Stuffed animal of Sword and Shield’s adorable sheep Pokémon isn’t quite as sheep-like as fan expected.
There was a huge backlash from fans when it was first announced that Pokémon Sword and Shield, the franchise’s newest games, wouldn’t be including every species of Pocket Monster from the previous installments. However, once Sword and Shield were actually released, most gamers quickly made their peace with the limited returning roster and instead focused on the new additions to the Pokémon pantheon that had been created specifically for the new games by developer Game Freak.
WOOLOO IS SO ADORABLE
— Blue Maiden 🇲🇽 (@Bluemaiden47) December 24, 2019
(I want a Wooloo plushie) pic.twitter.com/PtWDH2OL8v
One of the breakout stars of Sword and Shield’s Galar region is Wooloo. As shown in the above video, Wooloo is basically a sheep with an extra dose of Pokémon-cuteness. Even Wooloo’s name alludes to the sheep inspiration, with its similarity to the world “wool,” and that’s true even more so for the Japanese version of the games, where Wooloo is pronounced “Uuruu” (written ウールー), almost exactly the same as the Japanese word for “wool” (uuru/ウール).
Wooloo got restocked! pic.twitter.com/6YnAGTwJJW
— Miki (@zombiemiki) December 17, 2019
It’s no surprise that a soft and fluffy Pokémon design would be extremely popular as a huggable stuffed animal. Its plushies are highly coveted, but one Japanese Wooloo supporter, @turiron, recently got a bit of a shock after getting their hands on one. Why? Because a look at the tag reveals that Wooloo isn’t made out of wool!
▼ 本体:ポリエステル = Material: polyester
ウールー(ウールではない) pic.twitter.com/2vTILs7vIm
— ツリロン/鶴居 (@turiron) December 22, 2019
Yes, it turns out that the sheep Pokémon’s coat, at least in plushie form, is polyester! This raises the question of whether or not polyester, in the world of Pokémon, is a natural fabric. Of course, you could dismiss the whole thing by saying this is just a stuffed animal, but then that creates the debate of whether or not plushies are considered canon.
“Wooloo isn’t wool,” tweeted @turiron, which prompted commenters to respond with:
“Fraud!”
“Its name should be Polyesterool.”
“New Pokémon species discovered: Non-Wooloo.”
However, others were willing to recognize the Pokémon’s polyester manifestation, while insisting that this doesn’t change who Wooloo is in their eyes. “Made of 100-percent Wooloo,” tweeted one accepting fan, while another said “Feel how soft that is? That’s Wooloo.”
But now we can’t help wondering, if not being made of wool means Wooloo isn’t a sheep, will counting Wooloos still help you fall asleep in Japan’s Pokémon hotel rooms?
Source: Twitter/@turiron via Jin
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