In the words of that one recurring Pokemon NPC, technology is incredible, but just in case you needed any convincing, this real-life recreation of Pokemon Violet's legendary mascot Miraidon as some sort of fancy prototype motorcycle might do the trick.
Meet the Miraidon Project, created by the Toyota Engineering Society. Images and videos of the creation have been shared around on Twitter and Reddit, and there's no doubt that it's seriously impressive. Details are very light on the ground right now, but from what we've seen so far from its first prototype appearance last year, it appears to be life-size. All of the details, from its light-up eyes to the different colors on the outer of its wheels are on point, but it's not clear if it's actually functional as a vehicle right now. If it is, we've got to see how fast this thing can go. For science, obviously.
トヨタ技術会の挑戦アイディアはこの1枚#トヨタミライドンプロジェクト始動 pic.twitter.com/HzPj6JpYyeMarch 5, 2024
pic.twitter.com/HkWITLr2tfNovember 26, 2023
Let's face it: Miraidon's design feels like it was made for this. The robotic bike-like lizard serves as your main form of transportation around generation nine's Paldea region (unless you're playing Scarlet, in which case it's the crimson counterpart Koraidon). Its sleek in-game appearance means that when recreated in real life with smooth, metallic materials, it genuinely looks like it was pulled straight out of the Pokemon world.
No clips have been shown of the prototype in action, and it also doesn't appear that there've been any plans shared by Toyota to sell the Miraidon, so our dreams of taking to the road on a Pokemon aren't quite reality yet. It feels like we're a step closer to having actual Pokemon companions though, which can only be considered a win.
Even though both Pokemon Scarlet and Violet feature legendary Pokemon that you can ride around on, you can see why Miraidon was the one that Toyota went with for this project, and it's not just because of its machine-like appearance. Koraidon, despite having wheels, moves around in the game by sprinting everywhere on all fours, which sounds far harder to recreate if you want it to actually function. It'd be incredible to see it happen, though.
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