12 Pokemon Inspired By Real Historical Events
9. Relicanth
Relicanth was first introduce in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire and draws direct inspiration from the coelacanth in both appearance and back-story. The coelacanth is an ancient fish that was widely thought to have been extinct for over a 100 million years before being rediscovered by a submarine in the 1930s.
The in game Pokedex entry for Relicanth matches this story exactly and Relicanth is nearly identical to a coelacanth in design. The colouring of Relicanth closely matches that of the Indonesian coelacanth while its shiny form matches the colouring of coelacanth native to the West Indian Ocean.