Activity thread - A world of Pokémon

[vlsrb]

Pretty much everyone who likes Pokémon tries to create their own mons at some point, whether it's a rough sketch on a piece of notebook paper or a fully fleshed out region in the vein of the mainline games. I thought it would be interesting to have a thread where we could create and share Pokémon designs inspired by our own cultures. Personally, I love it when people come up with a region based on a place that would never be actually used by Gamefreak as a setting for the games - the more obscure the better.

If this topic inspires you to design a Pokémon based on some aspect of your home country, share it here! If you already have one you'd like to share, feel free to do so! If the mon is inspired by some specific local wildlife, tradition, concept or custom, I would love if you could share the details. It's always so interesting reading about the background of Pokémon designs; you often learn something you'd never expect.

(I also feel I should put this here: since Pokémon is essentially a children's game, let's keep everything here presentable. Before posting, ask yourself "could this design appear in an actual Pokémon game?" If the answer is "no", it's probably not a good idea to post it.)

To lead by example: back in 2020, when lockdown kept us apart on opposite ends of the continent, my partner and I kept ourselves busy by working on a made-up region called Rakos, based on Serbia. We created concepts for 151 Pokémon, some of which I made rough designs of. What I'd like to share first are a few Rakosian regional forms of existing Pokémon that I particularly like.

Here we have Rakosian Jynx, a Fairy/Psychic type which we based on a turbofolk singer. The term "turbofolk" describes a very specific sub-genre of music very popular in Serbia (and the Balkans in general) which takes elements of traditional ethnic music ("folk") and blends them with contemporary dance, pop, techno or RnB influences ("turbo"). Turbofolk songs are generally loud, uptempo and lyrically shallow; a turbofolk singer's greatest asset is often not their voice but their visual presentation. Many female turbofolk singers have a reputation for not singing very well, which they attempt to make up for with very aggressive and provocative styling. The idea of using Jynx as a basis for a regional form that would play with this idea came to us almost instantly - she just fits in perfectly with her already over-the-top design, which we just blinged out. I also came up with a Pokédex entry for it that I love:

Its cries sound painful to visitors from other regions. The people of Rakos seem to like them though.

Next, here are Rakosian Exeggcute and Rakosian Exeggutor, both Grass/Fighting. They are based on two Easter traditions: dying eggs (which I'm pretty sure is widespread) and "fighting" with said dyed eggs. In Serbia, it's a custom to bring your own dyed eggs when you visit someone for Easter, and then you and the host have an egg battle where you knock the eggs against each-other. If the egg cracks you lose - hence the colorful but beat up Exeggcute. The evolved form was based on an egg basket, and it was a bit of a challenge conveying the Fighting type in its design. In the end I decided to arrange the faces in the shape of a fist, and surround them with leaves - I think it turned out pretty good. Rakosian Exeggutor slams into the opponent with its heads like a fist, which is why their front surfaces are flattened.

I'll post more later of course, but I hope other users will be inspired enough to contribute to this thread. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[Template88]

Man, the premise and execution are pretty cool but super specific. You might have a handful of people here whove made fakemon at any point (i have) but making it specifically about reflecting another culture puts it into way out there territory.

Its interesting, but I feel like most people who make fakemon come up with a design or a pun and kind of just make it exist in a vacuum, they dont go that extra level to give it a cultural context. Feel like a lot of the newer pokemon arent even based on yokai or puns anymore. I dont really have a culture I'd want to add to a fakemon anyways, as that probably requires some sort of pride in ones country or origin to do. Anyways, its not quite what you asked for but the one fakemon I probably like the most that I've made is Phantomime (i came up with the pun first)

It's supposed to be a normal/ghost type and the theme is making shadow puppets with its hands manifest into attacks and moves.

[vlsrb]

@Template88 - I get what you're saying, maybe I overestimated the amount of people who create Fakemon regions because I follow a lot of that kind of content and therefore often run into it. With the more recent official designs, I would say Gamefreak moved away from the "oh look, it's a thing, let's make it a Pokémon" approach, and with good reason - there are only so many well-known "things" you can use before you run out of ideas. The newer mons often draw inspiration from more obscure sources, and there are layers to them that you wouldn't find in designs like Magnemite or Beedrill. Take Skeledirge for example - a singing crocodile that uses a fire bird as a mic and is covered in colorful plates. It seems completely insane when you write it down, but every element of its design makes sense, starting from the relatively obvious Día de los Muertos influences, moving on to the fact that crocodiles are often visited by small birds who peck away parasites, and ending with crocodiles actually "singing" in some capacity by using loud bellowing sounds (hence Skeledirge's cry). Untangling what goes into a Pokémon design has, over the years, become a bit more challenging but a lot more interesting.

