As one of the most popular franchises in the known pop-culture universe, The Simpsons has been merchandised in just about every possible way. From lunchboxes to video games to pajamas to pogs, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of Springfield's zany residents have graced the gamut of consumer products. The animated institution even has its own -- almost unnervingly accurate -- section of the Universal Studios theme park in Florida. The Simpsons has also crossed over with many other properties in its day, including The X-Files, Family Guy, Futurama, and 24.

One mash-up that had yet to happen -- until now that is -- is a combination of The Simpsons with beloved video game and cartoon franchise Pokémon. With the smash success of the Pokémon Go augmented reality app, the titular creatures currently occupy a higher cultural profile than they have in many years, making now as good a time as ever to combine them with other beloved characters. While that seems very unlikely to ever officially take place, a certain design shop has taken it upon itself to create a set of pin badges combining popular Simpsons characters with various varieties of Pokémon.

Created by the London-based Etsy shop ThumbsDesign, these hybrid Poké-Simpsons (or perhaps Simpsémon) actually look pretty cool in reality, with combinations like Homer and Blastoise looking bizarrely natural. Check out the full gallery below, and bask in the shocking glory of Bartachu:

[vn_gallery name="The Simpsons Pokemon Mash-up Pin Images" id="836868"]

In addition to the two already mentioned, other arguably ingenious combos include Snake (a.k.a. Jailbird) blended with Arbok, Comic Book Guy with Snorlax, and Ralph Wiggum as Psyduck. One particularly morbid one combines the deceased Maude Flanders with Gastly, a Ghost-type Pokémon. As for the Pokéballs themselves, they've been combined with Homer's favorite snacks: donuts and pizza.

Of course, one wonders how long these items will remain available, given the issue of intellectual property rights. That said, the ThumbsDesign store has been around on Etsy for over a year, and seems to specialize in items that blend The Simpsons with other franchises, including Back to the Future and Super Mario Bros. With that in mind, perhaps even large corporations like FOX or Nintendo can see the fun in an Easy shop engaging in such a harmless creative endeavor.

The Simpsons season 28 airs Sundays at 8pm on FOX. Pokémon Go is now available for both iOS and Android mobile devices.

Sources: ThumbsDesign, Imgur