In Pokémon Red and Blue, players can buy a Magikarp from a shady salesman for 500 Poké dollars. To our knowledge and off the top of our heads, that’s the only time in the main Pokémon games where you can directly buy a Pokémon… not counting the various Game Corners, although those Pokémon are purchased with coins won from the Game Corner, not the game’s actual currency.
Anyway, we bring this up because while it might seem like Magikarp is a lame product and a waste of money, it’ll become a mighty Gyarados if you train it long enough. If that seems like too arduous an adventure, (Magikarp only learns Tackle at level 15, and those are absolutely the longest 15 levels in the game) you can also eat them… in real life… in Japan… sort of (via Kotaku).
— (@hauyne330) January 24, 2017
If you’re familiar with Japanese cuisine, then turning Magikarp into food is a no-brainer thanks to taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake that’s usually filled with red bean paste or custard. Kurikoan is a shop known for its taiyaki, and they just came out with a Magikarp-shaped taiyaki, which they’ve dubbed Koiking-yaki, a play on Magikarp’s Japanese name, Koiking.
At 106 yen (about 94 cents), it’s a reasonably priced treat, that even comes with the lyrics of Nintendo’s official Magikarp theme song printed on the packaging. If you’d rather make your own Koiking-yaki at home, there’s a kit to do so, but it appears to only be sold in Japan and is out of stock.
Featured image: The Pokémon Company
