One Pokemon Scarlet and Violet fan gives the game's gym leaders a makeover as they are remade in the Gen 5 art style. With the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet came a love for its newest gym leaders, eight new characters with their own Pokemon Types and personalities to match. As such, the community took to them rather quickly, and one fan wanted to see them recreated in the sprite-based art style of the past generations, combining their love of both the new and old Pokemon games.In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the player is given three questlines that help them explore the world of Paldea just a little easier: taking down the Stars, fighting the four Titans, or taking on the eight gym leaders. In the third questline, the player must explore Paldea, going to each of its cities and finding the gym leader to fight, usually having to endure a unique test relating to the gym leader's personality, like riding down the snowy mountain of Glaseado for the Ice-Type gym leader Grusha or fighting off Electric-Type gym leader Iono's rabid fans for her stream. Each test and subsequent fight gives the players a taste of not just the gym leaders, but the place they call home as well.One fan wanted to take these gym leaders from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paldea and bring them to the Unova region by recreating them in Pokemon Black and White's art style. In a Twitter post, Twitter user Roncally_Hayate posted a GIF of Scarlet and Violet's eight gym leaders animated beautifully in PokemonBlack and White's pixel art style, each of their sprites doing their iconic battle poses.
Despite the difference in fidelity, the artist was able to still capture the personalities of each gym leader perfectly. From the glitzy and proper nature of Psychic-Type gym leader Tulip, to the energetic and spastic nature of Electric-Type Iono, it is almost as if the gym leaders were directly translated into Gen 5's sprites by Game Freak itself, which almost seems to add a splash more personality to each of them. Even Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's fan-favorite Normal-type gym leader Larry and his benign, almost mundane pose are amazing.
As the Pokemon games continue to evolve, both in gameplay and visually, the more veteran players will think back to the generations past. Some players wish that the games would return to their old sprite-based art style, with some artists even trying to recolor the Pokemon to better match their older colors. Art pieces like this show the love players have for the franchise that has followed them from childhood, and hope to share that love with newcomers to the series so that the affection may live on.
Pokemon ScarletandViolet are available now for Nintendo Switch.