Post Malone, Hootie & the Blowfish, Pokémon — words one doesn’t expect to see together.<br />And, yet, there they are, in a confusing crossover tied to the Japanese cartoon’s 25th anniversary. In honor of the milestone, the “White Iverson” rapper will headline a virtual concert on Saturday.<br />As a teaser to the show, Malone shared his version of the hit single “Only Wanna Be With You” by 1990s alt-rock group Hootie & the Blowfish.<br />The earworm debuted just over 25 years ago — and just two weeks after Austin Richard Post, aka Post Malone, was born.<br /><br />“I’ve been a Pokémon fan for a long time, so the opportunity to headline the ‘Pokémon Day’ concert celebrating 25 years is awesome,” Post said in a press release earlier this month. He also previously transformed into a Pokémon-worthy character to promote the event.<br />On Thursday, Pokémon Company International celebrated the collaboration, tweeting, “Hootie & the Blowfish? More like Posty & the Qwilfish,” and adding a link to the track.<br /><br />The Pokémon Company also said to expect more online experiences, such as this weekend’s anniversary show, which airs Feb. 27 at 7 pm ET on YouTube and Twitch, thanks to a new partnership with Universal Music Group, promising “surprise” artists this year. The merchandising giant will announce more headliners as part of their “P25 Music” campaign following Saturday’s performance.<br /><br />Beyond celebrating Pokémon, the tattoo-loving and Ozzy Osbourne-collaborating Malone also was in the news last month for donating 10,000 pairs of his sold-out Duet Max Clog II Crocs to frontline workers at dozens of US hospitals.<br />
