The Canadian government tweets about Pokemon, is totally hip

In an apparent bid to connect with young gamers and nostalgic millennials on Twitter (or maybe to score exposure through a globally trending hashtag), the government of Canada on Tuesday tweeted about Pokemon.

More specifically, it joined millions of the Japanese media franchise'sfansin celebrating a first look attwo forthcoming Nintendo 3DSgames:Pokemon SunandPokemon Moon.

Sort of.

".@Pokemon has been around in Canada since 1998!" tweeted the federal government around noon ET,referencing the year in which TV stations in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia and other English-language markets started airing English-language versions of the popularanime show.

Using the hashtag #PokemonSunMoon, which held strongnear the top of Twitter's trends list for Canadaall morning, it then asked, "Which Pokemon do you think is the most Canadian?"

This question proved tough to answer, given that the entire Pokemon universe was created in Japan though not as tough for some, apparently, as the question of why @Canada was tweeting about Pokemon at all.

Ouch.Who'd have thought that Canada and Pokemoncould spark so much snark together?

For all of the hate, though, there was plenty of love for the thread this tweet inspired.

Some people even lobbed genuine suggestions as to which Japanese pocket monster could(theoretically) be considered more Canadian than any others.

Bidoof, an agile,beaver-like Pokemon(who is not part of the original 151)was by far the most common response among those answering the government's question seriously.

But the replies from those who answered with jokes, non-Pokemon characters,or hybridcreatures of their own design were perhaps mostdemonstrative of howPokemon characters wouldlook if they weredesigned by Canadians on Twitter.

Joking aside, today was a big day forPokemon fans, with Nintendo's unveiling of three new startersfor Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon:Litten, a fire-type cat;Popplio, a water-type seal;and Rowlet, a grass- and flying-type owl.

In less than a day, more than 1.1 million people have viewed a trailer showing them in action for the first time.

It is unknown whether any of these views came from the officewhere Canada's official government Twitter account is managed.