Pokémon anatomy

After my Pokémon Go research project I decided to make a thank you illustration of Pokémon anatomy, as chosen by artibiotics fans across my social media. It went down well so I made opened a vote and made some more.. Who might you like to peek inside next?

#001. Bulbasoar: I’d always wondered where the vines and leaves came from, so decided to explain that a little with this anatomical illustration..

#104. Cubone: Initially this little fella was half a sketch to illustrate my post calling for votes, but it bothered me compared to the others so I tore it apart and built it back into a more refined illustration.

Text: Cubone are very sentimental creatures; they wear the skulls of deceased relatives to pay a tribute to lost family. This helps these vulnerable Cubone survive by appearing tougher to predators.

On evolving, the worn skull fuses with Cubone’s anatomy, forming a tough armour. This is made possible by genetic similarities with its deceased relative. In a poetic way, this allows them to carry loved ones with them through life, who live on to protect future generations.

Cubone’s bone club is usually a femur from prey. As it develops, it will exchange this for larger, fresher bones from more powerful prey. Their club plays an important role socially, where it represents status and power.

#132. Ditto: My description is based on this fan theory, that describes Ditto as a failed clone of Mew (they are the same colour, size, weight, have no gender, are the only Pokémon who can transform, etc). This was a tricky little dude to conceptualise but really fun to illustrate. I learned a bit about frog respiration, amoeba, virus replication, chameleon skin, and jellyfish doing some background research.

Ditto text: Ditto is the product of failed genetic experiments to clone Mew. It is made from the combined DNA of many Pokémon. When transforming it will activate the relevant regions of this DNA sequence.

It can reconstitute its cell structure rapidly into an almost perfect copy of any Pokémon. The process is highly thermogenic, causing Ditto to glow brightly during. It acquires new genetic information by contact with other Pokémon.

Ditto’s moist surface breaks down their cells and absorbs the nuclei, inserting the DNA into it’s own. It will then replicate this modified sequence throughout its own cells like a virus, for new transformation possibilities.