Nope, it’s not an out-of-season April fools joke, The Pokémon Company and Honda are taking on an ambitious – albeit eyebrow-raising – collaboration to bring its motorcycle-like legendary Pokémon Koraidon from 2022’s Pokémon Scarlet to life as a real-world, rideable vehicle.
Launched under the Honda Koraidon Project and under the supervision of The Pokémon Company, the vehicle was unveiled via a 49-second teaser, and will make its official appearance at the Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama in Tokyo from 7 to 9 March 2025.
According to Honda’s official website, the project consisted of around 40 engineers from its Motorcycle and Power Products Businesses and Innovative Research Excellence divisions, with the goals of making an accurate life-size reproduction of the Pokémon, down to its weight, size, and even minute details such as its animated limbs, head, eyes and eyelids, which will “change along with its Sprint speed”. The bike will also be able to mirror two of the Pokémon’s forms, swapping between its four-legged and bike forms, although this has yet to be revealed.
What’s more, Honda also has the bold plans of making it rideable, in contrast to Toyota’s similar Miraidon project last year. Whereas the latter made use of an external device below the bike’s chassis to simulate movement and was positioned more as an attraction for kids, the Honda Koraidon will operate more like an actual motorcycle, even making use of Honda’s Riding Assist self-balancing technology to not only walk on its four legs, but stand upright while in its two-wheeled form. It has to be noted, however, that it is purely a concept vehicle and “is not intended for street riding or commercial use”, so finer details like its top speed and weight limit still remain to be seen.
The Honda Koraidon will be displayed at the Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama in Tokyo from 7 to 9 March 2025, although its website clarifies that it will appear as a static product and that visitors will not be able to ride it during the exhibition.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Edwin Teo
