Fans of Pokemon may be happy to hear that The Pokemon Company and Japanese low-cost airline Skymark have revealed a brand-new Pikachu-themed airplane known as the Pikachu Jet BC. Japanese planes have been covered with brightly-colored Pokemon characters since 1998, but this latest plane stands out for being entirely dedicated to Pikachu--specifically, the adorable Flying Pikachu, complete with a set of balloons tied around its middle.
The plane's exterior is yellow and decorated with images of excited Flying Pikachu in various happy poses. One of them appears to be peeking through the plane's windows at the passengers. There's even a happy little Pikachu decal stuck to the plane's engines, where it waves at passengers lucky enough to get a good view. This Pikachu airplane takes a different approach to design sensibilities than the rare Pikachu-themed car does, but both are absolutely adorable.
Inside the Pikachu Jet BC are row upon row of warm beige seats, each of which has a little Pikachu design on the headrest. As the Pikachu Jet BC was released as part of the Pokemon franchise's 25th-anniversary celebration, just like the Pokemon TCG 25th anniversary collection, seats on the 25th row come with a unique design of Flying Pikachu instead of regular Pikachu. Guests who want a Flying Pikachu seat may want to book their seats early and confirm their capture of a position in this special row.
The Pikachu Jet BC was unveiled at a ceremony accompanied by music, dancing Pikachu mascots, brightly colored balloons, and giant, Pikachu-shaped balloons. Even the airline employees attending were wearing Pikachu-themed facemasks. As the Pikachu Jet BC is part of The Pokémon Company’s “Flying Pikachu Project,” a plan that appears to enter around stimulating tourism in the tropical islands of Okinawa, the plane will be primarily flying the route between Tokyo and Okinawa. This will allow Pokemon fans to fly a Pikachu jet on their way to catch limited edition Okinawa Pikachu in Pokemon GO. Okinawa has also seen a number of buses and a monorail line taken over by Pikachu-themed designs and the islands now sport a variety of Pokemon-themed manhole covers.
Unfortunately for overseas Pokemon fans, as of writing Japan is still closed to non-resident foreign nationals in a COVID-19 pandemic countermeasure. The Pokemon Company has expressed its intent to arrange similar collaborations with non-Japanese airlines, including Singapore-based low-cost airline Scoot. It's possible that Pikachu-themed jets may soon be found in airports all around the world. If so, some may even feature more creative Pikachu designs, like portraying Pikachu as a fighting-type.
Source: IGN