Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's new influencer Gym leader gave everyone a task earlier this week - to guess what her Partner Pokemon was. Turns out, we were at a disadvantage right from the start as Iono revealed that her partner is a Pokemon we've never actually seen before, an Electric frog called Bellibolt. Pokemon fans were immediately smitten by the lovable round amphibian, as it seems like Game Freak just can't lose at the minute with its Pokemon designs.As you can imagine, fan art of Bellibolt immediately flooded social media within minutes, including Twitter user @Zuccnini's drawing of Bellibolt hanging out with fellow newcomer Paldean Wooper. Bellibolt's color scheme immediately reminded Twitter user @Hee_Ho1 of Perry the Platypus the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb, inspiring them to create this wonderful piece of art. You don't have to look too hard to find tons of similar creations, some absolutely adorable, some completely cursed.Then you have other fans who were immediately reminded of other Pokemon once Bellibolt was revealed. Twitter user @hionfructose wondered if anyone else saw Bellibolt's resemblance to the beta design of Politoed, another popular frog Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Gold & Silver. They share an image of Politoed's beta design next to Bellibolt and despite a couple of small differences, the pattern on their front and goofy eyeballs on the sides of their head definitely hint that Game Freak could have used the design as a template.
Unsurprisingly, Bellibolt fever has also spread throughout Reddit, as several people were also reminded of another adorable round blob of a Pokemon after the reveal. Bellibolt's design has been edited slightly, but lots of fans have also noticed a large resemblance to Chansey, first put to the Pokemon subreddit by Redditor Gaopaws. You can't really blame them, both Pokemon are extremely squishy and round, although I know which one I'd prefer to look after my Pokemon after a hard day of battling.
Then you have the reactions of the more battle-focused Pokemon fans out there who are already trying to figure out how to get the most out of Bellibolt's typing and ability. For example, a post by Redditor C0nvinced has people realizing that Bellibolt's inclusion makes an all-frog team a possibility. It would even be pretty viable competitively as well, as Bellibolt would go great on a Rain Dance team along with the likes of Politoed, Toxicroak, Poliwrath, Seismitoad, and Greninja.
It's safe to say that while not everyone is 100 percent sold on Bellibolt, his reveal has gone down just as well as other already beloved Pokemon such as the little bread dog Fidough and the horrifyingly long Wiglett. It feels as though Gen 9 is gonna be chock full of memorable 'mons, although it's possible Game Freak could be pushing out its best designs first for the purpose of marketing. We won't have to wait too long to find out though, as Pokemon Scarlet & Violet launches in just a little over a month on November 18.