Pokémon has partnered with the Toyohashi Museum of Natural History to bring the Pokémon Fossil Museum to international fans via a new virtual tour. Since 2021, the Pokémon Fossil Museum has toured museums throughout Japan, allowing museum-goers to see their favorite ancient Pokémon alongside their real prehistoric counterparts. The tour returned for 2022, with the Toyohashi Museum currently hosting it for the summer.
Obtaining Pokémon fossils has always been an exciting event for trainers in almost every Pokémon game. Unfortunately, it can also be nerve-wracking in new playthroughs as it often involves a player making a difficult choice between which one of two to keep. As fossils naturally invoke a sense of fascination, it only made sense that excavating Pokémon fossils would be a major highlight in a game about collecting wildlife. This fascination, combined with Pokémon's overwhelming popularity, gave birth to Japan's Pokémon Fossil Museum, which features dinosaur bones and Pokémon fossils for educational comparisons.
As reported by IGN, the Toyohashi Museum of Natural History is now offering a free virtual tour of the Pokémon Fossil Museum. The exhibit consists of two large rooms, with the entry room dedicated to a large display of a recreated Tyrantrum skeleton alongside its Tyrannosaurus twin. In the main exhibit, tourists can view models of Pokémon fossils and compare them to fossils of the prehistoric wildlife that inspired their designs, such as Omanyte alongside its extinct progenitor ammonite. Sadly, most of the text in the learning aids is in Japanese, which prevents non-fluent visitors from learning things like the age and history of the real non-Pokémon fossils. However, it's a minor inconvenience to bear for being able to see the exhibit from home. The virtual tour is available via the 3D tour website Matterport.
While it's a shame the physical Pokémon Fossil Museum is only available in Japan, offering the tour online as an alternative for international viewers was a great decision by organizers and now allows for a convenient and safe way to enjoy this incredible Pokémon experience. While the Toyohashi Museum will host the Pokémon Fossil Museum until November, it's unknown if the virtual tour will be available for its duration.
Even virtually, the Pokémon Fossil Museum is an intriguing experience for both Pokémon and paleontology enthusiasts. Finding these recreated Pokémon fossils is a fun experience, and with the Museum adding a new winter tour date at the Oita Prefectural Art Museum, hopefully, the virtual tour will return to continue to accommodate overseas fans. The real hope, of course, is for this educational Pokémon exhibit to one day leave its native shores so that more fans can participate in the full experience.
Sources: IGN, Pokemon Fossil Mueseum/Matterport