Pokemon Backlash Leads To Hilarious Pocket Monster Art Challenge

A running controversy in the world of Pokemon deals with the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield [...]

A running controversy in the world of Pokemon deals with the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield game for the Nintendo Switch. In the game, players will only be allowed to transfer their pocket monsters from the "Galar Pokedex" from previous generations. After fans stated that it would only "take five minutes to design the old Pokemon to use in the new game", some graphic artists took it upon themselves to attempt to create artwork of the old Pokemon in under five minutes. Luckily, their attempts created some hilarious results!

Anime News Network dropped the "bomb" that several artists were attempting to bring older pocket monsters to life via this new, humorous challenge:

A few examples of some of the Pokemon included in the challenge are a green, lifeless Charizard, a horrific looking Mewtwo (we think?), and some actually amazing renditions of older gen creatures considering each artist only a timeline of under five minutes. Though there are certainly some examples of "basic" Pokemon that have a simply color palette or overall design, it must still be a Herculean feat to put one together in a graphics program in under five minutes.

Poke Mimikyu
(Photo: The Pokemon Company)

Junichi Masuda, a longtime designer of the popular video game series for Game Freak, had this to say about the "limited" number of Pokemon:

"The biggest reason for it is just the sheer number of Pokemon. We already have well over 800 Pokemon species and there's going to be more added in these games. And now that they're on the Nintendo Switch, we're creating it with much higher fidelity with higher quality animations."

Pokemon: Sword and Shield for the Nintendo Switch will be dropping this fall, promising to have players revisit the world of Pokemon in a new environment with updated graphics. Developed by Game Freak and published by the Pokemon Company, the game promises to include old and new features such as co-operative raids, mega evolutions, and even some open world areas to boot. With the Nintendo Switch's portable capabilities, fans will be able to take Sword and Shield wherever they go, much like the game's sister series, Pokemon: Go.

What do you think of some of these renditions of quickly designed older Pokemon? Do you think that Game Freak will change course and include some of the older Pokemon in the upcoming Sword and Shield? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and poorly designed Pokemon!

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