I plan to make a Fakemon inspired by Wolfwalkers, their humans who can leave their bodies and become wolf-like pokemon when they sleep.
How would I design them
Oh, thats a really cool idea!! ♡ I'm not really one for giving advice on design principles, but I'll try and jot down some thoughts on what I'd do if I were to design that sorta fakemon... :]
Suppose you'd still wanna keep the pokemon-style. In that case, I'd look at some already wolf-ish pokemon as reference -- if you would like for them to be quadrupedal (on four legs) like poochyena or lycanrock, or bipedal (on two legs) like zoroark or lucario? Figure out how human you'd want their pokemon-forms to be! This is also a great place to take inspiration from other sources too; digimon or other media, fantasy creatures, historical depictions of werewolves, mythical wolves in general, etc! You can make them more wolf-like, or try exaggerating some of the features - longer or shorter legs, bodies, extra appendages, ears, tails - whatever you want! Next, I'd go for themes- would you want for them to have a typical sort of full-moon, uncontrolled transformation? Would this show up in their design in any way (scraps of clothing, stretch marks, or more human-like base features)? Or would you rather have it more fluid and magical, like in Wolfwalkers - and how would this relate to their design (swirling patterns like Robyn and Mebh when they use druidic magic, some sort of magical aura, or other magical traits)? You can also go for more common themes like sleep, the moon, plantlife, claws, and eyes, and try to make this something that stands out for your fakemon! - Like if you look at lycanrock's base form, that's very clearly a wolf with rocks. Meanwhile, a pokemon like Musharna doesn't really... seem like a tapir - the animal it's most likely based on - but it very well conveys the aspect of Sleep in its design!
The themes and source material can also influence a lot of your color choices! (warm like the woods in Wolfwalkers, or more cold like the night-sky) Figuring out the limits and how far you can stretch your design while keeping it recognizable is a really fun challenge, and something that doodling could help with! References, feedback and multiple iterations are also a great part of the process!
Anyhows- hope that helps a little, and thank you sm for sending over the question! ♡