A Tribute to Pokémon Day 2023

Happy Pokémon Day from all of us at LKCNHM! On this occasion, we would like to offer some food for thought about how the Pokémon franchise and the Museum may share more similarities than you may think!

The Museum’s exhibits provide a space to observe various wildlife up close. In a similar vein, Pokemon’s gameplay includes wild encounters with Pokemon’s creatures. The only difference is that our gallery space is a tad bigger than your device screen! Just like the dedicated entries in a Pokédex used to catalogue Pokémon, the Museum is committed to documenting and detailing the natural world. Another function of the Museum is to serve as an institution of research and champion new discoveries through collaboration with passionate researchers and scientists, much like the role of Pokémon professors that pave the way for humanity to live and learn within their natural world.

The game’s newest installation, Scarlet and Violet, interestingly revolves around the ancient and future forms of Pokémon we know and love. Let’s take a look at some species in our own world, some old and some new, that can be linked to Pokémon!

As the natural world and its organisms evolve through time, many ancient species have unfortunately gone extinct. Fret not! Take for instance, the adorable aquatic invertebrate—Omanyte!

Omanyte from the Pokémon franchise, inspired by ammonites. Illustrated by Foo Maosheng.

In a blast from the past, this water- and rock-type Pokémon resembles the ammonites that provide a peek into the lineage of ancient marine animals, which roamed the seas in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Ammonites are extinct marine molluscs belonging to the class Cephalopoda, which includes squids and octopus. If Omanyte has caught your attention, you might be interested in the real-life equivalent of this creature that can be seen in our world—as Omanyte bears a striking resemblance to a specimen you might catch a glimpse of right here in our Museum! Come on down to see this shell-dweller in the form of our ammonite fossil!

A real-life ammonite fossil which can be found in our Museum gallery. (Credit: Foo Maosheng).

In the array of species out there waiting to be discovered, perhaps there also lies endless potential for links to be drawn with familiar Pokémon characters.  The association of novel species with familiar creatures in contemporary fiction demonstrates one way that researchers actively make sense of our world, and influence how we create new knowledge for the future. Through scientific discovery and naming, who knows what other real-life Pokémon might be formally introduced into our world?

A notable example would be when the newly discovered giant isopod from the South Java Deep Sea Biodiversity Expedition 2018 (SJADES 2018) was described by researchers from LKCNHM and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), as it instinctively reminded a Museum staff of Golisopod from the Pokémon franchise due to their likeness!

The giant isopod from the South Java Deep Sea Biodiversity Expedition 2018 (SJADES 2018)

Golisopod from the Pokémon franchise, which bears a strong resemblance to a giant isopod. Illustrated by Foo Maosheng.