Various fake Pokemon from the future appear in original illustrations from Alec Robbins

The Next 10

Traveling through time to see future Pokémon, with Mr. Boop creator Alec Robbins

An investigative report

By Alec Robbins Dec 14, 2022, 11:00am EST

Illustrations: Alec Robbins for Polygon

Part of The Next 10

As part of Polygon’s The Next 10 special issue looking at the future of games and entertainment, we asked Mr. Boop creator Alec Robbins to imagine what various Pokémon will look like in 10 years. He did us one better, traveling to the future to discover exactly what they will look like, then traveling back to report on what he saw. Or what he remembers he saw. You’ll see. Robbins is currently working as a narrative director at Squanch Games, the studio behind comedic first-person shooter High on Life.

Original artwork shows a comic version of Robbins falling from the sky and saying how he has returned from the future to show us what Pokemon will look like in 10 years. In a speech bubble, he says, “what’s the future like???? i have no clue. I just immediately googled ‘what do the new Pokémon look like’ and then spent the whole time i was there reading about all the new Pokémon they made”

A drawing shows a fake Pokémon called “Ghost of an Actual Human Child,” which looks like a cartoon ghost. The text reads: “okay so this one was based on a real human child who won a contest to have a pokemon based on them. and then sadly they passed away of terminal illness. basically it’s the real ghost of that lucky child. it’s a ghost-type tho obviously so still a very cool Pokémon”

Original art shows a fake Pokémon called “Alolan Photorealistic Rat Race DVD.” The image reads: “this one was really weird. I guess it’s the Alolan form of a different new Pokémon called ‘Photorealistic Rat Race DVD’ and it’s literally a photorealistic Rat Race DVD? of the movie from 2001? it has EXTREMELY strong base stats and it’s legendary. it’s one of the two Pokémon on the box for Gen 13 and it’s extra weird because they don’t even go back to the Alola region in that one”

Original artwork shows a Pokemon called Dr. Peepee, a Charizard-like dragon with a creepy smile. The text reads: “he’s suuuuuch a cool dragon but it’s sooooo weird his name is ‘Dr. Peepee.’ he’s the final evolution of a chain too and the other ones are called ‘Flagron’ and ‘Wyburn’ so it seemed like they had a theme going and then the last one’s suddenly just called ‘Dr. Peepee’ for some reason.”

Original artwork shows Dittwo, an evolution of Ditto who says it learned human language just to tell us that it doesn’t want to have sex with other Pokémon. The text describes it as a “volcel Ditto evolution” and the creature is basically a Ditto wearing a shirt that says “proud volcel.”

Original artwork shows the fake Pokémon Microtransaction, which looks like a battery with a face. Its body is a stack of discs that say “$10 to unlock,” and the text reads: “every time this one levels up you have to pay $10 in real money. and it sucks. it’s the worst Pokémon they ever made apparently. just dogshit stats and can only learn ‘Splash’ so honestly nobody’s too mad about it. you just catch one and toss it in your box and call it a day.”

Original artwork shows Illumise, a real firefly-like Pokémon that was introduced in Ruby and Sapphire. The text reads: “hmmm I thought this was a new one but i guess it’s not. i just googled it and it’s been around since Gen 3. i swear to god i’ve never seen this one before in my whole life. it’s just bug type??? that’s it?? this little freak’s been hanging around the entire time??? since 2007????? ok whatever”

Original artwork shows the fake Pokémon Hornipuff, a curvy creature with bunny ears, buglike wings, and a large bust. text on the image reads, “they went really horny on this one. basically there’s one or two suspiciously horny humanoid-looking Pokémon every gen but for real they went WAY overboard here. the characters in the game actually talk about it even, about how the Pokémon makers went way too far with how sexy it is.”

Original artwork shows the fake Pokémon “Pokémon,” which looks like a dog with a creepy smile, wings, and a leaf for a tail. The text reads: “in Gen 11 they finally reveal which Pokémon the title of the franchise is named after and it’s this guy”

Original artwork shows the fake Pokemon Canadian Butterfree, a butterfly that looks exactly like Butterfree except with maple leaves on its wings and a flannel shirt on its body. Text on the image reads: “honestly just kind of the same as normal butterfree. it’s from the Canada region (Gen 12) which is based on Canada and literally just named ‘Canada’ in the Pokémon world I guess.”

Original artwork shows Steven J., a fake Pokémon that looks like a worried, naked human man with scratches on his body. He’s saying, “d-don’t put me back in that ball... i’m... i swear i’m not a Pokémon...” and text on the image reads: “a deviously deceitful Pokémon that tries to trick humans into thinking it’s one of them. do not believe its lies. it’s just a regular Pokémon, NOT a human”

The Next 10