The Pokemon Company announced that Dragonite has become an ambassador to help promote Japan’s Fukui Prefecture. Its Japanese press release provided more details on the collaborations that the prefecture will enact with the Pokemon franchise in the near future. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]
The English webpage revealed that the company appointed Dragonite as the ambassador of Fukui due to the prefecture’s ties with dinosaurs and dragons. The Fukui Prefecture hosts a large dinosaur museum with numerous fossils excavated locally in the region, and its landmark Kuzuryu River also features many locations with dragon-themed names around its basin.
The Pokemon Company will apply Dragonite-themed utility hole covers in March 2024 in the Fukui cities of Katsuyama, Awara, and Echizen, as well as the towns of Eiheiji, Mihama, and Takahama. The company will also provide a train livery adorned with Dragonite and its pre-evolutions Dragonair and Dratini. The train will launch on the Echizen Railway, which has stops in landmarks like the Tojinbo Cliffs and the Dinosaur Museum, in the early summer of 2024.
You can get a closer look at the Dragonite-themed train below:
The Fukui Prefecture ambassador position for Dragonite is the latest entry to the Pokemon Local Acts project. The Pokemon Company has been working with multiple prefectures across Japan by having its iconic characters promote the prefectures’ tourism sector. Prior examples include Chansey in Fukushima, Geodude in Iwate, and Vulpix in Hokkaido.
Dragonite is the final evolution of the Dragon-type Pokemon Dratini, which debuted in the first-generation titles Pokemon Red and Blue in 1998. It is alternatively known in Japan as Kairyu. The Dratini line is obtainable in the latest ninth-generation entries, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, now available on the Nintendo Switch.
