You can train a Neural Network—basically a machine that learns—to do all kinds of things. The best thing, though, is to create a list of its own fake Pokémon. Please welcome Stangute, Tortabool and Ronch to the Pokédex.




“I decided to train [a] neural network to randomly generate Pokemon names and abilities based on this list as a training set - and found that it was good at generating Pokemon”, writes research scientist Janelle Shane on her blog. “Annoyingly good at it - by the time it had gone through the training set 50 times, it was already fluently plagiarizing Pokemon word for word.”

Here’s a list of some of the pocket monsters it has come up with:

Quincelax

Abilities: Sturdy, Secene Grace

Hidden ability: Tunged Leus

Tortabool

Ability: Healy Stream

Strangy

Abilities: Wharmwbra, Darp

Hidden ability: Magic Guard

Staroptor

Ability: Stench

Hidden Ability: Stick Hat

Stangute

Ability: Banger

Hidden Ability: Drang

Tyrnakine

Ability: Beak Eye

Minma

Abilities: Buttery armor, Shell Armor

Hidden ability: Weak armor

Ronch

Abilities: None

Mawuh

Ability: Rum Power

We are all Ronch.

The only thing that would make the list better would be if we knew what these Pokémon looked like, so big thanks to Iguanamouth for doing just that and illustrating a bunch of them.


If you’re interested in the neural network and what else it can do besides Pokémon, Shane is also teaching it superhero names and a Lovecraft/cookbook mashup.