I've found a lot of comfort in Pokemon lately. Much of it is a factor of nostalgia, I'm sure. Some of my earliest memories are of playing Pokemon Crystal on a criminally dim GameBoy. It remains one of my favorites in the series today.

But what I've really enjoyed has been the things outside the games. Part of that is to do with the mainline series feeling particularly stagnant, mired in technical debt and unshifting corporate goals. A signficant part though, is just enjoying the art going into and coming out of the franchise. There is true creativity at work here, and it's just a joy to see.

For instance, there is the art on the pokemon cards themselves. I'm particularly in love with the work of a few artists. One of which is Shinya Komatsu, weilding light linework and rich pastels to create a playful, lively picture of the Pokemon and the world around them. In a similar vein is Miki Tanaka who uses a very loose style to get across the vibe these Pokemon bring, to great effect. My hero though will always be, the one and only, Tomokazu Komiya. I cannot overstate how incredible this artwork is. So instead of trying to describe it, I will simply present a few of my favorites.

Such character, such energy, so much conveyed about each Pokemon and who they are. It draws so much from such a small idea, these always truly astound me. Please, take a moment and look through his works linked above. It is well worth it.

Outside of this, there are the official creations that aren't the cards or mainline games. There is Pokemon Concierge, an impossibly cute look into working at a vacation resort in the world of Pokemon. It's rare that the franchise addresses the simple day to day existence of the world outside of battles, so to see this so beautifully put together makes my heart sing. The Pokemon play and learn alongside their trainers, taking in the sights and experiences. Pokemon Legends: Arceus was a breath of fresh air, gameplay-wise. To be able to return to roots we didn't know were there, sneaking up on Pokemon and catching them by surprise, or running away from an angry alpha brought a refreshing perspective to what is an extremely tired formula of finding and catching Pokemon. I can only hope that future iterations will continue to break from the mold, even just in small ways.

In Part II, I will highlight some particularly interesting Pokemon content creators, and what I think is special about them.