Bandai Namco has announced plans to release three stunning replicas of the original evolution stones from the Pokemon franchise. The Fire Stone, Water Stone, and Thunder Stone first debuted in Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green back in 1996, where they contained the power to make certain types of creatures evolve.

The evolutionary stones are exact replicas of how the rare items appeared in the games and anime series, and will make a great collectible for any Pokemon fan. When purchased, the set will come in a special padded case, complete with a bonus pack of grape-flavored candy.

Unfortunately for Western fans, this is yet another Pokemon product that will be difficult to obtain. At present, Bandai Namco is planning to release the stone set only in Japan, for the price of 5,400 yen (just under 50 dollars). Any Poke-fans outside of the region will have to attempt to purchase the product online, likely for a significant mark-up.

Back in generation one, there was only a handful of Pokemon that could make use of an evolution stone's effects. Eevee is the most unique of the users, being able to evolve into Flareon, Vaporeon, or Jolteon, depending on the player's choice. Since there was only one Eevee granted to trainers in the original titles, each player had to make a difficult decision based around which type would come in most useful for their team.

In the anime series, Ash's Pikachu famously refused to evolve with the use of a Thunder Stone, even after prompting by his trainer. While evolving to Raichu would have given the creature enough strength to defeat Lt. Surge's gym, the iconic electric mouse opted to remain in its original form, beating Surge's Raichu with speed rather than power.

One thing that will be available to all Pokemon fans worldwide is the newly-announced shiny Silvally which will be available for free, beginning October 23. Since this is the only possible way for players to obtain a shiny version of the Normal-Type Synthetic Pokemon, players will likely want to boot up their copies of Sun and Moon one last time before the release of the upcoming sequels.

Source: Bandai Namco