Gotta catch 'em all: Fan-made Pinoy Pokémon game to launch demo this year
MANILA, Philippines — Spearheaded by a Filipina web developer, a Philippine-inspired Pokémon fan-made game has been in the works for three years now.
Growing up, Jasmine Grace Abraham would make her own Pokémon stories that are based on the country. She recalled how she loved making drawings out of her fascination with Pokémon.
Drawn from her interest, she decided to make a Philippine-inspired Pokémon game upon knowing that none has ever created one.
“I want to share the world the beauty of our country, the flora and fauna, the mythologies, culture, and more,” she said.
Before, it was only Abraham who does all the work but now, she shares the load with “ELID Team,” which stands for Eternal Light and Infernal Dark.
The game
“Pokémon Eternal Light and Infernal Dark” is a fan-made game made in RPG Maker XP through Pokémon Essentials.
The only difference between “Eternal Light” and “Infernal Dark” is the exclusive Pokémon, including the main legendaries, stories and quests.
Just like any other Pokémon game, there are region names that historically depict real-life locations. Since the game is inspired by the country, Abraham named it “Bayan Region,” which she described as “tropical and diverse land based on the Philippines.”
“I picked the word Bayan because it has so many meanings in Tagalog (Country, Town, City, People, Home, Local) which is a perfect name for the region,” she said.
To play the game, the player must acquire eight gym badges in order to compete in the Bayan League Championship.
On the quest to becoming the Bayan League Champion, players will come across over 300 brand new Pokémon, available for them to catch, evolve and train with.
Characters
To begin the quest, players can choose their starters — as usual! They may select among these characters:
- “Calfin,” the water starter, originated from Water Buffalo or Carabao, also known as the national animal of the Philippines.
- “Aguilit,” the fire starter, inspired by Aguila, the country’s national bird.
- “Bintukit,” the grass starter, is inspired by Binturong, an animal endemic to Palawan.
- “Baboink” comes from the words “baboy” (pig) and “oink.”
- “Pilanfrost” is the combined words of “pilandok,” a Philippine mouse deer, and “frost.”
- “Inahen,” the healer one, comes from the words “ina” that means mother, and “hen,” referring to a mother hen.
Launch
According to Abraham, the fan-made game is only for PC, adding that they have no intent on developing it fpr a mobile version, nor add compatibility should applications try to support their engine.
The team is not releasing any details yet on the game's release, but the demo will be launched around this year.
Filipinos who may want to support the game while awaiting its release can check the game developer's social media accounts for updates.
All of the links of the official social media accounts can be accessed here: https://lnk.bio/JQ8f.
While the official website is in development, they post updates and news on their public Discord server, while they post the dex and characters on Instagram.
