Pokémon cosplay

Pokémon cosplay (short for Pokémon costume play), or Pokémon dressup, is the act of dressing up in a costume. This hobby is seen in both the Pokémon canon and among fans.
==In the games==
In , cosplay is referenced by a in Rock Tunnel. The PokéManiac asks if has heard of costume players. After defeat, he explains that costume players dress up as Pokémon for fun.
Since their introduction in Generation II, male have been accompanied with their children who are dressed up like or . In Generation IV, and , these cosplaying children can also be found on their own, called s.
s wear pants that are similar to in Generations and , albeit lacking a flame at the tail's tip. In , they instead dress up as .
Fantina's dress is notably inspired by . However, it is considerably different from a typical cosplaying costume.
The Colosseum Leaders in all cosplay as Pokémon. is dressed as , is dressed as , Rosie is dressed as , Voldon is dressed as , Terrell is dressed as , and Dusty is dressed as . All of these costumes can be and both forms are available for players as well. Additionally, the trainer class dresses as Pikachu. The clothing items they wear can also be individually purchased at the shop and worn by the player; wearing the complete set will result in the Pikachu Fan title becoming available for their Custom Pass.
In Pokémon Conquest, most of the outfits worn by Warlords, and some of those worn by regular Warriors, incorporate elements of Pokémon designs. Many Rank II Warlord designs could qualify as cosplay, such as those of , Kotarō, and Muneshige.
In , the player can obtain a Cosplay Pikachu, a special female that has five different costumes it can wear, each with their own associated move.
In Pokémon GO and Pokémon UNITE, players can customize their characters with several Pokémon-inspired clothing items.
In Pokémon Masters EX, Sygna suits are outfits that give Trainers a stronger connection to their Pokémon. These outfits match the appearance of their partner Pokémon.
==In animation==
 of is well-known for dressing up as other Pokémon when needed. Jessie and James also occasionally wear Pokémon costumes, though not as often as Meowth.
In Ditto's Mysterious Mansion, Duplica dresses up as a , a , and a during a flashback.
In The Superhero Secret, Mr. Parker's costume as Gligarman is based on a , as is his daughter Latoya's costume as Gligirl. In the same episode, and James dress up as two Metapod.
In the Who's That Pokémon? for the Japanese version of The Bug Stops Here, Jessie turns out to be the subject, cosplaying as a . In the Japanese episodes, Who's That Pokémon? is called Dare da?, or Who is it?, so when the "Pokémon" is revealed and the narrator says "Venomoth", the children shout "Wrong!"
In Octillery the Outcast, Ash wears an costume.
 wore a costume in ZigZag Zangoose to help Nicholai figure out how to battle a using a .
Nicholai is well-known for his cosplaying. He wears the costume of any Pokémon he sends out into or of whatever Pokémon he might be trying to . He has been seen wearing costumes of , , , , , , and .
Harley wore clothing that is based on his Cacturne.
Ash, , and entered the Pokémon Dress-Up Contest in All Dressed Up with Somewhere to Go. In this contest, however, it was their Pokémon which cosplayed, not themselves, though , Officer Jenny, and Nurse Joy were respectively dressed up as , , and . Ash entered , who did many impressions of other Pokémon. Dawn entered her as a , but lost when he broke character and used a . The winner of the contest was Brock and his , who dressed up as a and continued his impression of one throughout the entire episode.
Bill wore a cosplay in Mystery at the Lighthouse. This costume was used for Bill's research.
In Getting the Pre-Contest Titters!, a flashback shows dressed as a for a play in which she appeared when she was younger.
Dawn wore a Piplup cosplay in her dream in Malice in Wonderland!.
In YEAH!, an ending for Pokémon Sunday, cosplayers are dressed up as a and . 
On its own, Pokémon Sunday, and its Generation V successor, Pokémon Smash! has some of its hosts dress up as Pokémon. Sunday had and , while Smash! has and .
In Reunion Battles In Nimbasa!, Jimmy Ray wears a costume.
In The Mighty Accelguard to the Rescue!, Charles (as the Mighty Accelguard) has a costume based on , Dr. Ferrara (as Cryogonal Man) wears a mask, and Dr. Ferrara's henchmen both wear costumes based on .
