As someone who mostly passes through Animal Crossing each time a game comes out, it’s easy to draw comparisons between why people love that series and the ways in which players connect to Pokémon. Sure, in Nintendo’s life sim you’re not “capturing” all the animal villagers, but people still collect their favorites and set them up in homes with the same vigor people apply to seeking out their favorite shiny Pokémon or trying to get the perfect IV critter in the latest RPG. That’s why seeing an artist make a mockup of an Animal Crossing game featuring iconic Pocket Monsters just makes perfect sense.

3D artist SpicyBeefu has created several short videos of different Pokémon reimagined as Animal Crossing characters. After TikTok creator pen_paladin shared them, fans are wondering how Nintendo hasn’t already invested in this crossover. Some videos were inspired by other artists’ renditions of Pokémon as Animal Crossing characters, including Gokuchan’s drawing of the electric sheep Mareep, and Yencatx’s Sylveon as an Animal Crossing fox. But if I didn’t know these critters from Pokémon, I’d have no idea they weren’t already in Nintendo’s life sim.

There are some pretty creative mockups here, including Haunter, a gas-like ghost with disembodied hands. SpicyBeefu’s design makes it a little cuter and gives it a body so it can wear a little sweater. It’s adorable, even when it tries to spook the player.

“Pokémon leaning into the cozy game angle would make them MILLIONS,” TikTok user Darth_Nater59 said. “They could even tie this into Pokémon Concierge.”

For whatever it’s worth, Pokémon has made a few games that could be considered “cozy,” like Pokémon Café ReMix and Hey You, Pikachu back on the Nintendo 64. But something like a life sim that lets you take care of Pokémon outside of capturing and battling with them feels like an untapped market. Doing something exactly like Animal Crossing, in which animals are full-blown citizens with dialogue and routines, could feasibly work if it’s set in the right spaces in the universe. Netflix’s Pokémon Concierge is a good demonstration of this, as it’s all about taking care of Pokémon staying at a resort. But a setting like Detective Pikachu’s Ryme City, which has Pokémon and humans coexisting as equals, could also facilitate such gameplay. If all else fails, they could set it in the Mystery Dungeon universe, where every Pokémon talks. That cuts out the human element entirely. Let Pokémon vibe without humans coming in and locking them in Poké Balls, I say.

You can check out the rest of SpicyBeefu’s Pokémon x Animal Crossing matchups on her YouTube channel.

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