The Pokémon Fan Project gives us the chubby Pikachu we deserve

A fan project gave us a taste of 3D Pokemon The game could look like if the series tried to emulate its original 2D art style.

Pokémon’s art style has changed a lot over the years, but obviously many of us still have a fondness for character designer Ken Sugimori’s original 2D art. His art style at the time of the original Pokémon games was incredibly distinctive, opting for very edgy looks and creatively playing with light through a watercolor look. And now a fan has translated that 2D style into a 3D style, giving us a glimpse of an alternate reality.

The project comes from fan-artist Pokeyugami, who shares a short video of his take on a 3D Pokémon game on Twitter. It’s pretty obvious that the video mimics Sugimori’s art style, which looks incredibly good in 3D. So much so that it’s almost annoying that there isn’t a game in this classic art style.

While the video itself is short, we’re treated to the classic chubby Pikachu that everyone loves and misses munching on an oran berry. There is also a Caterpie and a Weedle wandering around. And a bug catcher is waiting to challenge you to a Pokémon battle, though it’s unclear what he’s saying since the video is in Japanese. However, it’s probably just pulled from the original games.

While the art style might not be that flashy, there are obviously a couple of new Pokémon games in the works, Violet and Scarlet. Not much is known about this latest pair of Pokémon games, other than the fact that it will be the first fully open-ended Pokémon game, it will have a Mediterranean setting, and what the three starters look like.

Spanish fans spotted some things resembling the country’s well-known iconography in this first trailer, but we haven’t really seen much of the game yet.