Field Guide to Kanto

by Kari Fry

There are many odd and fascinating creatures inhabiting the Kanto region. This field guide can help a traveler identify all of the creatures known to inhabit the region (as of a study performed in 1998, anyway) as well as providing valuable information about their habitats and temperament in order to help a traveler be prepared for the encounter.

The features of the Field Guide to Kanto include:

158 full-color pages
Colorful illustrations of all 151 creatures discovered during the 1998 survey
Descriptions of these creatures, including updated information discovered since the initial survey, such as
Elemental affinity
Habitat
Behavior
A full-color map of the Kanto region
The book is available in both hardback and paperback formats.

The hardback version has the following unique features:

Foil-embossed, sturdy cover
Dust jacket which doubles as a poster
The descriptions and illustrations are the result of years of study by Professor Kari Fry. The books were printed by the ink-types at Bang Printing.

Genres: Gaming, Fantasy, Art, Video Games, Games

158 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

Raised on Nintendo Power magazines and video game instruction manuals, Kari has been obsessed with video games and their supplemental art since she was in 2nd grade. Her hobbies include travelling to Japan, cooking, painting, enjoying JRPGs, and telling every bird that she loves them.

Reviews

[Matt Beal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't believe missingno is in this!

[Lemurkat · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautifully illustrated, these 151 charming creatures may look familiar to some of you. The gorgeous layout and delicately coloured, detailed and diverse interpretations of the kanto regions unique biodiversity makes this a lovely collectible. If only there were more in the set!

I am hoping that this field guide will help me track down the elusive #113.

[Lorenzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fan-made collector's item is absolutely wonderful. It contains beautiful illustrations of the original Pokémon, all 151 of them, looking as if they could exist on Earth... this Earth, not Kanto. Every last Pokémon has its appearance, habitat, and behaviour described, showcasing the incredible research done by the author to make them feel as realistic as can be. Its title "Field Guide to Kanto" is not a misnomer, as its inclusion of a map of the Kanto region allows for every Pokémon that can be encountered in the wild to be found on the grid overlaid on the map.

All told, this is an incredible book that is greatly amusing to either pore over or flip through.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting alternate view of the original Pokémon. The main pleasure of this book is the art, which reinterprets the various Pokémon in more realistic designs. The actual text about each one is competent and adequately entertaining. I wonder what this book would have been like had they not had to avoid trademark infringement? Anyway, worth reading for Pokémon fans! (B+)

[Treavor Wagoner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesomely illustrated, loved the re-imagined monsters from the beloved games and anime. Feels like a real deal field guide. I thought the names were missing but I think the author left it up to readers to add them. I liked the bonus Pokémon chart on the dust jacket.

[Joe Archer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kari Fry writes really fun guidebooks, reimagining creatures from videogames and cartoons as though they existed in our universe. The illustrations are beautiful, and these books make great gifts for fans of the various franchises.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this field guide a lot. The illustrations were beautiful and the entries were fun to read. I wish there were more books like this on the other different Pokemon generations.

[Leslie Carnahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally one of the coolest/most beautiful Pokemon fan books I've ever seen. The art is so unique/interesting/beautifully detailed. You can feel the love for the franchise in every page flip. <3

[Koen Crolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should I count this towards my yearly goal? I'm going to count this towards my yearly goal. There isn't really a lot of text here, but.

I like Pokémon, and I usually like alternative art, but most of these interpretations aren't really all that alternative. With only a few exceptions (Snorlax and Chansey, mainly), everything follows the game art pretty closely, and there are a few missed opportunities.
As a resource for people playing through FireRed or LeafGreen (if not RBY), I suppose it can be useful when you don't want to deal with Bulbapedia. Not all of the information is accurate—Gengar is listed as being available in the Cemetery Tower, which is just wrong, and being an in-universe document, the book can't really deal with Pokémon that are available in one game but not the other, like Vulpix—and for some reason it doesn't actually name any of the Pokémon, but most information a casual player would want is there.
As a collectible, though, it's pretty nice.

[Karli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just really, really cool. If you're a fan of Pokemon, especially an experienced one, you will absolutely love this book. It is filled with creative illustrations of every Pokemon found in Kanto, plus brief descriptions of their appearance, habitat, range, behavior, and evolutionary methods, if any. I think what I like most about this book (aside from the illustrations, because they really are remarkably fun to look at) is that the word "Pokemon" is never printed at all. Neither are any of the names of the Pokemon (Bulbasaur is referred to as Figure 001, Ivysaur is Figure 002, etc.) I think this fact gives the book a certain charm that I absolutely adore. This book would make a great gift to any Pokemon fan.

[Summer Seeds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure Pokemon perfection. To be honest, I bought the book as a joke. I spent my childhood growing up on the original Pokemon and when I stumbled upon this book online I thought to myself "Eh, why not?" I am so glad I did. The pictures are absolutely stunning. Fry has done a beautiful job with the re-imagining of these creatures. I only have one complaint: I wish instead of simply putting their pokedex entry number for identification, he would have also put the actual names of each Pokemon. Yes, everyone knows Balbasaur is always number 001 and Pikachu 025, but it would still have been nice to see names on the page next to their entry. Besides that, this book really was great. A must have for any true Pokemon fan!

[Milliebot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated guide to all of our favorite original 151 Pokemon. They've been given a realistic twist and I love looking at Fry's persuasive. Fry gives detailed physical descriptions as well as listing attributes about their powers. The hardcover edition has a beautiful dust jacket that also contains a picture of each Pokemon on the interior. My only wish is that the names of the Pokemon were listed next to their pictures.

[Jason Awkerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a traditional book obviously, but really cool book for people who like Pokemon. The illustrations are really cool and more realistic than the game sprites. Would've been five stars if they put the name of each Pokemon next to the pictures, but that's really my only gripe.

[Lucinda Dreadnought · Rating 5 out of 5]

constant review. #nerd