Pokemon Black & White, aka Gen 5. Coming to Japan in Fall 2010.

[Shroomisaur]

There will be a riot if Pinsir doesn't get an evolution and Heracross does. Seriously, Heracross and Scizor both have the perfect stat distribution for their typing (and their typings are amazing, btw). Bug/Ground Pinsir and we have three bugs that neutralize their Stealth Rock weakness and have great typing/same BST. Also, people who love Pinsir envy Heracross, simply because of that additional typing. I'd hope they would give older Pokemon evolutions before newer (even if it's only a generation).

This. And in addition to the poorer typing, Pinsir has poorer stat distribution than Heracross. I assure you, I WILL riot if Hera gains an "atlas" evolution and Pinsir stagnates.

Regardless of what happens here, I'm very worried: I pray that the designs of these new evolutions don't completely destroy the flavor of the original Pokemon...

 

[T-major]

Regardless of what happens here, I'm very worried: I pray that the designs of these new evolutions don't completely destroy the flavor of the original Pokemon...

this is something I really don't get. it's not like these new evolutions are replacing the old Pokemon, and you don't have to use the new ones if you don't like them. new evos ruining the flavour of the original is completely irrelevant, especially if the original Pokemon was good to begin with (like Heracross).

 

[joehigashi]

Pokejungle is just trying to get traffic

 

[clarinetist87]

I don't think an Atlas based evolution for Heracross makes sense. 99% of Pokemon are based off of Japanese Mythology, with a few modern day cultural references such as Ludicolo and Jynx. I very much doubt at this point we're going to see a Greek/Roman inspired Pokemon.

 

[Prof. Elm]

Heracross I think comes from Heracles.

 

[blasphemy1]

Heracross I think comes from Heracles.

Hercules beatle, which comes from hercules. lol

 

[Lucalibur]

hera evo....i still dont want to believe this and even if become fully confirmed i still wont believe until i see with my own giant anime character eyes, i mean why not pinsir? why heracross who was even banned on japanese ADV? do they want a non-pseudo uber or something?

 

[PKMN Trainer Manson]

Exactly! lol

I just love Delibird, but it's pathetic even in NU lol.

Who the hell thought it was a good idea to give Rapid Spin to a Pokemon who loses half their life switching into an entry hazard?

@Pokemon Pimp: Late, but LOL. Yeah, I felt bad for Jynx too, I'd always put it in the same group as Electabuzz and Magmar after Gen 2 which gave them babies at the same time. Not getting an evolution with them kinda sucks.

Also, Heracross isn't a hercules beetle despite its name (what, misnomer Pokemon? Never...!!). More of a rhinoceros beetle. These guys are pretty popular in Japan, so much so I'm surprised Heracross wasn't in Gen 1. It would make more sense with Pinsir than Scyther too, since rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles are generally portrayed as "rivals" in Japanese pop culture. Either way, they're god damn cool looking. Official manliest bug. If you couldn't tell from Kamen Rider Kabuto.

 

[joehigashi]

I don't think an Atlas based evolution for Heracross makes sense. 99% of Pokemon are based off of Japanese Mythology, with a few modern day cultural references such as Ludicolo and Jynx. I very much doubt at this point we're going to see a Greek/Roman inspired Pokemon.

You can carry on doubting. Also 99% is bullshit, most Pokemon are based off of normal shit like GEARS and PIDGEONS

 

[Shroomisaur]

hera evo....i still dont want to believe this and even if become fully confirmed i still wont believe until i see with my own giant anime character eyes, i mean why not pinsir? why heracross who was even banned on japanese ADV? do they want a non-pseudo uber or something?

Apparently. The problem is GF would do something like this, you know they would... but I'm trying not to believe this rumor either.

Who the hell thought it was a good idea to give Rapid Spin to a Pokemon who loses half their life switching into an entry hazard?

The same people who gave Cloyster his terrible typing and stat distribution.

@Pokemon Pimp: Late, but LOL. Yeah, I felt bad for Jynx too, I'd always put it in the same group as Electabuzz and Magmar after Gen 2 which gave them babies at the same time. Not getting an evolution with them kinda sucks.

I heard a rumor that there's a new evo for Jynx: Megan Fox.

But seriously, what kind of evolution would Jynx get!/ Jynx itself is already treading on unsteady ground, I can't think of where that odd design would go from there.

Also, Heracross isn't a hercules beetle despite its name (what, misnomer Pokemon? Never...!!). More of a rhinoceros beetle. These guys are pretty popular in Japan, so much so I'm surprised Heracross wasn't in Gen 1. It would make more sense with Pinsir than Scyther too, since rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles are generally portrayed as "rivals" in Japanese pop culture. Either way, they're god damn cool looking. Official manliest bug.
I lol'd at the part about misnomer Pokes... and yes, they're cool looking. In fact, almost all beetles are.

Heracross: (Manson is right of course, Hera is a rhino beetle)

And Pinsir:

I wouldn't mess with EITHER of them!

 

[PKMN Trainer Manson]

For the record, Electabuzz, Magmar, AND Jynx are derived from Japanese mythology. Jynx's inspiration just also happened to inspire a fashion trend based on that folk figure. At least, according to Wikipedia. But you know Wikipedia. But if that's really true, then that would explain why the Yamanba was chosen to have a Pokemon based on it despite pretty damn obscure to the rest of us. It's probably a pretty popular figure in Japan. Still, Magmar's inspiration is also pretty obscure too. Only Electabuzz is a recognizable figure.

However, while I can't think of anything of the top of my head, I find it hard to believe no Pokemon has any clear base in any kind of mythology besides Japanese.

I'm always right. Unless proven otherwise.

 

[Garagara]

I don't think an Atlas based evolution for Heracross makes sense. 99% of Pokemon are based off of Japanese Mythology, with a few modern day cultural references such as Ludicolo and Jynx. I very much doubt at this point we're going to see a Greek/Roman inspired Pokemon.

Actually it makes a lot of sense. Like some other posters have said, heracross is based on a hercules beatle, which in turn is based on Hercules, the greek god/halfgod whatever. There are also atlas beatles... atlas from greek mythology... see how they're related?

 

[blasphemy1]

Who the hell thought it was a good idea to give Rapid Spin to a Pokemon who loses half their life switching into an entry hazard?

@Pokemon Pimp: Late, but LOL. Yeah, I felt bad for Jynx too, I'd always put it in the same group as Electabuzz and Magmar after Gen 2 which gave them babies at the same time. Not getting an evolution with them kinda sucks.

Also, Heracross isn't a hercules beetle despite its name (what, misnomer Pokemon? Never...!!). More of a rhinoceros beetle. These guys are pretty popular in Japan, so much so I'm surprised Heracross wasn't in Gen 1. It would make more sense with Pinsir than Scyther too, since rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles are generally portrayed as "rivals" in Japanese pop culture. Either way, they're god damn cool looking. Official manliest bug. If you couldn't tell from Kamen Rider Kabuto.

I know it's not based on the hercules beatle itself, but its name is definitely suggesting it.

 

[T-major]

I don't think an Atlas based evolution for Heracross makes sense. 99% of Pokemon are based off of Japanese Mythology, with a few modern day cultural references such as Ludicolo and Jynx. I very much doubt at this point we're going to see a Greek/Roman inspired Pokemon.

Magikarp and Gyarados are based off a Chinese myth. Dragonite, Charizard and Salamence are based of European dragons. Torterra is based off the World Turtle, which is a Hindu myth. I'm sure there are others.

Greek Mythology isn't unlikely in the slightest. in fact it's pretty much guaranteed to happen at some point.

 

[Shroomisaur]

I don't see a problem with a Heracross evo being based on Greek mythology either... in fact, I think it's likely and I welcome it - Greek mythology is very rich. There's potential for far more than just one Pokemon, I'm sure of that. Game Freak doesn't have a problem drawing on foreign ideas. If you're going to disbelieve this rumor, do it for other reasons.

 

[T-major]

Greek Mythology has a lot to base Pokemon off of. a Chimera is a (pseudo)Legendary I would simply LOVE to see. A Griffin as well. these are just obvious examples though. I could easily see a Water/(second typing here) Siren inspired Pokemon, with several song/voice based moves.

also, Houndoom is based off a Hellhound, which is part of several different mythologies. I could see it getting a Cerberus evo, if it got one. combined with the Medusa inspired Mawile evolution I suggested a few pages back, they could do a whole theme if they wanted too.

 

[Seriin]

However, while I can't think of anything of the top of my head, I find it hard to believe no Pokemon has any clear base in any kind of mythology besides Japanese.

There are many that aren't based on Japanese mythology:

-Magikarp/Gyarados are based off of chinese legend.
-Natu/Xatu are a bit of a mix of north american native culture (in terms of appearance) and apparently something to do with an Aztec god (though just in the english name).
-Kyogre/Groudon/Rayquaza are possibly the hebrew Leviathan, Behemoth and Ziz
-Nosepass is a lot like the Easter Island Moai statues. It looked the part a lot more back in gen3 sprites though.
-Delibird is clearly an homage Santa Claus, who is celebrated in japan, but isn't japanese in origin.
-The Regis are based on golems, again Hebrew.
-Absol is either japanese or english, but I'm going to guess it is based on the japanese version of the story.
-Rampardos and Bastiodon are based on the unstoppable force vs. immovable object paradox, unclear origin on this although there is an old chinese story involving a peddler trying to sell a spear that can pierce any shield and a shield that can deflect any blow.
-Abomasnow is based off the Yeti which is kind of a worldwide legend with no clear origins. The Abominable Snowman for which it is named is yet another variation on the yeti story simply renamed by different people.

