Just yesterday,a purported leak of imagescontaining the supposed Generation 8 starters for the forthcomingPokemongame on Nintendo Switch made the rounds online, with many debating the legitimacy of the concept art. Now, it looks as if the pictures are indeed fakes, with the fan artist behind the drawings having stepped forward today to confirm as much and admit that they were simply made for laughs.
As seen in the Facebook post below from the user known as “50 Shades of Helioisk,” the creator of the aforementioned “leaks” of the starters for the Nintendo Switch’s upcomingPokemongame apologizes to those who thought the lemur-like Grass-Type, platypus-esque Water-Type, and the rabbit-styled Fire-Type Pokemon were real. The artist also makes note of the fact that they had consulted a Japanese friend of theirs to write the text that convinced many that the concept art was official.
For those unaware, the lead up to the launch of practically every new generation ofPokemontitles often includes a wave of supposedly leaked creatures from the game in development, so it should come as no surprise that the images above are inauthentic. In fact, these arethe second set of counterfeit startersfor the Nintendo Switch’sPokemongame that managed to fool a lot of folks, as the artists relied on a format similar to actual animation reference art that leaked online in 2016 that showed the final forms of the Alolan starters inSunandMoon.
All things considered, while some may be disappointed to learn that thePokemonartwork seen above isn’t from the actual Nintendo Switch game, it at least serves as a solid lesson for many to always maintain a healthy sense of skepticism when presented with information from an anonymous source. At any rate, 50 Shades of Helioisk’s work still deserves to be commended for its nearly pitch-perfect rendition of the role-playing game’s art style. PerhapsGame Freakwill even take note and reach out to the fan artist for some ideas.
