#359 Absol used Night Slash and Thunderbolt in our Pokemon Generation III Art Tribute

Absol using Night Slash by LukeTheRipper

Luke the Ripper from Poland is on board Game-Art-HQ since over 3 years now and contributed over ten pieces in his unique “Tribal” style for multiple projects ranging from the Fighting Game Projects to Link’s Blacklist and now both of our Pokemon Art Collaborations!

Luke was actually one of the artists that asked for a Pokemon Project by our community a long time ago already, and I was glad we could finally start one in 2016 🙂

He is a part of all of our Generation based Pokemon Tributes of course, including the just-announced Gen IV Project as well!

If you like his style, quickly head over to his gallery on dA which you can find here!

Night Slash

“The user slashes the foe the instant an opportunity arises. It has a high critical-hit ratio.”

meowth-used-night-slashjpg

Night Slash is a Dark-type move introduced in Generation IV. The biggest pay-off of this move is that the chance for landing critical hits increases.

A good multitude of Pokémon can learn this move; even non-Dark Types such as Fairy and Ghost can learn it. Absol was the first Pokemon in our series of Projects using it since Meowth and Kabutops from Generation I!

 

Absol using Thunderbolt by Altarior

Altarior from Denmark is one of the around 15 artists that were invited for our first Pokémon Art Collaboration. I saw her impressive take on Hoh-Oh in February 2016 and had a feeling she would like this project. She drew not less than nine of the Generation I Pokemon which made her one of the most active artists for our first Pokemon Collaboration. In 2017 she returned to the fun and took “only” Togetic, Gligar, Remoraid, Skarmony, and Stantler while she became one of our most active artists in the Gen III Tribute again with eight of the lovely 135 Pokemon drawn by her alone for it!

You are going to find a ton of awesome artworks in her gallery here at deviantART!

Thunderbolt 

“A strong electric blast crashes down on the target. This may also leave the target with paralysis.”

Thunderbolt is an electric type move that has a ‘cool’ status when being used in a contest.

Surprisingly, only 12 Pokemon can naturally learn Thunderbolt by leveling up, but a large quantity of Pokemon can learn it through the use of a TM. It is often well known to be an attack that Pikachu uses. Pikachu was also the first Pokemon in our Tribute using the Thunderbolt. 

 

 

“It sharply senses even subtle changes in the sky and the land to predict natural disasters. It is a long-lived Pokémon that has a life-span of 100 years”

 

Absol is a pure Dark type introduced in Ruby and Sapphire. While not part of any evolutionary line, it gained a Mega evolution in Generation VI and was one of the first 6 pokemon to get one. This pokemon has uncanny sharp senses that make it able to foresee natural disasters. While it is a calm and benevolent pokemon, that tries to warn people about them, it was falsely interpreted as Absol’s appearance being the ill omen that brought the disaster, labeling it as the “Disaster Pokemon”.
 
Due to hatred caused by those false beliefs, it was hunted by humans and driven deep into the mountains, where it resides. It’s disaster sensing ability is also interestingly reflected in areas one can catch it. In Diamond and Pearl it’s found on Route 213, which is next to Lake Valor that will be drained by Team Galactic, and in Platinum it’s found on Mt Coronet, in areas close to where Team Galactic releases Giratina. In Black and White, it’s found in the Giant Chasm, where Team Plasma makes it’s stand in the sequel games. In Sun and Moon it’s found in Tapu Village, which was destroyed earlier by Tapu Bulu. And finally, in Pokemon Ranger: Shadows Over Almia, it can be found in the Altru Building and Altru Tower, from which Team Dim Sun plans to take control of all Pokémon in the region.
 
 
 
Absol’s design and name are one of the more interesting in the series. On one hand, it’s body is that of a black cat, which are commonly seen as signs of bad luck, and on the other hand, it’s black body is covered in thick, white fur, much a Bai Ze, a creature from Chinese mythology described as a white-furred beast with one horn on it’s head, which predicts disasters and warns people about them.
And its name is a mix of two Jewish words/names, “Absalom” which is associated with bad luck, and “Solomon” which is associated with peace. It also has several other details that have sparked numerous speculation, like how it’s head is shaped like a yin-yang symbol, or how it’s humanized face and feline body make it look like a Sphinx (further alluded to by it’s winged Mega form), or how it’s scythe-shaped tail and horn suggest a resemblance to the Western personified depiction of Death, who is related to destiny and disaster.
 
 
 

Back to the Game-Art-HQ Pokémon Tribute Gen III Gallery