Let's Talk about Pokemon - 151 Animals That NEED to be Pokemon Yesterday (Part 4)

 

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31. Frigate

These tropical and sub-tropical birds are most well known for their inflatable throat pouch, which males have to attract females. They're also high fliers that swoop down at prey like fish, turtles, squids, and even baby birds.

As a Pokemon: With their iconic throat pouch just being a show-off thing, I could see a Pokemon with an up-tight aristocratic theme to it with an exaggeratedly puffed-out chest.

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32. Treehoppers

The entire family of Membracidae and their “Leafhopper” and “Planthopper” cousins deserve representation in Pokemon, but if I had to pick just one it'd be Treehoppers. These branched-off cicadas have a high degree of specialization in the formation of their shells, which leads to all sorts of weird shapes. Some merely disguise themselves as plant thorns, others the nubs of tree branches, and some even have weird spiky formations on their heads that vaguely resemble an ant.

As a Pokemon: An animal like this absolutely needs a form gimmick of some sort, perhaps even a gimmick where it comes in every type and has a different shape for each type!

(Photo by Dante Fenolio)

33. Tube-Eye

Not to be confused with the Barrel-Eye Fish, Tube-Eyes are deepsea, eel-like fish with huge eyes in tube-shaped sockets that only comes up after dark to feed on plankton. While it isn't the most exciting liftstyle, they certainly look creepy and intimidating.

As a Pokemon: My personal take back when I did Fakemon was I turned it into having search-light eyes and had a scary, fearsome gaze.

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34. and 35. Sea Anemone and Clownfish

Two in one, since they go together like bread and butter. Sea anemone are anthozoa and predators that attach themselves to hard surfaces and have loads of tendrils covered in stinging cells that go off once prey wanders too close. That is of course unless you're a Clownfish, who slowly build up an immunity to these stinging cells. The two creatures have a symbiotic relationship where the Anemone is an impenetrable hiding spot from predators when you're a Clownfish, and then the Clownfish will defend the Anemone from their predators.

As a Pokemon: Of course there's tons of Fakemon that take the name “Clownfish” literally, but what REALLY sells me on the idea is turning the anemone into a big top circus tent! That isn't my own idea, but I sure don't know how I could possibly top it. The main question is whether it aughta be represented as two Pokemon with a synergy in double battles, or a two-in-one Pokemon kind of like Slowbro?

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36. Policeman's Helmet

While an unassuming flower at first, this thing's seed pods have a unique seed distribution method. When touched, these seed pods pop and send the seeds flying everywhere.

As a Pokemon: A non-obvious candidate for a Grass/Fire type, you could present them as somewhat your typical Grass type, but with an explosive temper, so to speak. Either with seed pods arranged like a dress or even like a natural wind chime of sorts. Maybe even have it start out as a Grass type, but has an ability that turns it Grass/Fire once it's been struck.

Photo by Peter Acker

37. Chili Pepper

Speaking of Grass/Fire types, Chili Peppers almost go without saying. They're a plant begging to be a Pokemon so hard, it almost feels useless to point it out in this series, but I do feel like there's a lot of cool things you could do even with the obvious applications.

As a Pokemon: One idea I like is turning it into a dragon-like creature with a plant body and the pepper itself acts as the thing's nose, perhaps having particularly violent sneezes. And it merely gets “chili” in its name because its constantly suffering from a “cold”! Additionally, you could also give it a short temper where it starts out as a green pepper, but turns red when agitated and/or performing attacks.

Photo by Patricia Maine

38. Earthworm

Earthworms are another animal that I'm frankly amazed hasn't been turned into a Pokemon yet. Does it even need introductions? It's a small creature that lives in the soil and only comes above ground when it rains. They do also congregate into clumps, which allow them to survive the elements.

As a Pokemon: Bug/Ground with “Dry Skin” is an obvious setup, and it could definitely work as a generation's obligatory “weakest Pokemon ever” like your Magikarps or Wishiwashis. But once it evolves, it swarms with loads more of its kind to become a worm-made behemoth that wears clumps of lifted soil like armor!

Photo by Valdiney Pimenta

39. Flamingo

Another in the pile of “surprised it isn't a Pokemon already”, these birds are of course well known for migrating to waters and eating shrimp and algae, which is how their feathers get colored pink.

As a Pokemon: Does this... count as a “Flamingo” creature? Cause my immediate thought when making my own was to have it act as a sentient version of the lawn ornament, presented as if a bird mimic that simply appears in your yard mysteriously and won't go away.

But to be a bit more Flamingo-ey, you could give it a dancing theme that reflects their mating dance, and give it some feather dancer vibes.

Photo by Tom Koerner

40. Hummingbird

Just hitting off so many animals that I'm shocked aren't Pokemon yet. Hummingbirds are the tiniest full-grown birds, but their wings flap so fast that they can hover in mid-air like insects. Due to their highly demanding mode of flight, they have to be constantly feeding on nectar, and will quite often enter a dormant state where it sits and goes unresponsive. And I mean unresponsive. I've found one in-person that was like this and I could've sworn it was close to dead because it barely responded to my presence. But it came to a minute later and went on its merry way!

As a Pokemon: It really could pass as a simple early-game Pokemon with a focus on wind abilities, but one visual gimmick I've imagined for a Hummingbird creature is that its wings flap so fast that it practically looks like a helicopter blade, and mostly just looks like a tornado with bird feet and tail hanging out the bottom and a head poking out of the top.

Alternatively, due to their tiny size and association with flowers, it could also pass for a Fairy/Flying type fairy-esque bird as well.

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