In Climbing the Tower of Success!, a portion of the Wishing Bell Festival contest required those who made it through to the round to dress up. The Trainer had to dress up as an important Unova figure while their Pokémon dressed up as the Pokémon used by the figure. , , and Stephan dressed up as Alder, Professor Juniper, and Nurse Joy, respectively. Ash's Pikachu, Iris's Axew, and Stephan's in turn dressed up as , , and , respectively. Ricky was to dress up as Officer Jenny while his was to dress up as but Elgyem used its powers to manipulate 's mind into thinking they were dressed up. Lastly, dressed up as Elesa and dressed up as . However, they did not pass to the next round because Cilan could not remember his lines.
In Clash of the Connoisseurs!, in Ricard Nouveau's fantasy there was a and standing next to her was a young woman cosplaying one.
In A Pokévision of Things to Come!, wore a cosplay for filming her Pokévision video.
There were multiple cosplays during the Gourgeist Festival in A Festival Trade! A Festival Farewell?, including: Ash as a , Ash's Pikachu as a , Serena as a , as a Watchog, as a , Clemont's Dedenne as a , Clemont's Chespin as a Pikachu, Jessie as a , James as a , Meowth as a , Jessie's Wobbuffet as a and James's Inkay as a Pikachu.
Samson Oak wore an costume in The Guardian's Challenge!.
In Lillier and the Staff!, Ash, , , and portray the guardian deities in their play, alongside as and Jessie as . 
In Pokémon Horizons: The Series, Dot dons a costume of when streaming as her online persona, Nidothing.
===Gallery===
File:Misty Goldeen outfit.png|Misty dressed as a 
File:EP094 Team Rocket Disguises 2.png|Jessie disguised as a 
File:Gligarman.png|Mr. Parker as Gligarman
File:Gligirl.png|Latoya Parker as Gligirl
File:EP142.png|Ash, Misty, Brock, and Kurt dressed as 
File:Dare da EP161.png|Jessie dressed as a in EP161's ""
File:Team Rocket Disguise EP088.png|Jessie and James as a pink and , respectively
File:Team Rocket Disguise EP194 2.png|Jessie's Wobbuffet as a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise AG042.png|Jessie as an and James as a 
File:Nicholai Cosplay.png|Nicholai battling with his in a Mudkip costume
File:Nicholai Tentacruel Cosplay.png|Nicholai dressed as a 
File:Nicholai Bellossom Cosplay.png|Nicholai dressed as a 
File:Nicholai Aipom Cosplay.png|Nicholai dressed as an 
File:Nicholai Gligar Cosplay.png|Nicholai dressed as a 
File:Nicholai Marshtomp Cosplay.png|Nicholai dressed as a 
File:Nicholai Zigzagoon Cosplay.png|Nicholai dressed as a 
File:Nicholai Zangoose Cosplay.png|Nicholai dressed as a 
File:YEAH!.png|Scene from YEAH!
File:Dr Gordon Machoke costume.png|Dr. Gordon as a 
File:DP033.png|James's Mime Jr. dressed as a 
File:Rhonda Dress-Up Contest.png| dressed as a 
File:Dress Up Contest Judges.png|Officer Jenny dressed as a and Nurse Joy as a 
File:Dress Up Contest Piplup.png|Dawn's Piplup as a 
File:Croagunk Politoed.png|Brock's Croagunk as a 
File:Dawn piplup costume.png| dressed up as a 
File:Seviper Milotic.png|Jessie's Seviper dressed up as a 
File:Jimmy Ray.png|Jimmy Ray in his costume
File:James Moltres costume.png| James in a Moltres costume
File:Pikachu Bouffalant.png|Ash's Pikachu dressed up as Alder's 
File:Axew Darumaka.png|Iris's Axew dressed up as 
File:Sawk Audino.png|Stephan's Sawk dressed as Nurse Joy's Audino
File:Pansage Emolga.png|Cilan's Pansage dressed as Elesa's 
File:The Lilligant woman.png|Ricard Nouveau's fantasy with a and a young woman cosplaying one
File:Meowth Leafeon.png|Jessie's Wobbuffet dressed as a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise BW137.png|Jessie as a and James as a 
File:XY012.png|Clemont's Chespin disguised as a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise2 XY013.png|James dressed as a 
File:XY028 error.png| dressed as a 
File:Ash Serena Bonnie pajamas.png| in her pajamas
File:Bonnie cooking suit.png|Bonnie in a -inspired chef's uniform
File:Bonnie swimsuit.png|Bonnie in a swimsuit
File:XY group snow wear XY083.png|Bonnie in a snowsuit
File:Team Rocket Disguise XY117.png|Team Rocket as members of the evolutionary line
File:XY119 Bonnie Clemont Snow Wear.png|Bonnie in a snowsuit
File:Serena Fennekin Cosplay.png| dressed as 
File:Nurse Joy Gourgeist Festival Costume.png|Nurse Joy dressed as a Wigglytuff
