Natural History & Bug-type Pokémon
In the Pokémon game, one of the in-game goals is to fill up the Pokédex. It first started when the creator Satoshi Tajiri, who enjoyed collecting insects in his younger days, wanted to create a game for kids to experience the marvels of collecting different animals.
In this session, our entomologist and curator Foo Maosheng shared how his fascination with bugs started, and grew with the Pokémon game. As he played on, he began to notice the many similarities between the game and his bug-related research, particularly the design inspirations that Pokémon creators drew from real-life plants and animals!
So Maosheng went on a journey to identify the parallels between insects and some of the bug-type Pokémon, and shared how he views his current work at the museum as an extension of the Pokémon game—understanding, documenting and appreciating the variety of insect species from all around Southeast Asia. We were also joined by guest speaker and an avid Pokémon player, Sean Yap, who is studying the evolution of dung beetles in Singapore.
Disclaimer: Pokémon and Pokédex are owned by The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo of America Inc.
Here is the recording of this session:
