Pokémon Airships

An airship is a flying vessel that often relies on light gas to float (obtain lift) and engines to get around, in contrast to hot air balloons that rely on heated air and the wind respectively. Regardless, they may take the form of an elongated balloon and have characteristic markings on them - some of which could be Pokémon ones, and in fact, there have been a few airships in and around Pokémon, which prompts a little bit of exploration in this regard.

The Kanto-Orange Islands transition in the anime notably featured an airship that look like some early realistic airships with no markings, and one particularly well-known (or rather, infamous) example at that. Indeed, the airship showed itself to be a bringer of chaos for Ash and co. as the regional transition took place. The airship itself isn't particularly emblematic of Pokémon, but its role in the anime storyline at that point is definite.

Closely related is the Flying Palace of Gelardan in the second movie, also bringing its own brand of chaos to the Orange Islands. It doesn't look like the other airships I mention here - in fact, it may seem to not qualify as one as it's circular and achieves lift mostly by propeller propulsion - but it may sometimes be cited as one owing to its rather distinctive appearance, as well as the way it moves and brings about its chaos.

Of course, the most recognizable and most current form of a Pokémon airship is the Brave Olivine of the Rising Volt Tacklers, featured in the Horizons subseries of the anime. It meets the classical definition of an airship, and it's also "classical" for its distinctive style of appearance, which merits a separate discussion. True to its name, it's also a "brave" ship at that for its brave passengers seeking brave new worlds and challenges.

What about real airships? Photographic records show that there was a Pikachu airship - which could also be described as a "blimp" as with some modern airships - that was part of a certain Pokémon event in Japan. It's a real airship in all regards, and its distinctive yellow livery with several Pikachu lends a festive appearance, furthermore for the event associated with the airship's appearance, which could only be a dream for certain fans.

Pokémon airships are certainly unique - at least in some ways - and their existence becomes further affirmation of that. Though two of the imagined ones as above have some pretty nefarious roles, and may not warrant one to get on them, the other imagined one and the realistic example are definitely inviting ones that may just prompt fans to try to get on board the distinctive vessels to allow them to see the (Pokémon) world in a distinctive manner.

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