Pokémon skeletons and fossils now on display at Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science

Excavator Pikachu and a few of his extinct pals want to teach us about real-world fossils.

As one of Japan’s premiere museums, the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo always has some sort of interesting special exhibit going on. Its newest event, though, is one that’s getting an especially large amount of attention, because it’s a crossover with the Pokémon franchise.

Tuesday was the opening day for the Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibition, and just like the name promises, there’s a collection of Pokémon species fossils and skeletons on display, as shown in this preview video.

▼ The footage is from an earlier stint for the exhibition in Mikasa, Hokkaido, but the official Pokémon Twitter account says it still provides a representative sneak peek for the Tokyo event.

本日3月15日（火）から、東京・上野の国立科学博物館で、特別企画展「ポケモン化石博物館」が実施中！
6月19日（日）まで開催されているよ。
また、今後の開催予定地の、豊橋市自然史博物館と大分県立美術館のスケジュールも公開！
くわしくはこちら！https://t.co/p1BSl2uDZp #ポケモン化石博物館 pic.twitter.com/ruwG0SSvtq

— ポケモン公式ツイッター (@Pokemon_cojp) March 15, 2022

This won’t be the first time fans have heard of Pokémon fossils, as just about every game in the mainline Pokémon series has included extinct “Fossil Pokémon” that the player can bring back to life. Obviously, that’s something that can’t be done with real-world fossils, and the goal of the exhibition is to educate fans on both the similarities and differences between real and in-Pokémon fossils with side-by-side comparisons of Pocket Monster species and the actual animals that directly inspired them.

And yes, of course there’s also a gift shop with a selection of merch starring Excavator Pikachu, as the Pikachu in this Jurassic Park-ish outfit is officially called.

The Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibition runs until June 19 at the National Museum of Nature and Science, after which it heads to the Toyohashi Museum of Natural History in Aichi Prefecture from July 16 to November 6 and the Oita Prefectural Art Museum in Oita City from December 10 to January 24.

Source: National Museum of Nature and Science via Otakomu
Top image: Twitter/@Pokemon_cojp
Insert images: National Museum of Nature and Science, Twitter/@Pokemon_cojp, National Museum of Nature and Science (2)
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