Summary
Many artisticPokemonenthusiasts have designed custom designs of their favorite creatures over the years, but a new fan design featuring a pre-evolution of the iconic Gen 1 Pokemon Lapras might be one of the cutest. Though baby Pokemon have existed in some capacity throughout thePokemongames since the beginning, many artists who feel that few new pre-evolutionary Pokemon have been introduced in the modern era of the franchise have leveraged that as a chance to design some of their own.
The massivePokemoncommunity has always been a particularly creative one, with fanmade creature designs, stories, and even entire games thriving online in the decades since the franchise began. Many such fan designs have featured custom regional variants and Paradox designs over the past couple of years, though withthe reveal ofPokemon Legends: Z-Aearly in 2024, Mega Pokemon designs have also returned in full force recently. Occasionally, fans with a preference for the cutest creatures share some unofficial baby Pokemon designs of their own. In the games, these baby Pokemon serve as pre-evolutions to other existing Pokemon, and though they’re fun to play with and evolve through increasing friendship, they’re not very capable in battle.
One unofficial baby Pokemon design recently shared by the artist known as qobrosii competes for the spot of all-time cutest fan design, with Reddit users instantly showering the image with praise. The fanmade Pokemon in question is named Lullapi, and would serve as a pre-evolution to Lapras, one of the most iconic Water-types since the Gen 1 games. The critter’s design is definitely reminiscent of Lapras, but like manyother baby Pokemon designs, it features a much smaller body and a larger head by comparison. Lullapi’s overall color scheme is notably lighter than that of its larger counterpart, Lapras.
An Official Lapras Pre-evolution Would Likely Look a Lot Like Another Gen 1 Creature
Lapras is an interesting choice of Pokemon to design a baby version for, considering one of the largest community theories relating to the Water and Ice-type. Many have speculated over the years that during thedevelopment ofPokemon Red and Blue, Lapras' design was at some point intended to be used as the final evolutionary form of Squirtle. Of course, Lapras never ended up taking the place of Blastoise, and while these Pokemon may share similarities in appearance, they don’t appear to have any relation in terms of official lore.
Whatever the case, many lovers of theseries' adorable baby Pokemonhave long been waiting to see some new ones introduced to the franchise. Introducing new pre-evolutions to Pokemon that have existed for decades now does come with some logistical challenges for both gameplay and lore continuity, though, which may be a big part of the reason why few new baby Pokemon are introduced nowadays. With little known aboutPokemon Legends: Z-A, there’s every chance it could capitalize on introducing pre-evolutions for classic Kalos Pokemon - especially if the game is to be set in the past.
Pokemon
Pokemon is a franchise that needs no introduction. One of the most successful media empires in history, Pokemon spans games, television, films, manga, merchandise, music, and more.
