A Pokemon fan and artist has recreated an iconic moment from the anime's debut movie, using their distinct pixel art style to relive and retell it. The artist then posted their art on Reddit, where other Pokemon fans commented on their depiction of the movie's scene.
The artist that recreated the scene in question from the first Pokemon movie has developed a reputation on the r/Pokemon subreddit recently. Some of the art they recreated in the past included anime moments such as Ash Ketchum saying goodbye to his Butterfree and the discovery of Charmander, the stray Pokemon. In each of their moments, the artist used the colors and pixels from the Game Boy Advance era of Pokemon games as their palette, with each sprite either taken from the games or custom-made to fit the art piece.
In their most recent art post on the r/Pokemon subreddit, a user named addyxiii recreated the iconic showdown between Mew and Mewtwo from 1998's Pokemon: The First Movie with graphics and sprites taken from the third generation of Pokemon games. On the left side of addyxiii's art, Ash, Pikachu, and numerous Pokemon stood on Mew's side of the arena, with the right side being occupied by Mewtwo and their clone Pokemon army. Towards the top of the art piece, Team Rocket lay hidden in the bleachers to bear witness to the movie's climactic battle.
As the battle raged, and to the shock of many Pokemon fans at the time, Ash was caught in the crossfire and petrified after shielding his Pokemon from an attack. Thanks to the power of the tears from all the people and Pokemon present, Ash was revived at the movie's climax. Mewtwo then used its psychic powers to undo the damage and memories of the fight and took off to find its own purpose in the world.
The art post from addyxiii received over 2.5k upvotes within the first several hours of posting. Each of the comments praised addyxiii for their work as they told their own stories of how they felt when they first saw that moment from Pokemon: The First Movie and saw just how powerful Mewtwo was compared to all known Pokemon at the time of the film's original airing.
The post from addyxiii also came at an apt time, as February 6 will be Mewtwo's birthday. According to a diary found in Pokemon Red and Blue, Mew gave birth on that date, and the newborn Pokemon was named Mewtwo. As Mewtwo Day draws near once again, fans will have to wait and see if the Genetic Pokemon will be coming to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in some capacity.