Pokemon Evolutionary Stone Replicas Announced by Bandai

Bandai Namco has announced plans to release gorgeous replicas of three evolutionary stones from the Pokemon franchise.

Pokemon fans in Japan can now pre-order the limited edition set of Evolutionary Stones, which includes the Fire Stone, Water Stone, and Thunder Stone. The stones are almost exact replicas of how the stones appear in the Pokemon anime and games, right down to their size, shape, colors and pattern.

The evolutionary stones were first introduced in Pokemon Red and Blue as rare items that could be used to evolve specific Pokemon. Pikachu, for instance, could only evolve into Raichu after being exposed to a Thunder Stone, while Staryu only evolved into Starmie when exposed to a Water Stone. Eevee could evolve into one of three different Pokemon depending on what stone it was exposed too as well. Each stone only worked on a handful of Pokemon, which was probably a good thing as they were originally considered to be relatively rare and expensive items.

Bandai's version of the three stones come in a special padded case and includes grape-flavored candy for some reason.

Unfortunately, Bandai is currently planning on releasing the evolutionary stone set in Japan, so US fans will have to look to the secondary market to buy these amazing Pokemon collectibles. The full set costs 5,400 yen, which comes out to about $50.