Evolution ideas for Galar’s fossil Pokémon
Given that Galar’s fossil Pokémon are pitiful, tragic abominations whose very lives are suffering, I wanted to come up with ideas for how they could adapt to their circumstances and more properly fuse into functional living beings. While I’m not a professional artist by any stretch, I came up with these designs basically as a concept of the direction that they could go if they were given evolutions. (Note: I did intend these to be evolutions of the original four, but I suppose they could also be considered redesigns)
Clockwise, starting from the top left:
Dracozolt’s evolution more smoothly merges the two half-bodies into a whole, though admittedly the center of mass is still quite low and it will remain bipedal. It has gained fangs and sharper claws to match its Dragon-typing. I envision electricity running up its back through the spikes, kind of like an electrical Jacob’s ladder.
Arctozolt’s evolution was somewhat inspired by Arctic hares, turtles, and igloos. The main idea is that it now uses the ice surrounding its body as a form of insulation to keep its core warm. The flaps on its arms have widened and stiffened to act like snowshoes, and its crest has solidified around two icy spikes to vaguely resemble rabbit ears. Its tail has diminished in size, but its hind limbs are far more powerful. [As a funny coincidence, while I was working on this, the Twitter account for Woodstock (the bird from Peanuts) posted a picture of Woodstock building an igloo in its nest. Though I had already settled on the design by then, they ended up looking vaguely similar.]
Arctovish’s evolution focuses on the idea that it twisted its face back around, so to speak. Its body now spirals around behind it, with things now aligned more properly internally (though as a result, its tail is now upside down, and its back legs have become upper appendages). Similar to Barraskewda, I envision this Pokémon functioning similar to a propeller, winding itself up to propel itself through the water at high speeds for short bursts, using its hard head to ram into things rather than pierce through them.
Dracovish’s evolution was actually the easiest for me to envision, because an amphibious salamander seemed like the perfect compromise between the water-breathing head and the terrestrial body. It can now breath on land as long as it can keep its skin moist, and its four feet all now resemble amphibian webbed feet. Given that it has flipped over, the red portion of its body is now the underbelly, and its spikes now stick straight out laterally so they don’t run into the ground. It also has a new (though somewhat stumpy) tail.
