Pokémon‘s Vaporeon has become the official Water Ambassador for Japan ahead of its Water Day celebration on August 1. The aptly chosen water type Pokémon is one of the eight possible evolutions from the much beloved normal type Pokémon, Eevee.

The latest installment in the Pokémon franchise is a free-to-play MOBA titled Pokémon Unite, recently released on July 21 for the Nintendo Switch. The game is meant to be an easy option for players to pick up, and more casual in comparison to similar games in the genre such as Riot’s League of Legends or Valve’s DOTA 2. As a free-to-play game, Pokémon Unite heavily features microtransactions for cosmetics, characters and even gameplay boosting items, something that has been met with negative criticism from some fans of the franchise.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) recently welcomed Vaporeon to the role of the country’s official Water Ambassador. Twitter user Mondo Mascots shared a picture of Vaporeon being cheerfully inducted into the role by MLIT’s Minister, Kazuyoshi Akaba. The role of Water Ambassador was created to support the country’s upcoming Water Day celebrations on August 1, with the purpose of helping raise public awareness of water resources and its conservation. Along with the appointment, Vaporeon starred in a promotional video on MLIT’s YouTube page alongside Momoka Mine, who holds the title of Miss Nippon 2021’s Water Angel. Cute characters are commonly used in Japan to assist with promotional campaigns, and everything from trains to cities often have their own mascot.

It should be noted that Japan’s Water Day is not to be confused with Marine Day, a holiday which the country recently celebrated on July 22. Marine Day focuses on celebrating the ocean and its importance to the maritime nation, with games such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons joining the festivities with special in-game items for its players during that time. While it is unclear whether there were any other water type Pokémon in contention for the role of Water Ambassador, Vaporeon is not the first Pokémon to become an ambassador in Japan. Earlier in the month, Lapras was chosen as Miyagi Prefecture’s mascot to help promote dams and public transport.

While the Pokémon franchise does have a broad array of Water-type Pokémon to choose from, Vaporeon seems to be an excellent choice to assist Japan during its Water Day celebrations. It’s wonderful to see various Pokémon coming to life as adorable mascots to help out with important causes for Japan; the franchise is also aiming to help on a global scale with Pokémon Air Adventures, aimed at boosting post-pandemic tourism.

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Source: Mondo Mascots/Twitter, MLIT Channel/YouTube

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About The Author


Carol Zhang
(173 Articles Published)

Carol is a Games Writer based in Melbourne, Australia. An avid gamer most of her life, she has a Bachelors Degree in Games Design. Her favourite games include The Witcher 3, The Mass Effect Trilogy, and Dragon Age. Aside from that, she loves cats, Daft Punk, and soup.

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