---
title: "Pokémon Based on Food: 26 Ice Creams, Apples, Sushi and Sweets | pokee.si"
url: "https://pokee.si/articles/pokemon-based-on-food"
description: "Pokémon based on food, from ice cream and cotton candy to apples, sushi, tea and bread. 26 Pokémon, what each one is based on, with audio."
last_updated: "2026-10-21"
publisher: "pokee.si: a Pokédex for families (unofficial fan site)"
published: "2026-10-21"
---

# Pokémon Based on Food: 26 Ice Creams, Apples, Sushi and Sweets

Some Pokémon look good enough to eat. This page picks 26 that are based on food, from a Pokémon that looks like soft-serve ice cream to a ghost that haunts a cup of tea. Click Hear it to listen to each name.

A quick note on how to read the tables. The designers rarely explain their ideas, so many of these are careful guesses. A plain verb like "is" or "looks" means the idea is well backed up, or that a designer has said it. Words like "may", "seems" and "appears" mean it is a fan reading, which is a fan's guess.

## Ice cream, sweets and cream

| Pokémon | The food idea... | Audio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Vanillite](https://pokee.si/pokemon/vanillite) | is based on soft-serve ice cream in a small cup or a child-sized cone, and it also somewhat resembles a snowball. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/vanillite) |
| [Vanilluxe](https://pokee.si/pokemon/vanilluxe) | has two scoops. Its designer, James Turner, has said it also borrows from US food mascots. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/vanilluxe) |
| [Swirlix](https://pokee.si/pokemon/swirlix) | seems to be modelled on cotton candy, which is called fairy floss in some countries. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/swirlix) |
| [Slurpuff](https://pokee.si/pokemon/slurpuff) | may be based on meringue, with the red ball on its head like the cherry on top, and perhaps on cupcakes. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/slurpuff) |
| [Milcery](https://pokee.si/pokemon/milcery) | may be modelled on a splash of milk or a dollop of cream. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/milcery) |
| [Alcremie](https://pokee.si/pokemon/alcremie) | may be modelled on whipped cream, or on Eton mess, a British dessert of fruit, meringue and whipped cream. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/alcremie) |

[Alcremie](https://pokee.si/pokemon/alcremie) goes further than its looks. Serebii lists nine Alcremie flavours, among them Vanilla Cream, Matcha Cream, Mint Cream, Lemon Cream, Salted Cream and Rainbow Swirl.

## Fruit, vegetables and spice

| Pokémon | The food idea... | Audio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Cherubi](https://pokee.si/pokemon/cherubi) | looks like a cherry. Cherries grow with several fruits on one stalk, which may be why it has a second, fruit-like head. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/cherubi) |
| [Applin](https://pokee.si/pokemon/applin) | appears to draw on the picture of a worm tunnelling into an apple. Its Dragon type may be a pun on "wyrm", an old word for a dragon. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/applin) |
| [Appletun](https://pokee.si/pokemon/appletun) | has a pie-crust back and a tortoise-like build that point to desserts such as apple pie or apple turnover. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/appletun) |
| [Dipplin](https://pokee.si/pokemon/dipplin) | shares the worm-in-an-apple idea and also looks like a candy apple. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/dipplin) |
| [Bounsweet](https://pokee.si/pokemon/bounsweet) | may take after the purple mangosteen, a tropical fruit. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/bounsweet) |
| [Tsareena](https://pokee.si/pokemon/tsareena) | looks modelled on a mangosteen and on a queen. The fruit's nickname, the Queen of Fruit, may be a deliberate nod. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/tsareena) |
| [Capsakid](https://pokee.si/pokemon/capsakid) | appears to be an unripe chilli pepper such as a habanero. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/capsakid) |
| [Scovillain](https://pokee.si/pokemon/scovillain) | seems to have a ripe red chilli for one head and an unripe, milder green one for the other. Its name may come from the Scoville scale, which measures how hot a chilli is. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/scovillain) |
| [Oddish](https://pokee.si/pokemon/oddish) | appears to be based on a mandrake plant, and its round body also resembles an onion, a radish or a turnip. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/oddish) |

