“Hey! Learn our syntax here.”
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- jpg (175 KB)
- cred: JP
2.2K
- ↓ 22.32
- ꩜ 36.06
- ↑ 319.44
{C} → Bubble
Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
{W}{C} → Smash Turn : 20
After your attack, you may switch Squirtle with 1 of your Benched Pokémon.
illus. Mitsuhiro Arita
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Blob Takeshi
Mitsuhiro Arita also draws Yu-Gi-Oh cards!
quiarados
I’ve read online that according to a comment in an artbook, Arita based the illustration for this card on a rock album sleeve (presumably Nirvana’s “Nevermind”) – does anyone have a source which would confirm this is an intentional homage?
Pidgeotto the master one
I don’t have a source, but that Nirvana album was literally the first thing I thought when seeing this card
Charmaster
Um, I looked up the album and there was a picture of a naked baby with a censor box.
Pidgeotto the master one
Well, Squirtle is the “baby” of his family, so makes sense :-p
Or maybe they could have used a baby pokemon instead
Saucy
You are 100% correct here. He doesn’t name drop the album, though.
Artist Commentary:
“This illustration is a favorite of mine that also comes up in the interview [p.154]. My idea for the design came from the jacket of an old rock album. I usually put down on paper what I’ve already drawn in my head, and it can be far from one’s image of Pokémon; this seems to result in creative illustrations. My work in recent years has often called for depictions of strength, but at the time of this illustration, it was rewarding to figure out, with a fair degree of freedom, how to depict the charm of the Pokémon themselves.”
-Mitsuhiro Arita, Pokemon Trading Card Game Illustration Collection, p. 61
Warnock 2022
Debut of “Smash Turn” (in the English-language TCG, at least).