Red vs Gold

So here's my entry for 's contest to depict a legend from the Pokemon games and I asked to do the battle between red and Gold at the end of generation 2, as I consider that he most legendary moment of the franchise. I am pretty happy about the results, though I do wish i had more free time to buff out the flaws. Hopefully they'll still like it.

Ok so that's it for the contest stuff. As for the picture itself. I wanted to do the final fight where Red and Gold duke it out at the top of Mt. Silver. I feel this is the greatest moment of the franchise. I do acknowledge that a ton of that stems from nostalgia, especially with Pokemon Silver being my favorite Pokemon game, but I feel it is still the most iconic moment for a few reasons. First of all, it is so unexpected. Throughout your Kanto adventure, Red is no where to be found. I bet you were like me too, first thing you did was try to find Red, but he's not anywhere. In fact, all the characters, including his mother and Blue, have no idea where he is. You hunt through the entire region, and all of Johto, get every badge, beat the Elite Four and it's champion, capture all the legendary pokemon, etc. and still no sign of him. For me personally anyway, I read that this meant he wasn't in the game, so I had given up on finding him and scaled Mt. Silver, since it was something to do... and there he was.
    The second reason is because think about what this means and how clever it was to have him as the final boss. We have beaten the Elite four, the Champion, defeated 16 gym leaders, beat our rival, captured the legendary pokemon, took down Team Rocket, etc. Who could possibly compete with us now? Who could put up a fight against you when you have done all of that? How about you? Yeah, Red did it too, you beat the game in the same basic way as Red. Red defeated all the gym leaders, Team Rocket, the Legendary pokemon, etc. He really was your equal... or was he? Time to find out. It made for a perfect final boss. Not to mention, Red's team was way higher level than you when you first get their most of the time. I think I was like 65 OR 70 and with his level 80's, he creamed me. I hadn't lost a pokemon battle that badly before, I think I revenge killed like 2 of his team but that was about it. I beat him on the second try but I feel like that is how it is supposed to go. Red beats Gold atop Mt. Silver, it seems right to me, but I guess that's up to you.
    The third reason may be a bit hard to follow so bare with me a little, but whenever a sequel stars a new character, there's always a bitter feeling towards them. What makes this guy special enough to do what Red had done before? It happens a lot, and it can sometimes pay off and sometimes it doesn't at all. Well, I liked Gold but when he is challenged by Red at the top of Mt. Silver, that is the moment where he proves this to you. Is Gold worthy of Red's accomplishments? Time to find out. It's a very good way to not only make our new character be able to stand in the spot light, but it is one other important thing. Red isn't a joke fight. You lose to him, he's a powerful opponent. That means he isn't tossed to the curb to make the new guy look good, the two have a good battle together and the player decides which they liked better, they're not forced to like Gold because he's new and they're not forced to like Red because he was the original. They get to choose which one comes out on top in their eyes. To be honest, in doing so, I think they both come out stronger as a result. I like this a lot, and it is a major reason I consider this fight the best of the franchise. 

    So that's that. The picture itself is Charizard vs Typhlosion with Gold and Red below, sending the two out. I am pretty happy with the presentation. Personally, I would vote for Typhlosion as the winner here normally, but I think Red would beat Gold in most cases, so I'm a bit torn here. I tried to reflect the two in their expressions, movements, as well as the build of the pokemon themselves. Gold is crouthed down, detemerined and lobbing the ball like a base ball. He is a eager youth determined to prove himself. While Red is depicted to be a little older than Gold and his movements are a lot calmer, with him essentially flicking his chosen ball out and giving a smirk. He's into it for an engaging battle. As for the pokemon. Power wise I wanted them to be about the same but I had a few intentions. I wanted Typhlosion to come across as more determined, with his muscles flexing more, the fire on his back rising high up, and him stepping into the blast to give it his all. Charizard was meant to look bigger, stronger, and more skilled as a whole due to being a higher level. I don't know if I accomplished those hopes but that's what I wanted to capture.

    Also, yes that is what the four look like in Catch Me if You Can, Red we've seen before, but Gold, Typhlosion, and Charizard will look like that. I feel a little bad showing Charizard's design early... but I feel it's a no freaking duh thing here. I mean, is anyone that shocked Red is going to have a Charizard during Red vs Mewtwo? I don't think so. Also, Red usually has a backpack on... and he originally did here too. However there's something about being able to see his other arm I really liked, so I got rid of it.

    Hope you enjoy

P.S. These two were out of their freaking minds battling on a snowy summit with one wearing a short sleeve shirt and the other wearing shorts. Apparently humans are immune to cold weather in Pokemon, who knew