## Bread, pudding and rice cake

| Pokémon | The food idea... | Audio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Fidough](https://pokee.si/pokemon/fidough) | looks like a puppy, probably a dachshund, made of pastry dough. The idea may also pun on "purebred" and "pure bread". | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/fidough) |
| [Dachsbun](https://pokee.si/pokemon/dachsbun) | seems to be based on a dachshund and on baked goods such as loaves, rolls, brioche and pretzels. Its darker colour appears to reference the browning of cooked food. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/dachsbun) |
| [Pikachu](https://pokee.si/pokemon/pikachu) | was first drawn by Atsuko Nishida as a daifuku, a round rice-cake sweet, with ears. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/pikachu) |
| [Jigglypuff](https://pokee.si/pokemon/jigglypuff) | has the Japanese name Purin, which may refer to pudding because of its soft body. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/jigglypuff) |
| [Pecharunt](https://pokee.si/pokemon/pecharunt) | appears to retell the folktale of Momotarō, a boy born from a peach who feeds his friends kibi dango, a kind of mochi. Pecharunt feeds its followers mochi, and its name may blend "peach". | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/pecharunt) |

Pokémon Database lists the names that go with these. Fidough is "Fido" plus "dough", and Pecharunt joins "peach" and "runt".

## Sushi, tea and a duck with an onion

| Pokémon | The food idea... | Audio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Tatsugiri](https://pokee.si/pokemon/tatsugiri) | appears to be based on nigirizushi: Curly looks like shrimp, Droopy like tuna, and Stretchy like egg or fish roe. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/tatsugiri) |
| [Dondozo](https://pokee.si/pokemon/dondozo) | seems to play on a sushi chef, with a headband-like frill and a tongue like a sushi tray. Its name may include dōzo, Japanese for "please, help yourself". | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/dondozo) |
| [Sinistea](https://pokee.si/pokemon/sinistea) | is built around the idea of a ghost haunting a cup of tea. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/sinistea) |
| [Polteageist](https://pokee.si/pokemon/polteageist) | is essentially a ghost haunting a teapot of tea. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/polteageist) |
| [Sinistcha](https://pokee.si/pokemon/sinistcha) | may take its name from matcha, and its bowl and whisk come from the Japanese tea ceremony. | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/sinistcha) |
| [Farfetch'd](https://pokee.si/pokemon/farfetchd) | is a duck, and its Japanese name, Kamonegi, joins kamo (duck) and negi (spring onion). It may nod to a Japanese saying, "a duck comes bearing spring onions". | [Hear it](https://pokee.si/pokemon/farfetchd) |

## A pattern in the list

In this list, 19 of the 26 first appeared in Generations 6 to 9, and the Galar region alone gave us tea ghosts, apples and cream. The [Fairy](https://pokee.si/types/fairy) type shows up in 7 of them. A few old ones are here too. [Pikachu](https://pokee.si/pokemon/pikachu), [Jigglypuff](https://pokee.si/pokemon/jigglypuff), [Oddish](https://pokee.si/pokemon/oddish) and [Farfetch'd](https://pokee.si/pokemon/farfetchd) are from Generation 1.

## Try it yourself

Next time you meet a new Pokémon, ask yourself what it looks like. Is it a sweet, a drink, or a meal? Then check the guess in the Pokédex. For more name puzzles, read [Pokémon name meanings](https://pokee.si/articles/pokemon-name-meanings), or see which animals Pokémon are based on in [Pokémon based on real animals](https://pokee.si/articles/pokemon-based-on-real-animals). To practise the names out loud, play [Say the Name](https://pokee.si/games/say-the-name).

## Questions people ask

### Which Pokémon is based on ice cream?

Vanillite. It is based on soft-serve ice cream in a small cup or a child-sized cone, and its evolutions Vanillish and Vanilluxe follow the same idea.

### Which Pokémon is based on sushi?

Tatsugiri appears to be based on nigirizushi, and Dondozo seems to play on a sushi chef. Their Japanese names, Syaritatsu and Heyrusher, point the same way.

### Was Pikachu based on food?

Its first design was, in a way. Atsuko Nishida first drew it as a daifuku, a round rice-cake sweet, with ears. A mouse design came later.

### Is there a Pokémon based on an apple?

Yes, five: Applin, Flapple, Appletun, Dipplin and Hydrapple. They play on the picture of a worm in an apple, and Appletun also looks like an apple pie.

### Are these food ideas official?

Some are, and many are careful guesses. The people who design Pokémon rarely explain themselves, so words like may and seems mark a guess.

## Sources

- [Pokémon Database: Pokémon name origins](https://pokemondb.net/etymology)
- [Serebii: Alcremie (Sword and Shield Pokédex)](https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/alcremie/)
- [Nintendo Wire: Pikachu's original design and daifuku](https://nintendowire.com/news/2020/01/08/according-to-original-pokemon-artist-fat-pikachu-originally-based-on-japanese-sweet/)

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Source: https://pokee.si/articles/pokemon-based-on-food (HTML page). pokee.si is an unofficial fan site and is not affiliated with Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK or The Pokémon Company. Pokémon and all related names and images are © their respective owners.