This artist is a literal magician, or scientist, or something, as they redesign some of the most iconic Pokémon as totally different types, and show us all what might have been.
There are 18 types of Pokémon: Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dark, Dragon, Steel, and Fairy. These determine the moves and abilities that the Pokémon is able to learn, and they inform their appearance and animation. For example, Chandelure is a Ghost and Fire type Pokémon, and looks like a spooky anthropomorphised chandelier, possibly inspired by a will-o'-the-wisp from English folklore. Alternatively, Linoone, which is a Normal type, is essentially a brown badger, and this type of Pokémon tends to mimic animals and objects from the real world.
Advert
Usually, types are set in stone, unless a new regional variant appears like Alolan Raichu or Galarian Meowth, which adds another type and a cluster of visual differences to the original Pokémon. But, artist Abz Art has put pen to paper to reimagine the most recognisable Pokémon in the series as all-new types, and the results are nothing short of stunning.
Pikachu as a Water type Pokémon looks like a tropical fish you'd see swimming in the crystal clear Serene Sea, with bright blue fins marked with white stripes. They also appear to have a Water Stone studded in their chest, which is a neat touch. Fire type Pikachu means business, with a flaming tail and fiery cheeks where the original Pikachu would generate electricity in those rosy spots.
The Kanto starters look incredible with their swapped types, to be honest. Grass type Charizard is a guardian of the forest, being made up of tree trunk on their torso and branches sprout from their back to form their wings. At the end of their tail is a bunch of leaves, and in a reference to Clone Charizard, they've got light green stripes over their body. Fire type Blastoise boasts an entire volcano on their shell, lava spilling onto the floor and two cones acting as the guns on the original Pokémon's back. And, Aquasaur (... the name is a work in progress) has its plant replaced with an explosion of coral, like a behemothic beast of the deep.
My personal favourite has to be the Ghost type Snorlax, because it looks like a genie! Its ginormous, spectral form is squeezed into the lamp, I presume, and its pleasant face has two scary-looking tusks protruding from its grin. Come on, Game Freak, hire this artist!
Featured Image Credit: Abz Art