The upcoming Pokemon Go regional costumes collaboration with Pokemon Air Adventures has been postponed. The collaboration was due to begin on July 22nd and was to offer a series of region-specific bonuses to players, but the situation with COVID-19 in Japan has put paid to these plans.
Why have the Pokemon Go regional costumes collaboration been postponed?
Niantic shared the news of the collaboration's cancellation via Twitter and the official Pokemon Air Adventures website. The special event would have given players a chance to spot Pikachu wearing a special Okinawan kariyushi shirt (similar to an aloha shirt), as well as the opportunity to catch a shiny Corsola. There were also plans to paint certain manholes in Okinawa with Pokemon motifs and have players visit them as special PokeStops called Poke Lids. Niantic also intended to introduce special regional costumes around the world, so the promotion wasn't specific to Okinawa.
This cancellation comes at a time when the Okinawa prefecture of Japan - which is the location in which the promotion was due to take place - has had its state of emergency extended over COVID-19. Both people living within Okinawa and people outside the prefecture have been asked to avoid non-essential travel in order to minimize COVID-19 cases. Given that this Pokemon Go collaboration was in conjunction with a Pokemon-themed air travel company, the reason for its postponement should be apparent.
When will this new Pokemon Go collaborative content be available?
Unfortunately, we simply don't have any information regarding when Niantic plans to implement the collaboration. The official Pokemon Air Adventures website tells players to stay glued to Niantic's socials for more info. Niantic itself says that it'll be able to reveal more information "when details are finalized", so it sounds like things might be up in the air (no pun intended) for the developer as well.
We'll simply have to wait and see when we get more information about Pokemon Go and the Pokemon Air Adventures collaboration. In the meantime, it's worth getting acquainted with Pokemon Air Adventures, which is a delightful initiative. It aims to send a jet adorned with lots of adorable pictures of Pikachu (along with other Pokemon) around the world, showing everyone the beauty of Okinawan culture with a unique Pokemon-themed twist.
Are you disappointed about the Pokemon Go collaboration's postponement? Would you like to ride the Pikachu Jet? Let us know in the comments below!