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Pikachu's New Indian Avatars Announce Pokémon Go's New Brand Ambassador Bollywood Star Genelia Deshmukh

Pikachu donned a new Indian look for the festive season and declared Bollywood stars Genelia Deshmukh (formerly Genelia D'Souza) and Ritesh Deshmukh the brand ambassadors for Pokémon Go in India on Wednesday. Pikachu mascots dressed in a pink saree and a navy blue kurta hyped up the crowd with an adorable dance performance opening the Pokémon Festivities event preceding a slew of announcements about one of India's favorite Japanese franchises.

'Pikachu in a Saree' and Genelia Deshmukh

Senior director of strategic partnerships at Niantic Yuki Kawamura kicked off the Pokémon Festivities event with the announcement that Pikachu's new look will hit the Pokémon Go smartphone game on November 1 as part of its Pokémon Festivities in-game events that will feature several other bonuses for players as well. ‘Pikachu in a saree’ will be available to catch in the game until November 4.

The presentation also previewed an ad campaign for the smartphone game featuring the Deshmukh couple titled 'What will Ritesh do next?'

Genelia graced the stage where she spoke of how special Pokémon Go is for families where kids and adults can bond over games.

A video presentation featuring artists and designers from The Pokémon Company shed light on the designs of Pikachu's new outfits. The saree and kurtas sport a pattern of Mago berries, a nod to India's national fruit, while the accents have the subtle shapes of pokeballs, most notably on the saree's “aanchal.” The video notes that Pikachu has been depicted in countless outfits but this is the first time it is sporting Indian outfits.

Social media GIF stickers featuring our zappy friends' new-pinch ensembles will be available on major social media outlets until January 15.

The Pokémon Company's Merchandising Plans in India

The Pokémon Company also announced a festive gift box of Yakult yoghurt drinks that will be available with purchases of five-packs of the beverage. ANN asked corporate officer for The Pokémon Company Susumu Fukunaga whether the company was looking to enter into more licensing deals exclusively for India, such as its recent product launch at Jack and Jones or even its previous collaboration with fine jewelry brand BlueStone.

Fukunaga responded that “As far as merchandise is concerned, we aim to develop products and all of you can get your hands on, all of you can enjoy. That's the kind of product, including FMCGs (fast moving consumer goods) and including Yakult, is what we are aiming to create.

So if we have any Indian producers with any such plans we would be very happy to talk to them and come up with collaborations and ideas”

Pokémon Kids TV Video Featuring KAKETAKU and Mayo Japan

Finally, the Pokémon Festivities event revealed a special dance video filmed for Indian audiences. The video features KAKETAKU and Mayo Japan dancing alongside our new decked out Pikachu friends. The video is streaming on the Pokémon Kids TV YouTube channel.

PokéMela's Next Stop

The fun-filled evening included lots of food and photo ops for moms and kids with their darling Pikachus' new avatar.

As for the company's next big event, it announced its next Pokémon Mela for December 6 to December 8 at Phoenix Marketcity, Vimannagar' Pune. Aside from the regular festivities such as games, performances, and activities, attendees will receive Pikachu plush keychains sporting their new looks.

The first Pokémon Mela event took place from November 17-19 at DLF Mall of India, Noida.

Source: Pokémon Festivities event

Disclosure: Event organizers paid for domestic travel and one night of accommodation for this event.