This Contest-Winning Pokemon TCG Art Is Absolutely Gorgeous

The winners of the most recent Pokemon Card Game Illustration Grandprix have been announced! While it had been several years since the last open card illustration contest, the fine folks at Creatures Inc. behind the Pokemon Trading Card Game announced the new contest in December of last year, with submissions running through March 2019. Contestants had to draw one of several possible Pokemon cards, and were judged on a variety of factors -- including how well they represented the respective Pokemon and it surrounding scenery.

Specifically, potential entrants could draw one of 10 different Pokemon, including Pikachu, Eevee, Metagross, Charizard, Slowpoke, Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, Gardevoir, Darkrai, and Solgaleo, combined with an interesting scenery. The winners were announced at the Pokemon Japan Championships 2019 in early June, with Yu Nishida's gorgeous illustration of Gardevoir taking the top prize of 300,000 yen (about $2,780) and their art featured on a Gardevoir card. You can check that beautiful art below:

"You can feel the tenderness within Gardevoir, depicted with its eyes closed, in this well-polished illustration," the judge's comment for this illustration reads, according to a translated Famitsu article posted by Crunchyroll. "The use of vivid color in the background is also delightful."

Coming in immediately after the Gardevoir was an artwork of Eevee by Narumi Sato, followed by one of Metagross from Rina Kurata, Slowpoke from Aki Okaya, Pikachu from Konoha, Solgaleo from Tetsuya Kitagawa, and Charizard from Eri Hanafusa. An additional "Slowpoke Prize" was given to A Merika for their Slowpoke. You can view all of the award-winning artwork over at the competition's official website.

What do you think? Are you a fan of this Gardevoir artwork? Or do you prefer one of the others? Let us know in the comments!

The most recent Pokemon Trading Card Game set, Sun & Moon – Unbroken Bonds, is available wherever trading cards are sold.