Shortly after revealing Iono, the upcoming Electric-type gym leader and influencer in Pokémon Scarlet, a follow-up trailer presented in the same way has revealed her partner Pokémon. It turned out to be Bellibolt, a round, smiling frog with bold colors. You can watch the full reveal on Pokémon’s YouTube channel here:
It appears that Bellibolt was named literally, after its ability to generate electricity from “an organ that looks like a belly button”, and then discharge it from bumps on its head that only resemble eyeballs.
The result is a little strange, and it’s easy to be taken aback at first glance. After all, the color design is also pretty loud. There’s an unusual variety of colors, as opposed to a simple theme. Also, they’re still appropriately vivid for an Electric-type Pokémon. It’s unclear if Bellibolt is an evolved form of something much cuter, which has often been the case in Pokémon.
There have been more than a few comparisons to Grafaiai, but that design was arguably a little more odd or messy. Bellibolt’s appearance may grow on you, but for now, it seems to have a love or hate relationship with fans.
Aside from similar Pokémon, Bellibolt’s roundish and squishy features bring to mind Totoro, or maybe even Baymax from Big Hero 6, both of which are very huggable. In fact, fans quickly agreed that Bellibolt seems to have been perfectly designed for plushies.
Bellibolt’s design is also comparable to the leaked Beta Politoed, which Poliwhirl would have evolved into back in the days of Gold and Silver before the concept was scrapped.
Regardless of Bellibolt’s divisive design, the reveal is still better than the superfluous “stream” that was recently released exclusively to introduce Iono. It’s clear that today’s video would have been more than enough on its own.
You can read more about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s latest updates by checking out the rest of our news section!
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