In any event, perhaps I was overly specific in my topic description. Honestly, any Fakemon design could work here as long as it draws inspiration from something, as it will still be "a world of Pokémon" since Newgrounds users live all around the globe. Having said that, I love Phantomime. And you obviously incorporated cultural elements into it, intentionally or not. The stripes and berret are quintessentially French, and the shadow finger puppets reminded me of the Southeast Asian tradition of shadow theatre.

Oh, and believe me, as someone who created a whole region based on his country, no amount of national pride is necessary to do so. And thank you for your reply!

[Thetageist]

I’ve got a fan region in the works, but it’s based on the Southwest US, so not quite as obscure. But I’ll show you the fakemon I made once I’ve finished them!

[PerKGrok]

Never done a Pokemon/Fakemon image before, but here we go.

[vlsrb]

@Thetageist, by all means, share them if and when you wish! It's funny, the first thing I remembered when you mentioned your region was that photo of a raccoon, skunk and opossum eating from a dumpster bin that some genius captioned "starter Pokémon from Ohio". I know Ohio has nothing to do with the southwestern US but whenever someone is working on a region inspired by any part of the country, I always recall that moment of simple brilliance.

@PerKGrok, thanks for contributing! Oddly enough, even though you said you never made a Fakemon design, the mon you posted could easily be a new regional evolution of Charcadet, a Pokémon that evolves by donning specific armors. Your design could be wearing something along the lines of "Valiant Armor" and be Fire/Steel type.

Since I'm posting, might as well continue rolling out some of the Rakos region mons. This time I'll share some original designs that aren't regional forms.

Here we have a three-stage evolutionary line: Sarmone, Sarmore and Sarmost, all pure Poison type. They are based on sarma, a dish that practically every Balkan nation will try to pass off as their own. In Serbia, sarma is one of the staple meals during winter holidays or family celebrations. Essentially, it is balls of minced meat, rice and spices rolled into pickled cabbage leaves and boiled in a broth until everything becomes soft, juicy and a little bit tangy. The pickled cabbage is certainly an acquired taste and has a very strong aroma that you either love or hate. In the case of my partner, the verdict is "hate", which is why this is a Poison type line. Starting from Sarmone, who is basically one lonely sarma, we have Sarmore who have multiplied and shrouded themselves in toxic gas, only to culminate with Lord Sarmost, who is meant to look like a regal three headed figure floating on pungent fumes and carrying three smaller heads as a crown. All hail Sarmost.

This next design is a little special. This is Nirdavet, the mythical Pokémon of the Rakos region, a Ghost/Dragon type. The inspiration for its design is a bit out there to say the least. There is a man living somewhere in the mountainous regions of Serbia who is convinced that a malevolent cosmic snake named Nirdala is haunting the area, and who has vowed to capture her. A short documentary was even made about him, and while he could best be described as deluded it's clear that he believes what he's saying. This is where the idea of Nirdavet came from - the first part of its name alludes to Nirdala, whereas avet is a Serbian word meaning "apparition" or "specter". If the Rakos region really did have its own game, there would be a side plot about a vagabond type character constantly popping up and pestering the protagonist about his search for Nirdavet. Meanwhile, every piece of information in the game would strongly suggest that the creature doesn't exist and that anyone trying to find it is probably mad. In the end, through an event, the protagonist and vagabond would actually encounter Nirdavet, resulting in a massive "told you so!" moment.

The design is meant to look ethereal and ghostly, like an apparition you're not sure is actually there. The head was my partner's idea: it has five points that look like an upside down star.

Stay tuned for more!

[vlsrb]

To continue rolling out the Rakos Pokémon, here's a pair of "new" mons and a regional evolution of an existing species.

To the left, Leaphet (leaf + prophet), to the right Oracup (oracle + cup), both Psychic/Grass. These adorable little guys are counterparts, as they are both based on fortunetelling traditions. Leaphet takes its inspiration from reading tea leaves, while Oracup refers to telling fortunes from the black gunk that's left in your cup after you drink your coffee (I don't know how widespread this tradition is - it may be a Serbian/Balkan thing). Both of them can see everything they need to see even though their eyes are closed, because their "true" eyes are elsewhere: Leaphet has three of them on the leaves levitating above it, Oracup has one on its tail. Oracup's tail is positioned to mimic the cup's handle, but is also a reference to something Serbian parents tell their children to dissuade them from drinking coffee: "Don't drink coffee, you'll grow a tail!"

Quakkart here is a Steel/Water type that evolves from Psyduck in the Rakos region. Its visual inspiration came courtesy of my archeologist partner: it's based on the Dupljaja chariots, stunning Bronze Age sculptures discovered in the Pannonian plain. There's not much else to say about it, except that I think the design turned out pretty good. It's goofy enough to remind you it evolved from Psyduck, but it also has an imposing/serious side.