Pixel artist makes iconic Pokemon anime scenes look like the games, now I'm crying

(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

A talented pixel artist is taking classic scenes from the Pokemon anime and making them look like the original games, and well, I think I know why I have trust issues now.

The reason I'm crying over my keyboard on a sunny Friday afternoon? A lot of "classic scenes" from Pokemon, particularly the first season, are awfully sad! Remember when Charmander was abandoned by those jerks and almost died because his flame was being doused by the pouring rain while Spearows viciously attacked him? Or how about when Ash had to say goodbye to his beloved Butterfree and recollected their entire journey together? Those were the OG sad boy hours for 10-year-old me, and now they're back as pixel art and no less effective at tugging at my heart strings.

An artist going by pixeladdy has been sharing his take on some of Indigo League's most emotional scenes on social media. Here are his pixel art versions of the aforementioned moments:

oc_charmander_the_stray_decided_to_recreate_this from r/pokemon

oc_since_you_all_loved_the_charmander_the_stray from r/pokemon

Pixeladdy tells me that he recently rewatched episodes from Indigo League and felt an overwhelming wave of emotion that compelled him to recreate the most memorable scenes in the style of his favorite games.

"As a kid, I always loved those scenes because they really put me in my feels and I always felt so emotionally attached to those Pokemon," Pixeladdy says. "I wanted to mix two of my favorite things: the overworld style of Pokemon games and the Pokemon anime that we all loved as kids. I wanted to challenge myself."

He also tells me there's more to come, suggesting we could see a similar take on more of his favorite anime including Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, and Demon Slayer.

"I definitely want to play around with other anime scenes, but overall this is just fun for me. Reimagining anime in this nostalgic Pokemon game style is super fun for me."

Pixeladdy has a bunch of great work adapting different generations of Pokemon into pixel art, like this one that imagines Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's starters in the style of FireRed and LeafGreen and, one of my personal favorites, this piece that pictures Halloween in Pallet Town. Give him a follow on Instagram if you like what you see.

Find out where your favorite generation ranked on our list of the best Pokemon games.