An Australian Pokémon Would Be Amazing

We’ve had Hawaiian Pokémon, we’ve had British Pokémon, and after seeing this incredible fan art project by VivinkArt I’m convinced it’s time for an Australian Pokémon next.

It all began a few months back as a simple joke:

(Yeahnah is incredibly common and useful Australian slang that basically means yeah, I understand and/or empathise with what you’re telling me, but no, I don’t agree).

“It was definitely a joke I did from earlier this year that started it”, VivinkArt tells me. From there, though, it got a bit more serious. “It got me inspired to make an entire region and game based in Australia”, and as Pokémon Sword & Shield kept having more information and new Pokémon revealed, VivinkArt started fleshing out the world of Yeah/Nah alongside it.

“Steve Irwin as a Professor/Champion made tons of people happy, which really motivated me to keep going. Seeing so many people positively reacting and being touched by the idea of Irwin being a Pokémon Champ meant a lot.”

In the months since, VivinkArt has expanded Yeah/Nah to the point of it looking like a full-blown game pitch, conjuring up a ton of Pokémon, their evolutions, trainers and even a game world.

Let’s take a look at some of it. First up, the game world, which manages to include nods to both the outback and Melbourne’s terrible weather:

Next, the trainers, who have appropriately Australian names:

With a guest appearance as a Professor by Steve Irwin:

As for the Pokemon themselves, they’re a mix. Some are based on actual Australian animals, others on mythical creatures and a couple (Gallopoli and Popia, based on the WW1 commemorative poppy flower) even further left-field, drawing inspiration from Australia’s military history.

For handier reference, here’s a pokedex with everything done so far (VivinkArt is constantly adding to it).

If you want to see more, or keep up with the project, you can follow VivinkArt on Twitter.

 

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