Being a Pokémon trainer takes practice and dedication, but an adorable new animation takes a fun look at what it takes to be one of the franchise’s signature pocket monsters. Nintendo’s long-running, monster-wrangling RPG franchise is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, with its developers and fans pulling out all the stops to commemorate the milestone.
The current festivities for Pokémon’s anniversary include brand-new Pokémon card designs for characters like Pikachu and Charizard, special events in games like Pokémon GO and Pokémon Unite, and a recent Pokémon Presents livestream event that offered up promising looks at upcoming titles like Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Meanwhile, fans have been celebrating with various artwork and videos, including no less than Katy Perry performing a new Pokémon song titled “Electric” in honor of Pikachu - arguably the most famous Pokémon of all. Now, one fan is proving a humorous look into how the cute little thunder mouse landed that role, in addition to other iconic faces of the Pokémon franchise.
Earlier today, Reddit user _underscorefinal posted a fan-made CGI Pokémon animated short, illustrating a cute "behind the scenes audition" for some of the franchise's most beloved creatures. Series mainstays like Pikachu, Eevee, Squirtle, and Jigglypuff each take turns showing off their adorable charm in front of a camera and the Pokémon logo, at least until Charizard inadvertently wrecks the stage at the end with his signature Flamethrower attack.
Pokémon and animation have always gone together pretty well, as evidenced by the long-running Pokémon anime that began its 24th and most recent season back in December (delays on account of the Covid-19 pandemic notwithstanding). There have been plenty of other fun and heartwarming Pokémon animated projects over the years, such as last year’s eight-episode Pokémon: Twilight Wings series, the even older Pokémon Origins miniseries (which served as a closer adaptation of the original Pokémon: Red And Blue games in comparison to the anime), and a particularly charming Pokétoon short made in the style of old Looney Tunes cartoons.
_underscorefinal’s homemade Pokémon animated short is a cute and comical look at the hypothetical auction process behind some of the Pokémon franchise’s most iconic creatures, featuring plenty of charm and personality within its short half-a-minute runtime. There have been a lot of Pokémon throughout the franchise’s 25 years of existence, meaning that these cute auditions for Nintendo’s long-running series are likely just the tip of the adorable iceberg.
Source: _underscorefinal/Reddit