Niantic Labs Delays 'Okinawan Pikachu,' Shiny Corsola After Recent State of Emergency in Japan

Niantic Labs has made the decision to delay the release of a special "Okinawan Pikachu" and the debut of Shiny Corsola in Pokemon GO after Japan declared a state of emergency last Sunday.

Originally, the newest event Pikachu was meant to usher in a collaboration with "Pokemon Air Adventures," a new tourism initiative in Japan. It featured Pikachu in a bright white and blue-floral button-up Okinawan kariyushi shirt accented with yellow Pikachu head silhouettes—a unique appearance not unlike the plethora of hats the franchise mascot has worn since the augmented reality (AR) mobile title's release.

Niantic Labs Delays "Okinawan Pikachu" and Shiny Corsola Debut

Niantic updated their announcement post earlier today, Tuesday, July 13, notifying trainers that the promotion will be delayed.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this causes. We will share more information once details are finalized," they wrote.

The Pokemon Air Adventures collaboration was set to launch on Thursday, July 22, and run for about a year. This event marked the first regional-exclusive special variant released in-game. However, the developers teased that it would likely not be the last. Alongside Okinawan Pikachu, shiny Corsola would also be making its debut wherever trainers could find it.

Trainers would only be able to encounter Okinawan Pikachu in Okinawa, itself—making it all but impossible for most trainers to participate given the current situation in Japan. This is the fourth state of emergency the company has declared due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will be in effect until late August.

Developers have yet to announce a plan going forward or a date at which trainers can expect these two new releases to become available. More information about the collaboration and Niantic's response to the ongoing situation in Japan can be found on the official blog post.