Whether you're a fan or not, you probably have at least a passing familiarity with Pokémon by now. And for good reason, too. I'd be willing to bet that Pikachu is probably at least as recognizable as Mickey Mouse or Mario by this point, even if you couldn't possibly care less about the games, or the animated series/movies, the cards, or even Ryan Reynolds.
It's kind of hard for me to believe, but the games Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are a couple of years old now. Back in 2022, I wrote about how these two monsters, which somehow evolved with motorcycle-esque qualities, were both Legendaries intended to help Pokémon trainers get around in both games. Violet had Miraidon, while Scarlet had Koraidon. Of the two, Miraidon was somewhat lightcycle-esque in stature, while Koraidon had a strange combination of four legs and a pair of wheels.
Funnily enough, when it came time for the Pokémon Company to partner with OEMs to build life-size Miraidon and Koraidon, the partnerships went in a different direction than you might expect. Despite the fact that Toyota mostly doesn't involve itself with motorcycles, it was nonetheless Toyota that built a life-size Miraidon. Now, Miraidon has legs as well as wheels; it just doesn't seem to function in quite the same way in-game as Koraidon does. I mean, I didn't mention the jets, did I? Miraidon has jet propulsion. I guess I kind of buried the lede there; for that, I'm very sorry. JETCYCLE POKEMON!
Anyway, here's the Toyota Miraidon, as first introduced to the public in 2023.
That was 2023, though, and I'm telling you this now because in 2025, it's Honda that's doing the heavy Pokémon lifting with a new collaboration on a life-size Koraidon demonstrator vehicle. Unlike Toyota's Miraidon, the Honda Koraidon also aims to be functional. And while the designs of both creatures strongly suggest that they're links in the eventual evolution of mecha, it's the Honda Koraidon that the OEM is about to show off in Tokyo from March 7 through 9, 2025 that's the most intriguing.
Why? Because it's not only meant to sit behind some velvet ropes and make children ooh and aah; it's meant to demonstrate the latest evolutions of several technologies that Honda has been working on and giving us glimpses of for literal years now.
Remember Honda's self-balancing technology, and how it's shown a few iterations of it (think Honda Riding Assist) since 2017? And even though it's definitely not a motorbike, you probably also remember the Honda Asimo robot, which also utilizes self-balancing technology, right?
According to Honda, the company "will use its proprietary self-balancing technology to enable Honda Koraidon to walk on all four legs, and self-stand on two-wheels which is unseen in the game." Later on, it also plans to give hand, leg, neck, and facial movements character that changes along with its speed in "Sprinting Build" mode, to allow Koraidon to appear more dynamic and alive.
So, to summarize, Honda is building a dragon-type Pokémon ride-on robot that it's calling the Honda Koraidon. This is totally the next step towards bringing mechs to life, right? I mean, there are obviously a number of real-world possibilities for such a creature, particularly for folks with mobility issues. Monetary concerns and healthcare coverage aside, just imagine a world where folks could get around with the help of assistive devices that are essentially ridable mobility robots like this?
And then, of course, there's the possibility to push it further into giant robot territory. A real-life Koraidon is about 2.5 meters tall (that's approximately 8 feet, 2 inches), and would tip the scales at about 303 kilograms (or 668-ish pounds). Not exactly Gundam territory, but giant robot development is (probably) a slippery slope. Honda does have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies, so would anyone really be surprised if it became a giant robot OEM in the future? Probably not.
Gallery: Honda Koraidon Project
Where will Honda be showing off its Koraidon demonstrator? It will take to the floor at the Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama in Tokyo, and will only be available for viewing for three days to start. From March 7 through 9, 2025, visitors can check it out during opening hours.
Probably my favorite part of Honda's announcement that this project will be on display is a footnote that reads, "Exhibit at Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama will be stationary due to space restrictions." So sadly, while it seems that Honda is developing Koraidon as a mobility technology, you won't actually be able to see it in action that day.
However, the fact that Honda went to such lengths to talk about integration of its existing mobility technologies into Koraidon in the same announcement would seem to point to future appearances by Koraidon, where we'll get to see him showing off Honda's proprietary mobility assistive tech. I mean, why else would they mention it? That really wouldn't make any sense.
It's not clear at this point whether such a demonstration will come in the form of a video, or at some type of show or another, or really what the plan is.
Will we see Koraidon have a dance-off with the Yamaha Motoroid2? I mean, I'll make us all popcorn if we ever do.
