Pokémon donning various hats and costumes in Pokémon GO for special events isn’t anything new. The mobile title has been around for 6 years which means there’s been plenty of costumed Pokémon released. We’re at the point where there’s even a dedicated Event Pokédex to keep track of which costumed Pokémon Trainers have caught!
In one last push to sell tickets to this weekend’s Pokémon GO Fest Seattle, and to promote Pokémon GO Fest Sapporo happening next month, Niantic revealed the event’s costumed Pokémon. Give a big hearty “YEEHAW!” to Cowboy Hat Snorlax.
Yeehaw! 🤠
Cowboy Hat Snorlax will be appearing in the wild during Pokémon GO Fest in Seattle and Sapporo!
You can get your ticket now to encounter it and other exciting Pokémon during our in-person events. pic.twitter.com/TSmwzoc9VG
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) July 20, 2022
Joining Sky Forme Shaymin, Shiny Panpour, Shiny Combee, Buzzwole, and a plethora of Unown at GO Fest Seattle, Cowboy Hat Snolax appears to be the only officially announced costumed Pokémon that will be available at the event. Sorry, Pikachu!
Yet, for anyone who has been regularly checking Pokémon GO online via social media and fan communities, this announcement is big for a few reasons. One, Niantic confirmed that all three in-person GO Fest events this year are all getting the same costumed Pokémon (Cowboy Hat Snorlax first debuted during GO Fest Berlin earlier this month… and last time we check, cowboy culture isn’t historically a thing in Germany). Two, since Cowboy Hat Snorlax exists, a cowboy hat model exists in Pokémon GO’s dress-up database (on the developer side). And three, are we this much closer to Cowboy Hat Caterpie?!?
For those who don’t know, Cowboy Hat Caterpie has been a long-time request from one particular Twitter account. For years, @MikeNerdlaw has faithfully commented on just about every official Pokémon GO announcement tweet asking for Cowboy Hat Caterpie to appear in-game. Costume Meme Pokémon Party Hat Wurmple needs a Gen 1 bug friend, after all!
Of course, these requests are a double-edged sword of sorts. Yet, at the same time, official tweets for Pokémon GO tend to get flooded with a variety of requests – ranging from costumed Pokémon requests, when datamined Pokémon are appearing (Drip Lapras), changing Incense effectiveness back, and more. So, no matter what, Niantic might as well build up to an epic release for a one “smol bug yeehaw”. Here’s hoping that if there is another Cowboy Hat costumed Pokémon release (whether it’s Caterpie or a different Pokémon, like Tauros or Scraggy), it’ll be made available worldwide during a non-ticketed event.
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Written by Jennifer Burch
Illustrator, designer, writer and big Nintendo geek, you can find Jennifer with an N3DS within reach 24/7. As the oldest of three, she has survived many Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sessions intact in addition to getting her brothers hooked on some really weird games. (Cubivore anyone?)
