Tinkaton

Tinkaton is a species of fictional creatures called Pokémon created for the Pokémon media franchise. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Japanese franchise began in 1996 with the video games Pokémon Red and Green for the Game Boy, which were later released in North America as Pokémon Red and Blue in 1998.^[3] In these games and their sequels, the player assumes the role of a Trainer whose goal is to capture and use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon. Some Pokémon can transform into stronger species through a process called evolution via various means, such as exposure to specific items.^[4] Each Pokémon has one or two elemental types, which define its advantages and disadvantages when battling other Pokémon.^[5] A major goal in each game is to complete the Pokédex, a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia, by capturing, evolving, and trading with other Trainers to obtain individuals from all Pokémon species.^[4]

Introduced in the 2022 video games Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and known in Japan as Dekanuchan, Tinkaton stands 2 ft 4 in (70 cm) tall and is the third and final part of an evolution line designed by artist Megumi Mizutani at the request of Game Freak.^[1] A female-only species classified as both a Fairy and Steel-type, Tinkaton starts life as Tinkatink (カヌチャン, Kanuchan), a small Pokémon with a pink body, short light-pink hair extending from their scalp, silver eyes, a singular square shape tooth extending from their lower lip, and a metallic diamond on their chest. As metallurgists, they craft small rattle-like hammers from scraps of metal for protection, though these hammers are routinely stolen by other Pokémon species.^[6] After acquiring enough experience points, they evolve into Tinkatuff (ナカヌチャン, Nakanuchan), now slightly taller with a ponytail extending from their scalp, a second tooth also jutting from their upper lip and the diamond turned into a partial skirt over each thigh. The hammer has also grown in size from metal scraps gained from attacking other Steel-type Pokémon, and they test the effectiveness of their hammers by battling each other.^[7]

After evolving into Tinkaton, their hair is now let down and extends the length of their bodies, while a bow made of hair adorns the tops of their heads. In addition, their rearranged teeth now overlap their lower lip when they close their mouths, and their arms are now fully covered in light pink saved for their thumbs, with the hands ending in four short fingers. The hammer has also grown dramatically in size, which they wield with ease due to a metaphysical link to them despite the weapon's weight. In the game's lore, they have a daring disposition and are regarded as highly intelligent, stealing whatever catches their eye and bringing it back to their lair.^[8] They also use their massive hammers to launch stones at the flying Pokémon Corviknight. Tinkaton has been cited as Corviknight's Natural Predator due to being mentioned in Corviknight's Scarlet and Violet Pokédex entries that explain why the latter do not offer a taxi service to players in those titles like they did in the previous games.^[9] Tinkaton additionally gain an attack unique to them, "Gigaton Hammer", which is extremely strong but cannot be used twice in short duration under normal circumstances.^[10]

Tinkaton later appeared in Pokémon Unite during the game's anniversary event, featured in a new game mode called Panic Parade in which players must work together to protect it from a horde of attacking Pokémon.^[11] Cards featuring the species along with their evolution line have also appeared in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, with a deck that revolves around Tinkaton,^[12] and a special promotional card released to GameStop and Best Buy in 2023.^[13] Tinkaton and the rest of its evolution line were added to Pokémon Legends: Z-A in a post-launch update coinciding with the release of the Mega Dimensions downloadable content.^[14]