Someone made a Steve Irwin-inspired Pokémon

Because Pokémon fever is still alive and well, Australian artist Paul Robertson decided to try his hand at a few new characters — one being a Pokémon inspired by Steve Irwin.
Robertson has been involved with pixel art for quite some time. In fact, if you’re familiar with gaming, you might think that these fun creations resemble what you’d find in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game. If so, good eye — Robertson worked on the game back in 2010. He’s also worked on a few eye-catching station IDs for Adult Swim.
So really, it’s like he was meant to work on a project like this. Here’s what he came up with:
australian pokedex 1-29 pic.twitter.com/IBe2E0RWTv
— Paul Robertson (@probzz) May 26, 2017
Out of those, we’d love to battle with Sprinkles. (Or maybe we’re just a little hungry.)
australian pokedex 30-57 pic.twitter.com/sjCLbvS99g
— Paul Robertson (@probzz) May 26, 2017
We’d hate to mess with Slapp. Althought Stuump also looks a little intimidating.
australian pokedex 58-86 pic.twitter.com/uL5kJAqmGP
— Paul Robertson (@probzz) May 26, 2017
In this set, you can spot Errwinn — near the bottom right. He’s got a halo (which is making us tear up a little) and has Irwin’s lovely smile. And while Irwin passed away in a somewhat grisly way that’s kind of illustrated here, we do think he’d be honored by the tribute.
Here are the rest of the Pokémon. In total, Robertson created 151 new characters.
australian pokedex 87-111 pic.twitter.com/WRiRZUKpos
— Paul Robertson (@probzz) May 26, 2017
(Laughing forever at “Speedo.”)
australian pokedex 112-130 pic.twitter.com/NdLBgZAQOH
— Paul Robertson (@probzz) May 26, 2017
australian pokedex 131-151 pic.twitter.com/EnSG2NeKfE
— Paul Robertson (@probzz) May 26, 2017
Surely “Didgeridoom” is a shout out to the musical instrument invented (and often played to perfection) by Australians.
All in all, we’re loving the time and creativity that Robertson put into these. So many of them are attached to jokes, Australian-related pop culture, or just wordplay that’ll make you think. Now if only they could get their own television show…