Pokémon Fan Turns Dog Into a Pikachu Character - Dispatch Weekly

Sci Tech

August 4, 2016 - Reading time: 3 minutes

It’s official: Pokémon worship has reached fever pitch as Pokémon fan, Elihudi Urassa (@elihudiurassa) from Brighton, chose to turn his dog into a Pikachu character causing a social media frenzy.

Whilst some have gone mad for the app, running around outside to catch the virtual critters, others have taken their obsession to new extremes.

For example, a British teacher has quit her job to a full-time Pokémon Go player.

Sophia Pedraza, 26 says she hopes she can collect the virtual characters before selling the accounts on eBay.

Her aspirations may not be completely crazy since rare characters can reach up to a few thousand pounds.

After she downloaded the app she soon became obsessed and gave up her £2,000 a month tutoring job.

“I heard accounts were being sold and I looked on eBay and some accounts at level 20 and above were going for a £1,000 and level 15 bids were about £100-£200.”

Two other enthusiasts fell off a cliff in North County whilst playing the game, in July. The men were 21 and 22 years old. According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputies, one “may have consumed alcohol.”

But unfortunately, they are not the only ones who made their love for Pokémon known to the world.

A video was uploaded on Facebook and Twitter by Elihudi Justin Urassa of his Pomeranian dog dyed bright yellow with black strips and red circles on the face.

The video split opinion with some amazed and others disheartened. The videos sparked off 37,000 reactions on Facebook and 43,000 comments.

Screen Shot 2016-08-04 at 17.45.01

Many were concerned as to whether it was safe to dye a dog in unnatural colours.

Comments varied from one user saying, “Why would you even do that to any animal. Smh,” to another saying, “It is probably just wash out stuff I have seen it done before. It doesn’t hurt them.”

DW Staff

David Lintott is the Editor-in-Chief, leading our team of talented freelance journalists. He specializes in covering culture, sport, and society. Originally from the decaying seaside town of Eastbourne, he attributes his insightful world-weariness to his roots in this unique setting.

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