Pokémon cosplay
Pokémon Cosplay, or Pokémon Dressup is dressing up in a Pokémon costume. This hobby is seen in both the Pokémon canon and among fans.
In canon
In the games
Since their introduction in Generation II, male PokéFans have been accompanied with their children who are dressed up like Pikachu or Pichu. In Generation IV, these cosplaying children can also be found on their own, called Poké Kids.
PokéManiacs dress up similar to Charizard in Generation III. In Generation IV, they could be more like Tyranitar.
Fantina's dress is notably inspired by Drifblim. However, it is considerably different from a typical cosplaying costume.
The Colosseum Leaders in Pokémon Battle Revolution all cosplay as Pokémon. Taylor is dressed as Pachirisu, Marina is dressed as Kyogre, Rosie is dressed as Roserade, Voldon is dressed as Electivire, Terrell is dressed as Groudon, and Dusty is dressed as Lucario. All of these costumes are available for players as well.
In the anime
Nicholai is well-known for his cosplaying. He wears the costume of any Pokémon he sends out into battle or of whatever Pokémon he might be trying to catch. He has been seen wearing costumes of Mudkip, Zigzagoon, Gligar and Zangoose.
Ash, Dawn and Brock entered a Pokémon Cosplay Contest in All Dressed Up with Somewhere to Go. In this contest, however, it was their Pokémon which cosplayed, not themselves, though Rhonda, Officer Jenny, and Nurse Joy were dressed up as Cherrim, Growlithe, and Chansey respectively. Ash entered Pikachu, who did many impressions of other Pokémon. Dawn entered her Piplup as a Weedle, but lost when it broke character and used a BubbleBeam. The winner of the contest was Brock and his Croagunk, who dressed up as a Politoed and continued its impression of one throughout the entire episode.
Bill wore a Kabuto cosplay in Mystery at the Lighthouse. This costume was used for Bill's research.
Dawn wore a Piplup cosplay in her dream in Malice in Wonderland!.
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Brock's Croagunk dressed up as a Politoed
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Dr. Gordon as a Machoke
In the fandom
Like most anime and video game fandoms, cosplay is common in the Pokémon fandom. Most fans will dress up as human characters from the games and anime such as Ash, Team Rocket, female generational protagonists Misty, May or Dawn, Officer Jenny or Nurse Joy. Many females crossplay as either Ash or James because of their youthful male looks, commonly known in Japan as bishounen, or "bishy" for short in the USA. Still, it is far from unheard of for fans to dress up in costumes of their favorite Pokémon species, especially if it is in the kigurumi or gijinka style of cosplay. Kigurumi is basically a hooded coverall pajama jumpsuit disguise of a character like Pikachu, while a Gijinka (also called "Moe anthropomorphism") is a human form of a species. Because of the popularity of Pikachu as the mascot of the Pokémon franchise, many young women dress in a Sweet Lolita style of costume at conventions.
Controversy
Cosplayers who dress up like Pokémon are sometimes targeted as being furries, which have been the center of many controversies. However, while there is undoubtedly overlap, Pokémon cosplayers and furries are not one and the same; there are Pokémon cosplayers who are simply Pokémon fans and not interested in the furry fandom, and there are furries who would never want to wear a Pikachu costume.
