Hidden Details: Stupid Shit I Used To Do In Pokémon #4

Yay, it's Friday again! Sure, the weekend is cool, but how about ANOTHER HIDDEN DETAILS BLOG?!

Let's dive into last Wednesday's comic: Stupid Shit I Used To Do In Pokémon #4.

Fun fact: I almost finished making a Captain Toad comic this week. But after staring at the comic for a while I realized it was one of those comics that would be WAY better as an animated short. So I shelved the Captain Toad comic and I hope it'll see the light of day as a video soon!

The first panel takes place in Viridian Forest. Anyone who has played Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed or LeafGreen will know that there's a small chance of encountering a Pikachu in Viridian Forest. 5% to be exact. So I tried to draw around 20 Caterpies/Metapods and I put one Pikachu tail in the pile of defeated opponents. I think my math is correct, but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

The second panel shows Pewter City's gym. Pewter City is the second main town you visit in Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow and it has the first Gym Leader you can battle: Brock.

If you were confused by this panel, allow me to explain it. The battle with your rival on Route 22, which is what this comic is about, does NOT take place anymore as soon as you have collected a badge. Hence, if you defeat Brock and earn the Boulder Badge, you can't battle your rival anymore and you'll lose your chance to "humiliate" him with an evolved starter. But defeating the single trainer in the gym doesn't grant you a Badge, so you can use the XP of defeating his Diglett and Sandshrew to evolve your starter. As long as you make sure you don't battle and defeat Brock, you'll be fine.

I also made sure to draw this trainer as accurately as possible. He is called Liam in FireRed/LeafGreen. The sprite in the first Pokémon games depicts Liam - and every other trainer in the Jr. Trainer class - as some sort of boyscout, with shorts and fancy high socks. I had to come up with a color scheme myself, since Red and Blue were black and white games, originally.

More retro sprites reimagined in my art style!

In case you were wondering why Brock isn't wearing a shirt in this comic: it's because Brock wasn't wearing a shirt in the game. I always thought this was a bit odd, but I figured he later evolved into Bruno, who was also shirtless and a lot more buff:

The super muscular Ivysaur was partly because of comical reasons, but I could have made him stand on four legs (as all Ivysaurs do) and make him buff as well, but I chose to make him stand on his hind legs. I did this partly because I could show off his physique better like this, but also as a reference to Ivysaur's Red/Blue sprite, as seen above.

This sprite clearly shows Ivysaur standing on his hind legs.

But guess what his Red/Blue Pokédex entry says?

When the bulb on its back grows large, it appears to lose the ability to stand on its hind legs. 

This is just one of the hilarious mistakes/inconsistencies in Pokémon Red/Blue. I love referencing obscure stuff like this!

Lastly, I tried to copy Route 22's appearance in FireRed/LeafGreen as closely as I could in the final three panels. The colors are the exact same, because why be creative and original? I'm making a webcomic, after all.

I'm super proud of Charmander in the fifth frame, by the way. As part of my ongoing campaign of finding my "unique style", I think I've found a clue. That Charmander looks amazing, if I may say so myself. If I could only make a complete comic in this weird and goofy style, I might finally be proud of the way I draw! #artistgoals

Cheers!

- Abel