Check out today’s amazing, realistic artwork of the Fire/Flying-type Pokémon Charizard by American freelance illustrator Dane Cozens!  I thought it would be nice to share a Pokémon dragon in honor of the release of Pokémon Go in many countries around the world today, and even though Charizard (the final form of Charmander) isn’t technically a Dragon-type Pokémon, I couldn’t pass up sharing Dane’s awesome posters.

On his site, Dane writes:

I began drawing realistic Pokémon when I was 10.  Recently, I decided to revisit this challenge and understand the story of the Pokémon world. In this suburban sci-fi world, children and teenagers leave home to go on a rite of passage.  To prove their worth, the children capture, train, and battle with monsters.  In my posters, the children use a Pokédex, a cellphone-like computer, to scan the fully-evolved versions of three important Pokémon.

And with the introduction of the Niantic mobile game today, Dane’s 2014 creation becomes a reality, as we all use our cell phones to Catch ‘Em All in augmented reality!

Dane created posters for the third evolution of all three original starters — here is the Water-type Blastoise, the final form of the starter Squirtle, the Pokémon I chose this morning in Pokémon Go a little bit by accident, but also a little bit on purpose.  I literally always choose the Fire-starter when I play these games, so I opted to switch it up today, and I wanted to match my customizable trainer’s all-blue outfit and hair color.

And finally, here is the Grass/Poison-type Venusaur, the final form of Bulbasaur:

This new version of Pokémon will give players a chance to live out scenes like Dane’s posters in our own backyards through our mobile devices — isn’t technology grand?  Dane’s website portfolio is full of more amazing artwork so go give it a peek if you like his epic style.  You can also follow him on Facebook for more info.

I know I’m not the only one who’s been frustrated with the overloaded servers on Pokémon Go today, but I’ve come to think that maybe it’s a good thing that I can’t be playing the game constantly, since I do have a job to worry about, and a Neeka Story chapter to continue working on tonight.  So, on that note, I should sign off.  Thank you for reading, take care, stay creative, and go check out Pokémon Go if you haven’t yet!  🙂

Image credits:
Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur Posters by Dane Cozens