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Pokemon World Championship's Nashville Themed Set is Amazing
Every year at the Pokemon World Championships, key Pokemon art and the stage are designed with the hosting city in mind. The 2018 Pokemon World Championships are in Nashville, Tennessee, and the stage design and themed Pokemon are especially brimming with its Music City inspiration.
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Pikachu plays a banjo, Snivy's on guitar, and other Pokemon are geared up in country and music-themed getup in the key art, and the stage looks like a particularly famous street in downtown Nashville. There was even a country-inspired Pokemon song composed just for the event, and plenty of set pieces spread about the convention center with hay bales and instruments.
Click through the slide show above to check out the gorgeous designs from this year's Pokemon World Championships. Look out for some familiar storefront signs, like Casteliacone and a Malasada Shop! Let us know which creative Pokemon-themed sign is your favorite in the comments below.
Senior manager of consumer marketing at The Pokemon Company, Daniel Benkwitt, said these events where the global community comes together are all about fun.
"So of course Pokemon are front and center, and of course we're in Nashville so you have that great sort of country feel, almost like you're at the Grand Ole Opry or, if you see on the adjacent sides on the main stage you have concepts of on Broadway, but we turned it into a Pokemon version of Broadway," Benkwitt said.
Broadway is a popular destination street in downtown Nashville lined with honky tonks--basically, small bars and restaurants that host live country bands. Benkwitt said the lighting on the stage and some fog effects are meant to be reminiscent of the same effects you'd find inside those numerous honky tonks.
The Pokemon Company, both in Japan and stateside, work together with The Trade Group to create these elaborate set pieces, and with ESL to stream the event.
Last year, the Pokemon World Championships had plenty of palm trees and beach scenes to represent Anaheim. For 2019, the Pokemon World Championships will be in Washington D.C. No key art has been revealed just yet, but we're looking forward to finding out more. Maybe we'll have a George Washington Pikachu in the near future!
Love Pokemon? Check out what it's like Inside Japan's Pokemon-themed Trains, and don't miss out on any other news from the 2018 Pokemon World Championships:
Casey DeFreitas is an Editor at IGN and loves the positive energy at tournaments like the Pokemon World Championships. Catch her on Twitter @ShinyCaseyD.