Pikachu as voiced by Ryan Reynolds is pretty good, but you know what screams “party”? Hundreds of Pikachu overrunning a city, dancing and just being their cute selves. Now that’s a good time, and it’s exactly what’s consuming the Japanese city of Yokohama this week, according to Sora News 24. On Yokohama’s website, they report that over 2,000 of these Pokémon (plus Eevee!) will parade and perform in shows for a whole week during an event they call the Pikachu Outbreak. An annual tradition, the Outbreak looks like it started in 2014 with only 1,000 Pikachus, and has expanded into a nighttime fest of sorts, with Evee joining in 2018. It’s certainly one way to honor one of the most well-known “Pocket Monsters.”
As you can see in the above clip, the Pikachus perform elegant, elaborate dances while clad in vibrant LEDs. Who knew that obsessively singing “Gotta catch ‘em all” and trading cards would lead to what might be the greatest gift of all time for Pikachu fans?
Maybe one of the best parts (aside, of course, from these majestic dancing creatures) is that the train stations in Yokohama have installed chatty Pikachu turnstiles. When you put your fare in, it blurts out the character’s signature “Pikachu!,” “Pika, pika!” or “Pika!” And those paws on the ground? It’s all in the details folks, and they did not skimp on those.