As a massive Pokémon fan, I've often daydreamed about what Pokémon would be like if they were real. Films like Detective Pikachu and games like Pokémon GO have offered different flavors of this daydream, but one of my recent favorite imaginings has to be the YouTube series PokéNational Geographic, created by Elious Entertainment.
PokéNational Geographic is a series of short YouTube videos, each featuring a different Pokémon and structured like a National Geographic documentary segment. There are episodes on Mimikyu, Baltoy, Magikarp, Phantump, Sobble, and Magnemite available at the time this is written, all under two minutes each, featuring a close-up look at a realistic-looking Pokémon and some Pokedex-driven facts about its habitat and behavior. There's also a "full episode" published recently that combines several existing segments into one five-minute episode.
My absolute favorite of these so far has to be Mimikyu, but the Magikarp one is pretty good as well just for how thoroughly it roasts the useless fish Pokémon. The series seems pretty experimental so far in terms of format and length, but it has been updating somewhat regularly, so hopefully we get even more of these clips to enjoy in the future.
IGN reached out to Elious Entertainment for comment on how and why these were made, but didn't receive a response.
I personally hope we get lots more of these clips. They remind me a bit of Pokémon Snap (and New Pokémon Snap) in their take on the Pokémon world as a wild one where Pokemon largely go about their business in nature without much concern for humans. I love the idea of someone producing a detailed nature documentary about their wild habits; it's a look at these fantasy creatures that's both familiar and alien at the same time.
For more Pokémon chatter, we recently reviewed the new Indigo Disk DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which we said was "a blast to play alone and with friends, but it’s still held back by all the same technical issues that made Pokémon Scarlet and Violet a disaster."
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
