One Pokémon fan has finished a massive cross stitching project containing an insane amount of characters, and it only took them three years and a little over a hundred and fifteen thousand stitches. There is no shortage of Pokémon fan art available on the internet, but every now and then an impressive piece stands out, such as when Hellboy creator Mike Mignola recently showed off his own designs for the small creatures.
It's no surprise that there is so much Pokémon fan art readily accessible, considering both the age of the series and its continued popularity. Successes like Pokémon GO have helped to keep the series relevant even as gaming preferences and audiences change over time, and even though some of the less-popular Pokémon end up being more hated than beloved (such as the ridiculous Ice Cream Pokémon Vanilluxe) there will always be fans who want to show off their appreciation and love of the series in artistic ways.
One of the most impressive fan creations in recent history was posted to Reddit by a user who goes by the name u/Engagedmusician, and it's pretty massive. The user says that after over three years, one hundred and five colors, and over one hundred and fifteen thousand stitches (and with a little help from the current COVID-19 coronavirus quarantines) they were finally able to finish this fantastic piece of Pokémon fan art. Check out the full image below:
According to replies the creator gave in comments below the post, the Pokémon cross stitch project began three years ago as a birthday gift for their husband, "so it's definitely getting framed and hung asap!" Although it took a long time to complete, the cross stitch project was still only two-thirds finished before the quarantines began, and u/Engagedmusician says "Quarantine sucks but it has been nice to force me to get this done!" For anyone who is interested in trying a similar project out for themselves, the creator shared the cross stitch template they used and linked to Lord Libidan, a blog which contains many, many other Pokémon-themed cross stitch ideas.
Three years is a long time to work on any project, as evidenced by the slight color fade from the top of u/Engagedmusician's piece when compared to the bottom, but it also shows a dedication and persistence which both the creators of Pokémon and the heroes which are featured in the games themselves would be proud of. Like all of the best fan art, whether it be of Pokémon or some other franchise, this project clearly came from a place of love, and that alone makes it something worth admiring.
Source: Engagedmusician/Reddit, Lord Libidan