Dragonite announced as the official Ambassador Pokémon for Fukui Prefecture in Japan

Dragonite is enjoying quite a bit of popularity this year; in September, it was introduced as one of the mascots of the upcoming Pokémon Center Taipei, and just this week on October 23rd, was ceremonially signed in as the Official Ambassador Pokémon for Fukui Prefecture, making it the ninth Pokémon to be given the honor. The Ambassador Pokémon promotion is sponsored by Pokémon Local Acts, a program designed to drive tourism by “highlighting [the] well-known and not so well-known charms,” of various localities in Japan through events and activities. Pokémon Local Acts may be best known for the “Poké Lids,” which are utility hole covers with Pokémon designs, often including the region’s Ambassador Pokémon, which are located all throughout the country.

Dragonite was selected to be Fukui Prefecture’s Ambassador Pokémon due to the area’s numerous geographical features whose names are associated with dragons, such as the Kuzuryu River. Fukui Prefecture also has a reputation for having a large concentration of dinosaur fossils, which naturally leads to it being the location the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, the prefecture’s main tourist destination. Beginning in Summer 2024, the Fukui Prefecture will debut trains wrapped with Dragonite designs in the hope to attract more tourists, to coincide with the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line coming to the region. Fukui Prefecture Governor Tatsuharu Sugimoto expressed his confidence in the Pokémon Local Acts program, saying “Pokémon are the world's number 1 fictional characters,” and expressed his hope that the program would further enliven the prefecture as a follow-up to the planned opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension via Fukui in March 2024.