Niantic says Cowboy Hat Caterpie ‘might not make the cut’ in Pokémon Go

Cowboy Hat Caterpie is one of the strangest memes in the Pokémon Go community that even the folks at Niantic are aware of—but those hoping it makes its way into the game may just have had their hopes dashed.

You can’t miss Cowboy Hat Caterpie anywhere you go, with most social media posts from the Niantic team receiving comments from a singular account asking for the creature’s release without fail. Its a tale as old a time, and we felt it needed the attention it deserved. So, when Dot Esports was able to sit down with Pokémon Go director Michael Steranka at the Pokémon World Championships on Aug. 17, we had to get his thoughts on the community’s constant request for such a weird costumed Pokémon.

Steranka found the question fun and answered it with his own humorous response. “Yeah, I don’t know. We already have a Cowboy Hat Snorlax, you know? And maybe I’ll see if we can release a Cowboy Hat Weedle at some point.” Steranka teased. “I’m honestly not sure if Cowboy Hat Caterpie will ever make the cut.”

Jokes aside, Steranka was quick to point out that he was very aware of X/Twitter user “Cowboy Hat Caterpie Please” asking for the costumed Pokémon at every juncture possible. “I believe there [is] a user on Twitter. I think his name is MikeNerdlaw, who will respond to every single Pokémon Go post with Cowboy Hat Caterpie,”

Steranka went on to say. “I definitely appreciated the consistency.” Steranka then didn’t confirm or deny if the Pokémon variant will ever make an appearance. For one final push, we said it would potentially be a great idea for the 10th anniversary and would break the internet if Niantic decided to drop Cowboy Hat Caterpie finally.

Steranka just laughed at that but remained tight-lipped—but hopefully, we got some thoughts in his head at least for a potential future release. You’re welcome, @MikeNerdlaw.