APokemonfan and artist rode a wave of inspiration and nostalgia to recreate a scene from the early days of thePokemonanime. The fan used pixel art as their canvas for theirPokemonanime recreation and posted their work on Reddit. The responses from the r/pokemon subreddit hearkened back to the episode depicted by the art piece, with some users recalling how old they were when the scene first aired.
As the story of thePokemonanime’s long-running protagonist Ash Ketchum draws to a close soon, Pokemon fans have noticed and looked back uponthe growth Ash has gone through on his journeyover the years. In the decades since the kid from Pallet Town first stepped onto the scene, he has had many team members come and go, aside from his trusty Pikachu. One of these team members had a troubled tale from the start but eventually became an iconic Pokemon and a powerful member of Ash’s team in its own right.
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A Reddit user by the name of addyxiii, using pixel graphics reminiscent ofPokemon FireRed and LeafGreenfor the Game Boy Advance, recreated a scene from episode 11 of the first season of thePokemonanime. “Charmander the Stray Pokemon” was the anime’s debut of Charmander, and is consideredone of the bestPokemonanime episodes. While on their way to Vermillion City, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu encountered a stray Charmander huddled on a rock, having been abandoned by its former trainer. Distrustful and defensive, Charmander initially rebuked every attempt at aid, using a leaf to protect the flame on its tail from the elements. A storm eventually came in, with Charmander caught in it. Knowing that Charmander could die if its tail flame went out, Ash and company rushed back into the rain to rescue the Lizard Pokemon. They took it to a nearby Pokemon Center to stoke its tail flame and recover from the ordeal.
Charmander recovered, took revenge on the trainer that abandoned it, and joined Ash’s team. Later in the season, it evolved into Charmeleon and Charizard. However,Charizard was a disobedient Pokemonwhose arrogance led to Ash’s defeat in the Indigo League tournament. Eventually, Charizard reconciled with Ash during the Orange Islands arc after Ash rescued it again from peril, and once again obeyed Ash’s commands in battle.
The post by addyxiii received over 14k upvotes on r/pokemon. Some users recalled the heartbreak they felt as children when they saw the episode that Ash and Charmander met, and others noted addyxiii’s choice to use graphics from the third generation as the basis of their art. ThoughAsh will be missed as the lead protagonist, thePokemonanime will continue with new characters and new Pokemon to meet.
