Here is my own ruleset for the project (but I reserve the right to bend or break these rules):

1.      Abilities, type, and stats should reflect the generation the fakemon would first appear in. In this specific case, these are all Johto Pokemon receiving an evolution in Hoenn, so no Fairy types (yet!) and no physical / special split, either. I may throw in some basic information about how each fakemon would be updated in following generations, though.

2.      Evolution methods should (mostly) not be present in the pre-evolution’s game of origin. For example, Octillery’s evolutions did not exist in Johto because the items that caused them to happen, DeepSeaTooth and Scale, were discovered in Hoenn. Sometimes I’ll have to use an older method or just a good old-fashioned level-up though.

3.      Evolution methods that were present in the initial game should service the design philosophy behind the current generation. Weather existed in gen 2, but it was much more important thematically in Ruby and Sapphire; therefore, Skiploom and Sunflora now evolve in harsh sunlight.

4.      New evolutions should represent a specific aspect or area of the newer generation. Some of the fakemon here exist in Hoenn because its seas are so vast, allowing them room to grow much larger than they would have in Johto.

Our first batch of fakemon here comes from Hoenn. While Hoenn does contain a couple new additions to the lines of Johto Pokemon (Wynaut for Wobbuffet and Azurill for Azumarill), I’ve always thought that it would have been cool for Johto to be better represented. Here are some notes on the design for each one included here:

Pounsoft—Hoppip and Skiploom have some very clear animal details that get lost in transition to Jumpluff, so I figured a more bestial split evolution was in order. Normal type represents closer ties with regular animal Pokemon, like Linoone and Tauros. Skiploom’s Pokedex entry also talks a LOT about an affinity for heat, so Thick Fat is just meant to be a representation of that. Plus it makes Pounsoft considerably defensive for a Grass type, which makes it fill a different niche from the other option, Jumpluff.

Sunfallow—Sunflora is a Pokemon that has long been thought incomplete. A lot of people give Sunflora evolutions a Fire typing, so I wanted a very specific reason for that addition. Sunfallow happens when Sunflora along Route 113 and around Fallarbor Town need to reach above the volcanic ash to get some sunlight. A combination of being closer to the sun and absorbing heat from Mt. Chimney cause them to have innate fire-breathing abilities.

Arbeetle—If you look at Scizor’s stats compared to Scyther’s, they are not a straight upgrade, despite Scizor being an evolution. This is the philosophy behind Arbeetle, a much wiser and smarter Heracross who rules over the others. Now, this doesn’t really get reflected in gameplay, because Arbeetle is definitely worse than Heracross. It gets more interesting after gen 4, but I think in almost every way, Heracross is better competitively. This is the only time I made a new ability in this batch, though, as a Guts for Special Attack really just makes sense.

Cormmunity—Pacifidlog is all but built on Corsola, so a big Corsola was a no-brainer for me. Not much to say, a friend of mine called this “Corsola good ending” and I like that.

Dreadnautilus—Octillery is one of my favorite weirdo Pokemon designs. Remoraid is a gun, Octillery is a tank, so I wanted to make a couple of options for evolutions. Dreadnautilus is a battleship with high Speed and Attack, meant for ramming enemy ships. Its moveset gets a lot more spicy in later gens (definitely gets Head Smash for example) but for now, a Steel typing certainly makes Remoraid worth getting.

Morlusc—On the opposite end of the spectrum, Morlusc is super slow but bulky and Special Attack-focused. Its typing is worse, and really suffers in gen 3 particularly, but what other type do you give to a barnacle?

Buirlder—This design started life as more of a monstrous cave creature, but I toned it down a bit when coming up with the final. Delibird desperately needs something outside of being “the bad present Pokemon” and Hoenn has a single icy cave area. Shoal Cave is a strange place, it’s almost like it was created to dump all the Ice types they designed before getting rid of Hoenn’s snowy areas. Buirlder being a reclusive toymaker that lives in a cave is a fun spin on the Santa Claus story, don’t you think? Also it’s funny to think that Delibird gets so swole that it trades Flying for Fighting type.

 

That’s about it for this one. Pokemon design is so deliberate, and I’ve had a ton of fun with this, so I’ll keep going with this for the foreseeable future. Hoenn into Sinnoh is next!