Fan-made Pokémon are nothing new, however the neighborhood seldom rallies round one like they’ve Regitube (or Regifloat, relying on who you ask). The hypothetical water-type Legendary Big originated in a TikTok shitpost and has since change into a legend throughout the Pokémon fandom, inspiring fan artwork, memes, and even modded in-game renders.
For consistency’s sake, we’ll name this legendary king Regitube. The pretend Pokémon’s origins began innocently sufficient. Again in August, The Tube Shack, a Canadian river tubing firm, posted a TikTok of certainly one of its staff creating what can maybe finest be described as an enormous swimsuit of armor out of blue floating tubes. The video is foolish and cute, however followers rapidly identified that for those who put the enduring dotted eyes of the Legendary Giants that debuted in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire on it, the cartoonish blue determine appears prefer it might be one as properly. The Tube Shack ran with the joke.
The video has over 3.6 million views on TikTok, however it’s begun spreading to different platforms as properly, the place fan artists and modders have taken discover. Now, Pokémon followers are collectively constructing out this large man’s lore, typing, moveset, and even its stats.
Welcome to Exp. Share, Kotaku’s Pokémon column by which we dive deep to discover notable characters, city legends, communities, and simply plain bizarre quirks from all through the Pokémon franchise.
With all this consideration comes fanart, and the Pokémon neighborhood works quick and nonetheless manages to return out with some unbelievable work. There are some life like, modern-looking items, however a few of the finest artwork of Regitube is the stuff that harkens again to the sequence’ roots. The Ruby and Sapphire-style sprite beneath makes me assume again to browsing across the Hoenn area, doubtless discovering this large man floating on the ocean someplace. I’ve by no means actually had a gentle water-type member for my staff in Era III’s video games, so I’d catch Regitube and add him to my staff, with out query.
Whereas Regitube can solely exist in our hearts and fan artwork, the Regis have change into so outstanding in Pokémon memes, particularly on TikTok, that it makes good sense for one web inside joke to spawn one other one, full with stats and lore. And hey, a minimum of nobody’s recommended we nerf the floating king by giving him a rubbish capacity just like the one Regigigas is cursed with.