Pokemon Fan Art Answers the Question: What if Unova Starters Were from Gen 1?

A Pokemon fan artist has given fellow trainers an idea of what the starters from Unova could have looked like if they were in Pokemon Red, Blue, or Yellow. The concept art and game-style sprites are convincing, sticking with a style close to that of artist Ken Sugimori, the original character artist for the Pokemon franchise.

The Pokemon series has come a long way over the years, with over a thousand Pokemon, numerous regions, and unique takes on existing mechanics, like Mega Evolutions and Gigantamax being added to the franchise over the years. While the series is still extremely popular, some fans look back quite fondly on the early days of Pokemon. Some gamers prefer the original artstyle of the early games, while others even miss the sprites that were used in the old days, and this fanart is nostalgic for those kinds of players.

Pokemon Art Gives a Glimpse of Unova Starters in Gen 1 Style

Now, a Pokemon fan artist called octoberoclock has shared their idea for what the Unova starter Pokemon Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott would look like if they had been in Gen 1 games instead. The artwork includes a watercolor-style portrait of each Pokemon, as well as their sprite for what they could have looked like in battles in-game.

In octoberoclock’s take, Snivy is already a serpent at this stage, resting on its belly and lacking its arms and legs. In their place, Snivy has gained a long tongue that’s actually a vine, matching its Grass-typing, and the tail has a more defined frond of leaves on the tip. The artist thought that since Snivy loses its limbs once it reaches its final evolution, Serperior, that it made sense to make it a snake from the get-go, as “you can’t grieve something you never lost.” Tepig has maintained most of its silhouette from its original design, but its tail and the red sphere on the end are much bigger, its ears are shorter and wider, and it has claws protruding from each foot. Its sprite strongly resembles an actual piglet. Comparatively, Oshawott has changed quite a bit, remaining bipedal but gaining bigger webbed feet, more pronounced ears, and a less perfectly-round head, looking more like the real-world sea otters it’s based upon.

Pokemon Fans Love What-If Art

Fellow Pokemon trainers in the comments have been extremely enthusiastic about the artwork. Several said that they preferred the versions that octoberoclock came up with compared to their official designs, while others went so far as to say that they would actually consider choosing a different starter than usual if they had these designs. One of the most upvoted comments asked for the artist to do the remainder of the Pokemon starters in Gen 1 style. Luckily for them, this same artist has made waves in the past for their Gen 1-inspired artwork, having previously drawn the Pokemon X and Y starters as well as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s starters in Gen 1 style. While some players worry about fan creations potentially causing problems for the official Pokemon artists, as they’ve previously scrapped designs of their own for being too similar to a fan’s, art that reimagines existing Pokemon in older styles like this is less likely to cause any difficulties.

While the Gen 1 style is unlikely to return to the Pokemon series in an official capacity, thankfully, there are plenty of fan artists creating works like these. Creative fans also come up with all kinds of unique art based on the franchise that turn it into things completely off the wall, like turning Pokemon into gummy worms. With over 1,000 Pokemon and over 100 games that have been introduced over the course of the Pokemon franchise, there’s no lack of inspiration for talented artists like octoberoclock.