Pokemon is a franchise that is close to the heart of a lot of gamers out there. Some more than others, and in fact, there is a group of local talent called the “ELID team” that is trying to pour some Philippine flavor to it and the results are truly inspirational!

This fan-made game has been in development for about 2 years and while most members of the team are Filipino, they do have some members that are not of local descent but have a passion and understanding of the culture, which makes the whole endeavor much more valuable and fun.

The recreation, set in the ‘Bayan Region’, has the usual variants in Eternal Light and Infernal Dark and one of the artists, Jasmine Grace Abraham, shared some artwork on the game that looks very promising, taking inspiration from a lot of Filipino elements.

The starter Pokemons are already there, named Bintukit, Aguilit, and Calfin. Even the Professor, named Prof. Narra, has already been conceptualized. A map of the game is also in the works, showing the Philippines and its various regions as the backdrop for this effort.

You’ve got your starters but you’ll be glad to know that the team behind the game have already thought of their evolutions as well! Welcome Bintufern, Pyroguila, and Wallobao.

Unsurprisingly, even the male and female versions of certain Pokemon have been considered too, with subtle differences between the versions.

Speaking about thinking of everything, they’ve got the various NPC’s as well. The team has surely done their homework!

In fact, if you take a look at their social media pages like Instagram and Twitter, you’ll notice that there’s already a LOT of work put into the fan-made effort, even as far as in-game clips like the ones below:

There’s also music being composed for the game! Check out these short clips from Ethiliel Gautier and from JoblessMusic, which features what could be the World Map BGM as well as the Battle BGM:

You can also check out some more of the featured Pokemon below, can you name the inspirations behind them?

Other Pokemon made by the team include Inahen, Tandong, Kambili, Chiklog, and Banguz, all clearly inspired by our local wildlife.

Of course, as with anything, licensing and use of any official Nintendo or Pokemon logos and likeness may be subject to possible issues, which we’re hoping that the development team has already considered.

At the moment, the game is headed for a PC release with no release window yet, but there will be a demo build sometime next year. Best thing about it is that this effort is purely for the love of the franchise, and will be a non-profit release that everyone will be able to enjoy for free, should the development push through.

If you’re interested to know more about this game, make sure to follow their Instagram and Twitter accounts for more updates!