File:Clemont Gourgeist Festival Costume.png| dressed as a 
File:Clemont Chespin Gourgeist Festival Costume.png|Clemont's Chespin dressed as a 
File:Bonnie Clemont Dedenne Gourgeist Festival Costume.png| and Dedenne dressed as a and a , respectively
File:Serena Gourgeist Festival Costume.png| dressed as a Red Flower 
File:Ash Pikachu Gourgeist Festival Costume.png|Ash's Pikachu dressed as a 
File:Team Rocket Gourgeist Festival Costume.png|Team Rocket in their Gourgeist Festival costumes
File:Ash Gourgeist Festival Costume.png|Ash dressed as a 
File:James diving suit.png|James in a diving suit
File:Poké Problem extra scene SM015.png|Ash's Rowlet as a 
File:Ash Passimian disguise.png|Ash disguised as a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise SM093.png|Jessie dressed as a 
File:Ash Rowlet Decidueye costume.png|Ash's Rowlet as a 
========
File:Team Rocket Disguise3 EP138.png|As a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise2 EP191.png|As a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise EP265.png|As a 
File:Meowth Sunflora.png|As a 
File:AG042 Meowth disguise.png|As a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise AG080.png|As a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise AG168.png|As a 
File:Team Rocket disguises AG173.png|As a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise DP039.png|As a alongside James as a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise DP082.png|As a 
File:Meowth Aipom.png|As an 
File:Meowth Banette.png|As a 
File:Meowth Dewott.png|As a 
File:Meowth Golem.png|As a 
File:Meowth Kirlia.png|As a 
File:Meowth Murkrow.png|As a 
File:Meowth Persian.png|As a 
File:Meowth Azurill.png|As an 
File:Meowth Spinda.png|As a 
File:Meowth Shiftry.png|As a 
File:Team Rocket Disguise BW004.png|As an 
File:Meowth Wailord.png|As a 
File:Meowth Weavile.png|As a 
File:Meowth Phione.png|As a 
File:Meowth Cubchoo.png|As a 
File:Meowth Leafeon.png|As a 
File:Meowth Pelipper.png|As a 
File:Bewear disguise SM013.png|As a with Jessie's Wobbuffet
File:Team Rocket disguises SM122.png|As a 
File:Meowth Disguise JN081.png|As a 
==In the manga==
======
In Stagestruck Starly, 's , , wears a costume for Diamond and 's comedy act.
===Pokémon RéBURST===
While cosplay doesn't officially appear in most Pokémon manga, there is a technique based on Pokémon cosplay in the Pokémon RéBURST manga called Burst. Unlike usual Pokémon cosplay, the Burst techniques are used for battle purposes.
===Magical Pokémon Journey===
The cover of The Passionate Primeape depicts Hazel, Almond, Coconut, Peanut and Walnut dressed as , Squirtle, , and Ditto respectively.
===Pokémon Newspaper Strip===
In , wore a costume for Halloween.
In , wore a costume for Halloween.
==Pokémon.com==
When it was relaunched in January 2010, Pokémon.com added a Pokémon Trainer Club, where players play games and earn coins to buy clothing at a Trainer store, some of which are Pokémon costumes.
File:Trainer Store Donphan Liepard costume.jpg | Donphan costume and pieces of the Liepard costume
File:Trainer Store Heracross Pinsir costume.png | Heracross and Pinsir costumes
File:Trainer Store Gengar costume.png | Gengar costume
File:Trainer Store Mudkip Torchic Treecko costume.png | Mudkip, Torchic, and Treecko costumes
==In books==
In Let's Find Pokémon!, Duplica can be seen dressed as a , putting on a show at the Celadon City Fair.
==In the fandom==
Like most anime, manga, and video game fandoms, is common within the Pokémon fandom. Most fans will dress up as human characters from the and such as , , female generational protagonists like , , or , and Officer Jenny or Nurse Joy. Many female fans as either Ash or James because of their youthful male looks, commonly known in Japan as , or "bishie" for short in English. 
Additionally, many fans dress up in costumes of their favorite species, especially if it is in the kigurumi or gijinka style of cosplay. is basically a hooded coverall pajama jumpsuit disguise of a character like , while a (also called "moe anthropomorphism") is a human form of a species. Because of the popularity of as the mascot of the Pokémon franchise, many young women dress in a style of dress at conventions.
==Related articles==
* Pokémorph
Category:Pokémon world
Category:Pokémon meta
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