Pokéfans With A Sweet Tooth: You Won't Want To Miss This!
Pikachu themed afternoon tea, Pidgey Pandemonium, and new (old?) booster packs...
The Pokémon Chronicle
The Pokémon Chronicle brings you a weekly roundup of all the latest Pokémon news from Japan, and beyond.
Hi there Pokéfan. Cherry blossom season is winding down here in Japan and that means there are blizzards of pink petals everywhere - 花吹雪 (hana fubuki) in Japanese. And just like a hana fubuki, we have a blizzard of Pokénews for you this week!
Here’s what’s been going on:
🇯🇵 News From Japan and Beyond - PokémonGo April Fools, new old Pokémon boosters, theft, and more
📰 The Main Story - New Pikachu Afternoon Tea Is Shockingly Adorable
🧸 New Merch Alert - Official Pokémon Cafe bowls going on sale in Pokémon Centers
🥸 Who’s That Pokémon!? - can you figure it out?
🇯🇵 News From Japan and Beyond
PokémonGo April Fools Drives Fans Cuckoo - If you booted up PokémonGo on April 1st, like me you probably saw a ton of Pidgey. Just everywhere. This was part of the Pidgey Pandemonium event that PokémonGo held to celebrate April Fowls day. The event flooded the virtual world with Pidgie and introduced limited-time field research tasks, the reward for which is encounters with wild Pidgie that are more likely to be shiny.
Original 151 Booster Pack Launching Exclusively in Japan - Coming June 16th, the booster packs feature all Pokémon from #1 Bulbasaur, through to #151 Mew. The nostalgic pack features special rare cards including MewEX and Alakazam EX.
Even Pokémon Bank’s Going Under - The 3DS e-Shop closed down last week, and this means that the Pokémon Bank app that lets you transfer Pokémon between generations cannot be accessed unless you’ve downloaded it once before. As of the time of writing, thousands of fans cannot download the app.
Lotte Japan launches a new line of chocolates in adorable pastel Pokémon packages:
Lotte’s new Pokemon chocolates seen in Lawson Convenience store in Tokyo Thieves steal nearly $1 million worth of Pokémon Cards - The Kaptain Fish Collectibles store had close to a million dollars of merchandise stolen, including Pokémon cards. The hunt is still on for the perps, so it’s too early to say whether this is the work of Team Rocket. Whoever did it, here’s hoping they catch them.
Pokémon trading cards made a huge resurgence in Japan in 2022 - according to a market research firm, the market for trading cards in Japan grew 59% year-on-year in 2022. Pokémon cards are the main driver of growth.
📰 Main Story - New Pikachu Afternoon Tea Is Shockingly Adorable
The Strings Hotel, in Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan, is releasing a limited edition Pikachu-themed afternoon tea from June 1st until August 31st, 2023.
The menu is so darn adorable and simultaneously so darn tempting. Your eyes will bulge with delight at the finely crafted sweets, but make no mistake, you won’t be able to resist gorging on these cakey embodiments of your favorite yellow Pokémon.
The afternoon tea features a selection of cakes with Pikachu-themed designs. This includes Opera cake topped with chocolate Pikachu thunderbolts, Pikachu white chocolate lolly-pops, and much more. My favorite is the cupcakes with yellow frosting, donned with Pikachu ears.
You can also enjoy a selection of custom drinks like a Pikachu-themed passionfruit ade and cafe late topped with Pikachu art.
For anyone who hasn’t eaten afternoon tea in Japan, I highly recommend trying it if you can. Japan takes this classical British dish to another level. Afternoon tea is often themed in Japan around seasonal flavors or characters like Pokémon, for example. Plus, restaurants take great care in sculpting cakes and sandwiches that not only look but also taste, out of this world.
Reservations for the Pikachu afternoon tea must be made at least one week in advance. The experience costs ¥5,200 ($40) on weekdays and ¥5,650 ($43) on weekends and holidays.
🧸 Merch Alert
On May 5th, Pokémon Centers across Japan will start selling limited edition tableware used by the Pokémon Cafes. The cool collection includes a range of rice and ramen bowls, and spoons and plates, decorated with Pokémon designs.
On April 29th, Pokémon Cafes in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan will release new menu items, including Pikachu ramen and Pancham fried rice. These will be served in the very dishes you can buy from the Pokémon center, and they will come with limited edition luncheon mats and coasters.
Of course, rather than eating out, these stylish Pokémon dishes give every Pokéfan a great incentive to cook for themselves at home.
🥸 Who’s that Pokémon?
We’ll share the answer and a new Poké-puzzle in next week’s newsletter. If you think you know the answer, hit reply to this email and let us know.
* the answer to last week’s puzzle is🥁🥁🥁Sprigatito!
That’s all folks
See you next week for another roundup of the latest Poké-news from Japan and around the world.
If you liked what you read today, let us know by ‘liking’ and subscribing. You can also share this newsletter with fellow Poké-fans.