A few others are difficult to place because there isn't a clear origin (in the case of Torterra's world turtles) or it would be arguing semantics like in the case of Infernape, who is based of Son Gokou who is just the japanese version of a chinese story. One could argue that Arseus is simply another version of that one story that has been floating around for a long long time. You know the one I'm talking about, the one the bible "borrowed" and the church claims is fact but thats a story for another time.

Anyway this is what I came up through one run of the pokedex as well as combining bulbapedia and google, so take it with a grain of salt if you must. But I think it shows that not everything mythological in pokemon is purely Japanese.

These are just ones based on some sort of quick glance mythology as well, ignoring the stuff based strictly on nature which may or may not be present in Japan.

 

[Lucalibur]

Lucario is also not based on anything japanese as far i know since he is based on anubis. so many different pokemons only prove gamefreak think outside of the box once in a while.

 

[joehigashi]

There are many that aren't based on Japanese mythology:

-Magikarp/Gyarados are based off of chinese legend.
-Natu/Xatu are a bit of a mix of north american native culture (in terms of appearance) and apparently something to do with an Aztec god (though just in the english name).
-Kyogre/Groudon/Rayquaza are possibly the hebrew Leviathan, Behemoth and Ziz
-Nosepass is a lot like the Easter Island Moai statues. It looked the part a lot more back in gen3 sprites though.
-Delibird is clearly an homage Santa Claus, who is celebrated in japan, but isn't japanese in origin.
-The Regis are based on golems, again Hebrew.
-Absol is either japanese or english, but I'm going to guess it is based on the japanese version of the story.
-Rampardos and Bastiodon are based on the unstoppable force vs. immovable object paradox, unclear origin on this although there is an old chinese story involving a peddler trying to sell a spear that can pierce any shield and a shield that can deflect any blow.
-Abomasnow is based off the Yeti which is kind of a worldwide legend with no clear origins. The Abominable Snowman for which it is named is yet another variation on the yeti story simply renamed by different people.

A few others are difficult to place because there isn't a clear origin (in the case of Torterra's world turtles) or it would be arguing semantics like in the case of Infernape, who is based of Son Gokou who is just the japanese version of a chinese story. One could argue that Arseus is simply another version of that one story that has been floating around for a long long time. You know the one I'm talking about, the one the bible "borrowed" and the church claims is fact but thats a story for another time.

Anyway this is what I came up through one run of the pokedex as well as combining bulbapedia and google, so take it with a grain of salt if you must. But I think it shows that not everything mythological in pokemon is purely Japanese.

These are just ones based on some sort of quick glance mythology as well, ignoring the stuff based strictly on nature which may or may not be present in Japan.

Nice post. What would the English legend be that Absol may have been based on?

 

[tea_and_blues]

I agree that pokejungle are just trying to ramp up their traffic. The tone of the rumours are (a) too breathless (b) too detailed. Seldom does a source give such a wealth of information, especially slowly enough to leak out over a couple of posts. More likely the poster at pokejungle had some new ideas after his or her first ideas, and wanted to give all these ideas credibility. That's speculation, but really, I call fake until there's even an ounce of credibility to the rumours at all.

That said, I'd love the ghost/water type to exist. And we all wish for some more unique type combos. Some of us wish hard enough to invent them. Jus' sayin.

 

[Phadunk]

new image on serebii. and that little critter we were wondering about looks pretty sick. a hint of green, and definitely looks like a possible kickass pokemon when evolves. im so pumped.

 

[tea_and_blues]

I formally retract my theory about kangaskan. The toy is brown. The picture on Serebii is clearly, blatantly green. I'm am officially part of the pre-evo of lizard-king crew as of this moment.

 

[joehigashi]

new image on serebii. and that little critter we were wondering about looks pretty sick. a hint of green, and definitely looks like a possible kickass pokemon when evolves. im so pumped.

Looks so much better than that shitty toy

edit@post above: Yeah told all you Kanga fanboys :P

 

[tea_and_blues]

Heh. Well, I still think the *toy* looks exactly like a kanga pre-evo. But this [edit:drawing] seems a lot more credible. Toys are often mutants that resemble their inspirations in only the most superficial, creepy ways: Case in point, Barbie.

 

[Corrupted]

Yup thats our new 600 bst beast. Make this one speedy.

And on the starters, is it safe to say we've got a dark/grass lizard a ground/fire boar and a fighting/water kick-ass otter?