A Filipino graphic artist designed Philippine Pokémon with creative names!

Fan-made Philippine-themed Pokémon surfaced on the Internet and they were derived from local animals, fishes, and even mythology!

Steewilis and Steelapia (Photo from Jhay Alejo's Twitter)

Sharing Filipino culture through "fakemon" art

When it comes to Pokémon, one is either completely aware of it and has been following the games, the anime, the movies, the trading cards, and everything else. Pokémon is short for "Pocket Monsters", the original Japanese name. Its roots in the early 1980s in Japan, and became a huge hit worldwide since then, and up to the late 2000s. 

In 2016, Pokémon Go proves that the franchise is still a global success and the fictional creatures remain iconic. Even today, there are still Pokémon fans out there, and one of them created Philippine Pokémon with catchy names. Graphic artist and character designer Jhay Alejo drew various kinds of Pinoy versions of Pokémon that really spark artistry.

Starsier (Photo from Jhay Alejo's Twitter)

In his illustrations, he included Pokémon types and evolution charts. For example, the Starsier is obviously is inspired by Tarsier, a small creature that only exists in our country. Meanwhile, Alejo also made water-type Pokémons based on our local fishes like Steewilis and Steelapia.

Bambakas and Bambelle (Photo from Jhay Alejo's Twitter)

Meanwhile, the graphic artist also created creatures that were adapted from Philippine folklore. The Bambakas and Bambelle roots from the legend of Malakas and Maganda. The Foalish is a Pinoy Pokémon that evolves into Trikbalang. 

According to a source, Jhay Alejo was birthed with this concept because of his love for Pokémon. He added,

Ever since I was a kid, I loved Pokémon. And since artists left and right are making their own fakemon (fake Pokémon) and regions, I might as well share the Filipino culture through fakemon art.

Alejo has still to finalize the name for his Philippine region when a friend suggested the name Kaisa. This is allegedly derived from the Filipino word "kaisahan." He named the Professor, "Acacia" since he had a  tradition of naming Pokémon professors after trees.

This Pinoy artist has created a lot of Pokémon fan art. He also did beautiful illustrations of Filipino gods and goddesses. To check more of his artistic works, you can visit his profile on Instagram.

Source: Esquire