Pokemon Go Announces Plans to Release Region-Exclusive Costumed Pokemon

Pokemon Go plans to add region-exclusive costumed Pokemon to the game, beginning next month. Earlier today, Pokemon Go announced that it would be adding a special Pikachu wearing an Okinawan kariyushi shirt to celebrate the launch of Pokemon Air Adventures, a new travel initiative featuring themed Pokemon jets and more. The new costumed Pikachu will only be available in Okinawa Japan, and will be available for "over a year," implying that it's a limited release Pokemon. Niantic also announced that it planned to release more costumed Pokemon that are exclusive to certain parts of the world. No other information was provided immediately, but Pokemon Go promised more details about these plans soon.

Region exclusivity has been a part of Pokemon Go since the game launched in 2016, with some Pokemon only appearing in certain parts of the world. At first, these Pokemon were based on continent, but Pokemon Go has narrowed some Pokemon's availability down to certain hemispheres, certain latitudes, or certain regions. For instance, Corsola only appears in sub-tropical or tropical areas, while Carnivine only appears in the southeastern United States.

However, this marks the first time that Pokemon Go planned to make a costumed Pokemon exclusive to a certain region. In some ways, making costumed Pokemon exclusive to a certain region makes a bit more sense. Costumed Pokemon are largely exclusive to Pokemon Go and they don't interfere with a player's ability to fill their Pokedex. Additionally, most areas of the world already have one or more Pokemon exclusive to their region and this provides Pokemon Go with a way to continue building region exclusive content once it (eventually) adds every Pokemon to the game.

As part of its upcoming celebration of Pokemon Air Adventures, Pokemon Go will also add Shiny Corsola to the game for the first time. While the kariyushi Pikachu will only be available for a limited time, Shiny Corsola will be a permanent addition. Both Corsola and the costumed Pikachu will be available in Okinawa, but Shiny Corsola will also be available wherever Corsola usually appears.

The kariyushi Pikachu and Shiny Corsola will both be added to Pokemon Go on July 22nd.