Pokemon - The Next Generation

100 deviations into my gallery, and I realized that I still hadn't introduced you folks to the biggest fan-project I've ever worked on...

As some folks know, rethinking the "Pokémon" anime is a frequent pastime of mine, as the anime is ridden with so many flaws and imperfections that I can't help but tinker with it. A few years back, I decided to brainstorm ideas for a new version of "Pokémon" that was more heavily geared towards teens and adults. These early ideas are pretty embarassing to look at now - I just took the original series and added more blood and curse words. But over the years, I expanded it, deepened the characters, and focused more on satire and clever humor, and the results were ten seasons' worth of episode ideas that I was very satisfied with. Now, of course, with the introduction of Diamond and Pearl, I've had to go back and retool some episodes, but it's still a lot of fun.

Only thing is, for years, I couldn't settle on definitive character designs for anybody. I knew I wanted Ash, Misty, and all the rest to be older in this series, but I couldn't age them up very well and maintain their distinct appearances at the same time. Recently, I studied Ken Sugimori's promotional art for the human characters in Diamond and Pearl and used that as a jumping-off point, and I think I've finally nailed it. The quick sketch above is what I drew out to make sure that I'd remember these designs later.

For those who are interested, I can post some of my episode ideas in the future. They have a heavy influence from shows like "The Simpsons", but the spirit of "Pokémon" is still there.