Fan-made Pokedex goes viral at Pokemon
A creator's real-life Pokedex went viral at the 2026 Pokemon World Championships. It scans plush toys and identifies the Pokemon in seconds.
A functional, fan-made Pokedex has gone viral after being demonstrated at the 2026 Pokemon World Championships in San Francisco. According to a report from Dexerto, content creator BigRig Creates brought the device to Pokemon XP, the fan experience running alongside the tournament from August 28 to 30.
Footage shared by Pokemon YouTuber JPR shows the Pokedex in action. An attendee points the device at a Heatmor plush held by BigRig. After a brief moment, it correctly identifies the Pokemon. Its screen displays an image and written information while a robotic voice reads the classic Pokedex entry aloud. The video surpassed 290,000 views in a day, with many viewers immediately asking where they could buy one.
How the real-life Pokedex works
The device is a collaboration between BigRig Creates and fellow YouTuber Mr. Volt. BigRig programmed the software, while Mr. Volt designed and built the hardware. The core of the device is a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, which powers the main interface and camera. An ESP32 development board and a Raspberry Pi Pico control additional displays and buttons.
Its recognition process does not use generative AI. Instead, the Pokedex takes a photograph and uses Google's reverse image search to determine which Pokemon it sees. It then pulls information from the fan-run Pokemon Database. The creators first revealed the completed project in a video in November 2025.
Capabilities and fan reaction
Demonstrations show the Pokedex can identify various Pokemon media. It recognizes official cards, figures, and plushies. It can also identify fan art and even rough drawings. When built, its database contained all 1,025 Pokemon available at the time, along with their types, moves, evolutions, and game entries.
The familiar robotic voice was custom-made. BigRig explained on Reddit that he used his own voice processed through three different filters, rather than audio from the anime.
Fan reaction to the viral clip was enthusiastic. One viewer commented they would have loved it as a child. Another posted a classic "shut up and take my money" reaction, speculating about a retail release. The creators have not announced any plans to sell the device. It remains an unofficial, one-of-a-kind fan project. While other fans have built Pokedex replicas, this version comes notably close to recreating the device's functionality from the anime.
