>>26683933Actually, kind of, if Game Freak ever decides to take advantage of how male sea lions actually are, which might have been that one guy's inspiration to draw Ballio, besides the references he has shown.
Male sea lions tend to be much bulkier and aggressive than female ones. But sea lions in general are more sociable and amiable compared to seals, which are more timid, at least to my knowledge, which is why sea lions are more used for entertainment. And also reminder that sea lions also possess great upper body strength, which might have been another inspiration for the Ballio artist.
And honestly, not even female sea lions tend to look that thin either, compared to OP's female sea lion. This one was greatly exaggerated to be as elegant as possible. Not to say they can't be thin, but kek. OP image might be a "what if" scenario in case Game Freak ever decided to throw animal knowledge out the window and just drew that to contrast the other Water type final evolutions because technically, there isn't a "elegant" Water-type starter final evolution.
Honestly, I'm sad Ballio isn't a thing because I did grow fond of its design. But if Game Freak ever decides to make something at least half as cool as Ballio, I wouldn't mind that much either.
Not against OP's image female sea lion, but I just generally don't see it as something I'd pick or catch whatsoever, I just prefer sillier pokemon in general as opposed to elegant ones. To each, their own.
