The Pokemon series has plenty of strengths, as features like battles and the huge selection of loveable Pocket Monsters are beloved by most fans. But, if you ask a lot of players, the game’s animation has never managed to reach the heights of the Pokemon anime, or even other franchises.
Yet while fans often pick apart the stilted animation — or occasionally just scrolling text — that is used to tell the narrative in games like Scarlet & Violet, a short film from Pokemon is currently getting fans asking for a higher level of animation alongside their favorite games.
Named Bubble Beam Berry Blast (say that five times), the short film is part of the celebrations around Pokemon’s Water-type month, a whole four weeks in the calendar all about the sea-faring little pals that Trainers love so much.
Dive into #WaterTypeMonth with Pokémon: Bubble Beam Berry Blast! 🫧 🌊 pic.twitter.com/F5OMnlilJ6
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) June 4, 2024
Reactions to the short have been widely positive, such as Daman Mills who shared it with the comment, “THIS IS SO CUTE!!! I love Pokemon.” Though, one of the first comments immediately compares to the main games, adding, “Man, why can’t the animations in game be even half as charming as this??”
The main post has (at the time of writing) around 15,000 likes, and a plethora of comments underneath. Even the recent Ash Ketchum voice actor Sarah Natochenny waded in, saying, “Running to show this to my little cousin. Adorable!!!”
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Other comments call the short film “wholesome” and “absolutely stellar” among other things, showing something of the demand for this sort of energetic, and dynamically animated representation of Pokemon that often feels so lacking from the mainline games.
Meanwhile, you’d be forgiven for not remembering about Water-type month, such as one comment that adds, “WATER TYPE MONTH? HOW LONG HAS THAT BEEN A THING DON’T GASLIGHT ME.”
While the next generation of Pokemon is likely a while away, fans have Pokemon Legends Z-A to look forward to in 2025, and after the appeal of videos like this — and shows like Pokemon Concierge — perhaps the Pokemon brand can add some of that animation magic to the games as well.
