We’ve had 151 Australian Pokemon, but what would a Pokemon set in Australia look like?
An Australian artist working on Ailuri, a hand-drawn platformer from AIE’s incubator program, has put together Pokemon Yeah Nah Edition, or what the Pokemon franchise would be like down under with a heavy dose of bogan.
G'DAY. With the hype of #PokemonSwordShield right around the corner, care to have a look at an Aussie Pokemon game, Pokemon Yeah and Pokemon Nah?
Set in the region of Straya, players will experience the unique land of down unda.This thread will have art for Yeah and Nah! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/olDqXQUD5a
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 14, 2019
There’s four major cities, which are obviously based on Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin.
Welcome, this is the Straya region. (STRAI-YAAH) A vast, sunburnt country with an arctic baseline. Players can choose their starting town, which are the ones named! The gameplay experience adjusts so the sandbox-styled region's progression is non-linear. pic.twitter.com/OcksYKS9Hx
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 14, 2019
There’s a kangaroo for one of the starter Pokemon, and the protagonists look like they’d happily grow up to swinging goon bags on the Hills Hoist.
Introducing Bruce (Bazza) and Shella (Shazza), the protagonists of Pokemon Yeah and Pokemon Nah.
They're customizable, of course! I'll post up concepts of them later. pic.twitter.com/WTbmGbjCsP— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 14, 2019
Meet Skippee, the completely legit and real Kangaroo Pokemon ???? With incredibly strong kicks and a powerful boomerang tail, Skippee and their evolutions are a fantastic companion to have in the outback. pic.twitter.com/UvXnntsv61
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 14, 2019
Here’s my personal favourite. We don’t have Squirtle anymore, but who wants Squirtle when you can evolve Pladdle to Bogano.
Meet Pladdle, the too-good-to-be-real Platypus Pokemon ???? Pladdle and their evolutions are helpful Pokemon with a beaut' of a mullet. They can be found saving tourists from beaches and reminding people to "slip, slop, slap". pic.twitter.com/YEjvVzWBnH
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 14, 2019
Of course the bin chicken is represented:
Now for the Pokemon of the Straya Region, here's the bin chicken, Ibin!
But it's not all it seems, this thing evolves into a 2m tall nightmare called Huntsmare that truly gives the horrifying wildlife in Australia justice. It's based off a real spider, I swear. pic.twitter.com/od4liW7cmW
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 14, 2019
And a cross between a pony and a rabbit that’s themed after the ANZACS.
Gallopoli is WHOLESOME. I thought a donkey Pokemon based off the ANZAC legend, about a man and his donkeys that helped wounded soldiers, would be perfect as the nurse Pokemon of the region. pic.twitter.com/9Twn9aHwOx
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 14, 2019
A spider Pokemon that’s just called “Git”.
And we're back, mates, with this little bugger. Wait, they're multiplying.
Get the bug spray. pic.twitter.com/tTgFzEZSmp
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 14, 2019
The regional fire Pokemon that’s obviously themed after a crocodile.
The Strayan Regional of Sandile. They are red, to match the searing hot, red sand of the Aussie outback and deserts.
Sandile open their mouths when lying around in the outback and create small flames, looks sort of like a lighter."Oi, can ya give us a lighta" pic.twitter.com/ugyVnP4y7b
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 16, 2019
And as it turns out, the native Australian quolls make for a much better Pichu/Pikachu type character. That Kuyoru is a banger of a design, too.
Kirakira is inspired by quolls, their spots resembling constellations.
Their electrical energy brightens up any night. Sometimes forests may light up like the starry night, because there's a gathering of Kirakira and Yumeri watching the sky. pic.twitter.com/wqcKc3VZkZ
— VivinkArt (@VivinkArt) November 16, 2019
Just saying Nintendo: if you wanted to pick the next region for Pokemon, Australia wouldn’t do the franchise any harm. It worked great for Forza Horizon, and who wouldn’t want a quoll or a kangaroo in their starting team?
Psyduck had better bloody be in the game, though.
The thought and effort that went into this is so good.
That’s great and all but I’m having trouble ignoring the fact that the female character’s name is misspelled. Surely it’s meant to be Sheila.
Maybe it’s because Sheila has all but died out as a name and slang term while Shella is on the way up as a female name.
Bruce doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Also, “Shazza” is slang for Sharon, not Sheila.
And isn’t “Bazza” slang for Barry?
If you want to be nitpicky, “Bazza” is generally slang for “Barry” rather than “Bruce” too. “Bruce” is already kind of a stereotypical Aussie name but if you want to further Aussie-fy it you’d probably make it “Bruce-o”.
There are some rippa name choices here. I absolutely love the bug line Git -> Bugroaf -> Morteam. And I’d probably choose Skipee as my starter just so I can end up with Kangarang on my team. Hell, I might just settle for nicknaming a Kangaskhan Kangarang, I like it so much.
I’d love to see an Aussie Pokemon game. This isn’t the first concept I’ve seen (nor the second). There’s a lot to mine.
These are actually really quality, they feel legit and not fan made. I love the kangaroo starter and the crocodile.
Poor Radelaide, we’re practically pushed into WA
The gameplay would be interesting. It’d be more about cracking a tinnie with other Masters and bludging instead of going out and catching all the Pokémon.
I like the idea but those player character designs leave something to be desired. Did they have to be white, blue-eyed blondes?
I understand that the majority of the Australian population is white, but the designs are kinda subtly reflecting the erasure/non-existence of non-white identities in Australian/Australia-inspired media. Especially the erasure of Indigenous Australians.
But Shazza is short for Sharon…
I was expecting the platypus to end up water/poison. A little disappointed.
The professor needs to be based on Steve Irwin, this isn’t negotiable.
Not pictured in the article, but the artist has done a Steve Irwin professor or gym leader image. He had all crocodile pokemon, of course.
That’s good to hear.
He can’t be a gym leader though because it would be impossible to beat him, he could catch any Pokemon you summoned and tell you about them.
Plus it would be awesome to have the character voice all the pokedex entries.
Not quite…
Mantine used poke. It’s super effective.
:C
Cut it out, I’ve been resisting the urge to ruin this for my own sick self enjoyment!
Ooooooooh right in the heart…
https://twitter.com/VivinkArt/status/1195495847368126469 Here’s the Steve Irwin tweet
Props to you doing the thing I was too lazy to do!
All good. I had responded to it on twitter so it was easy enough to do (Also started doing my own pokemon but quickly gave up)
What about a professor based on Dr Karl Kruszelnicki?
Bloody marvellous mate!
Oi c**t! shut up n take mi money!
seriously though, this is just glorious! made my day
*dollarydoos
shit! how could I miss that.
thankyou
No problem =D
So just a game were you sit around smoking ice while watching TV. Sounds crap.
I swear these are some top Tier fakemon
Better than anything ive seen in fangames, i wonder if they would let a p9kemon fan game team use their designs because they are a lot better than some of gamefreaks newest ones
They feel like gen 4 pokemon