Gotta Tattoo ’Em All: Tattoo Artist William Langford Attempts To Tattoo All 151 Original Pokémon For Charity
By Sidra Lackey
William Langford, a tattoo artist from Stowmarket, Suffolk in England, is attempting to tattoo all 151 original Pokémon to raise money for the Blue Cross animal welfare charity, according to Nintendo Life’s “Pokémon Fan And Tattoo Artist Inspired To Ink 'Em All For Charity.”
Langford has been a tattoo artist for 12 years and owns Zen Tattoo Art. He also has been a fan of Pokémon since he was a child. He wanted to "spend the year doing something good for people/animals" BBC News reports, so Langford decided to tattoo the original 151 Pokémon on clients, then donate the profits to charity. His goal is to raise £4,000 for Blue Cross by the end of the year.
On why Langford chose Blue Cross to donate to, he told BBC, "I’m aware many animals got rehomed or given away during the lockdowns and it always happens around Christmas time too.” He was inspired to focus this challenge around the original 151 Pokémon after the reveal that Ash Ketchum's time in the anime was coming to an end, Nintendo Life reports.
Langford’s Instagram post that sparked the Pokémon tattooing idea says:
“This season of Pokémon is the last one with Ash Ketchum as the main character. With Ash retiring from kidnapping wild animals and forcing them to fight I have decided to do some charity work. I will be offering a ‘palm size’ Pokémon tattoo from the 151 original Pokémon with all profit going to the blue cross.”
So far, Langford has tattooed 8 (with another 10 booked) of the 151 palm-sized Pokémon tattoos. Customers can choose their own design as long as it includes: “one of the original Pokémon from Pokémon Red & Blue and Yellow,” Nintendo Life shares.
To check out William Langford’s Pokémon tattoo journey follow him @william_tattoos
To get involved with William Langford’s Blue Cross fundraiser click here