Why I Love Lechonk

From just a quick glance at this shrine, you'll be able to tell that I love Lechonk a whole lot ♥ So, why is that? Why do I love Lechonk so much, and why did I decide to make a shrine dedicated to this little piggy?

My boyfriend

For you to fully understand why Lechonk resonated with me so much, I gotta introduce my wonderful boyfriend Cerdi! We have been in a long distance relationship for over a year at the time of writing this article, and I love him so very much. He is my favorite person. And you'll notice that his pseudonym "Cerdi" is a shortened version of "cerdito", which means piglet in Spanish! He loves pigs, and I started to like them too because I associated them with him. In fact, now they are my favorite animal! (We'll get back to that!)

Pink piglet with black spots

Picture from FourSquare Farm

Cerdi is also a huge Pokémon fan!! It is a common interest we share, and it's very fun to have creative discussions about it with him. His favorite Pokémon are the strong, buff ones (Fighting is his favorite type) and/or the goofy silly cute ones. I love pretty much all Pokémon, but especially the cute expressive ones. We both love pig Pokémon too!! ♥

Lechonk's Reveal: Love at First sight

Lechonk sleeping under a tree

Screenshot from Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

Lechonk was first revealed as one of the new Pokémon to be found in the Paldea region in June 2022, and it was definitely love at first sight. I saw his rotund circle body, his big pink nose, cute little hooves and brown face, and instantly adored him. He was just so cute! And I knew that Cerdi would absolutely love him too. And sure enough, he did! His reaction was very endearing, and Lechonk brings me lots of joy because not only is it adorable, but it also makes me think of my adorable boyfriend.

Alas, it was still to be around six months until we would get to catch our very own Lechonk. In our excitement we theorized about Lechonk's evolutions, and dreamed up our vision for what it could possibly be. Cerdi, as the big lover of Fighting types he is, hoped for a Normal/Fighting evolution that made Lechonk get chonkier, stronger, and more confident. He pointed to Pokémon's description Lechonk's "fat" actually being muscle as reason for this theory. I liked the idea too! Normal/Fighting is a cool type, and I loved the idea of a fighting hog (we wanted it to be on four legs). Lechonk is something that allowed me and my boyfriend to have fun, cute, creative discussions and I really enjoyed it.

One of my favorite Fakémon evolutions for Lechonk comes from the artist Subjectively. He made evolution predictions for three Paldean Pokémon to celebrate Scarlet & Violet's launch later that month. Here it is, I highly recommend watching it!

My love of pigs

Pig with cute bunny ears headband

Picture from penny_the_pidoublegy on Instagram

During the months between June and November 2022, I totally fell in love with pigs. Me and Cerdi often casually mentioned that we would love to have a pet pig together, but I hadn't done much pet research about pigs at all. One week while I was sick from school, I decided to dive down a rabbit hole of pig information to educate myself on them. And I absolutely LOVE pigs now.

I adore their expressive big personalities, their clever resourcefulness, their capacity for emotional connection and vulnerability, their ability to be trained and to learn new things... they make for fantastic companions under the proper care. The more I learned about pigs, the more I loved them! And this research dive solidified that yes, I absolutely want to take care of a Vietnamese Pot-belly Miniature Pig someday. I have a whole collection of Pig Care Resources in my Link Directory!

And of course, with pigs becoming my new favorite animal, it is only natural that I'd gain a new appreciation for pig characters in media. Especially Lechonk! I was already attached to him for the reasons mentioned above, and this new love for pigs just intensified it. Now that I know more about pigs, I can appreciate the little details that go into Lechonk's concept and behavior that I didn't notice before. And plus, he just makes me darn happy! ♥

Conclusion

Lechonk

Illustration by teeziro

With all of these reasons in mind, it is natural that I would fall in love with Lechonk. It has all the things I love in a Pokémon:

  • Expressive & charming character design that caters to my tastes (Specifically: He is round, small, and cute!!)
  • Personal significance and connection (with my boyfriend, no less!)
  • Animal inspiration (my favorite animal, too!!!!)
  • It has a pink shiny (Love it ♥)
  • I want to be its friend
  • And most importantly, Just looking at it makes me happy

So yeah! Those are all the reasons I love Lechonk, and this shrine my creative outlet to express that love in a tangible way! I hope you enjoy my silly rambles about my favorite little piggy ♥