Have you ever wondered what Pokémon would look like in real life? Well, so did the very talented RJ Palmer, a San Francisco-based freelance artist.

When we saw his artwork, we were filled with awe, and just had find out just how RJ came up with these awesome, absurd designs.

IGN: Why did you decide to draw hyper-realistic Pokémon?

RJ: Well I have always been a Pokémon fan since I was 9 years old and got Pokemon Yellow Version.  Back in late August I was burnt out on doing some freelance illustrations and before I went to bed I scratched out a more realistic Garchomp to relieve stress.  After I there it up on my deviantART account, it became very popular.  I had more ideas for Pokémon to do and decided to just start working on my creature design skills, and decided to keep doing them in my spare time.

How long does an image take?

These Pokémon pieces have taken longer and longer as I progress as I get more ambitious and push them further.  Average illustration work I do takes around 10-20 hours and most of these Pokémon pictures have been under or around 10 hours, so they are fairly relaxing.

Are there any Pokémon you've tried repeatedly to draw but can't quite figure out?

The greatest thing about looking to nature for your inspiration, is that nature has generally thought of it all first.  So not being able to make a Pokémon more realistic comes down to you not knowing enough or not being creative enough.

Before I draw each one, I take an hour or two to just research some real animals and gather reference to pull from.  Its sort of like looking for pieces made of nature and assembling them into a Nintendo-shaped puzzle.

Which Pokémon are next?

As far as which Pokémon are next, I'm not really sure.  I've wanted to do the Eevee evolutions.  Though I am open to being commissioned to have someone else's favorite Pokemon redesigned.

Are there any other games or nerd culture icons you'd like to take a shot at drawing?

After drawing Dissidia Ryan Clements, I think I've got my nerd culture icons covered.  No, I kid; there are always new designs and video game characters that will inspire me.  Though I mostly just draw the inspiration from other video game designs and don't actually draw the characters themselves.  I did draw the cast of Star Fox as humans though.

You can check out more of RJ's art on his deviantART, Tumblr, and personal portfolio site, but be warned - some of his early stuff is NSFW.

Nic is the Editor of IGN Tech. He loves technology almost as much as the SF Giants, Velveeta Shells, and Wartortle. You can follow him on Twitter @nicvargus and IGN.

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