netizens that Luffy's statue in Japan has been turned into a Pokestop and features an original piece of art from Oda.

In Pokémon Go, Luffy’s statue is now a Pokéstop. If you go there, you can see an original piece of art from Oda. from r/OnePiece

As you can see above, the artwork is simple enough. Fans can see the sketch is a colored one which Oda penned to honor the Straw Hat's collaboration with Pokemon. Luffy can be seen wearing an ornate red-and-gold jacket with his usual hat placed atop his head. The pirate is all smiles as he raises a fist into the air, and fans admit they'd do a lot to spin this Pokestop on their profile.

However, fans will have to be in Japan to do as much. This statue is located in Oda's hometown, so it would take a fair bit of traveling for U.S. gamers to get over there. However, they can enjoy Pokemon Go's special collaboration from home in other ways. Currently, gamers can catch a special Pikachu in-game that wears a straw hat like the one Luffy wears. You can even pick up one of these hats for your Pokemon Go avatar, so fans can bring a bit of Grand Line spirit with them whenever they raid.

So, have you caught yourself a so-called Luffychu yet? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.