Pixelmon launched its Generation 1 collection on February 7, 2022, promising an open-world monster-collecting game.
The mint ran as a Dutch auction and sold 7,750 creatures. When the art was revealed two weeks later, it didn't match what holders expected. The 3D models were unpolished, and parts of the design work were traced back to stock asset libraries. The project became a punchline almost overnight.
One character carried the whole story. Kevin, blocky, green, buck-toothed and visibly unfinished, was singled out as the worst of the reveal, and within days he was everywhere. The community did the opposite of what was expected. Instead of burying him, they adopted him. Kevin became the project's mascot and, eventually, its badge of resilience. The joke stopped being at Pixelmon's expense and started being the thing that kept Pixelmon alive.
In September 2022, Web3 venture studio LiquidX, now MON Co., acquired a controlling stake and installed co-founder Giulio Xiloyannis as CEO. "While Pixelmon had its gigantic faults, it also had something priceless, a community," Xiloyannis said. The new team moved the remaining project funds into multi-sig wallets and rewrote the roadmap to rebuild trust before hype.
Generation 1 now spans 10,005 creatures across 68 genesis species, four elemental origins, and six rarity tiers, with a companion Trainers collection minted by staking in November 2022. Backers include Animoca Brands, Delphi Digital, and Amber Group.
Kevin kept going. In August 2023, Coinbase featured him as a collectible for Base during Onchain Summer. That November, Kevin the Adventurer launched as a browser game, followed by PixelPals, Warriors of Nova Thera, and Warden's Ascent. MON Protocol's ecosystem token launched in May 2024, and an anime series entered development in 2024. In July 2026, Kevin arrived in Otherside as a playable avatar, claimable by Generation 1 holders.
The inclusion of Pixelmon 8300 in our Flagship Collection honors an ongoing experiment in what a community can build out of a project the internet had already written off: an OG Kevin, one of 119 in Generation 1, and the face of a rebuild that is still being written.
Welcome home, 8300 🌊