Joey & Charmander

From looking at this blog and talking to me in real life, it should come as no surprise to you that I really like Pokemon.  I have been playing the games since I was young and actually think they keep improving.  I realize that the primary mechanics of the game haven't changed much since the original games, but the additional monsters added each generation, the improvements made to old favors, and tweaks in the mechanics do make each new one at least worth a try, in my opinion.  I still find them fun to play, to the point where one of the biggest things I did at PAX East this past weekend was battle the PAX Pokemon League for badges.

In fact, one idea I have been planning to do for a while is to play through the original Blue game using only my starter Pokemon in battle.  I wanted to go with Charmander for this because people think that he has the hardest time going through the original games.  Admittedly, Fire is actually one of the worst types in the original games*, and vulnerabilities to the first two bosses does not help Charmander's situation.  However, I have heard that Charmander actually fairs surprisingly well in-game, with his other qualities being able to far outshine his type.  I will have to see that for myself when I actually motivate myself to record game footage.


Why do I bring this idea up?  Well...

...these are why.  I realized early on that I wanted to have show my progress through the game, things like the time in my game and the stats of my Pokemon.  I wanted to make some kind of background for that part of the video to give the audience something neat to see.  I represent myself here with the Riolu in the red hat and coat, alongside the Charmander that I would take throughout Kanto (the world of Pokemon Blue).  As you can see, I also drew Charmeleon and Charizard versions to use after Charmander matured to those stages.

The dark blue background is there to show that I am playing the American Blue version.  The more cyan fur of Riolu actually pops out from the blue background better than I thought, although the brown shading I used may also play a big part in that.  Also, I know that the colors for Charmander and Charmeleon might be a bit different than what people are used to; Charmeleon usually has the darkest, pinkest skin out of the three.  Frankly, I think it makes more sense to go from pink to red to orange, rather than seeing Charmeleon just randomly dip into more pale colors than his brighter before and after stages.

For some reason, though, I was not too fond of the Charmander and Charmeleon pictures I made for this project, so months later (when I still had not actually recorded anything) I decided to try again.  I will show you how that turned out probably next week.

*DISCLAIMER: I generally like Fire Pokemon, and they are quite useful in other Pokemon games, including FireRed and LeafGreen (the remakes of Red and Blue).  Many like Infernape and Victini are also good in competitive play.  I am just saying that in Red, Blue, and Yellow (and Green), Fire was just not a good type.

Although I drew these pictures, I claim no ownership over the Pokemon series or the Pokemon characters "Riolu", "Charmander", "Charmeleon", or "Charizard".  They belong to Nintendo and the Pokemon Company.