A Pokemon fan has created a bizarre animation that shows Garchomp playing basketball. Unlike the Super Mario crew that’s known to play a variety of sports, Pokemon aren’t often put in this position, but the Garchomp animation gives fans an idea of what it would look like.
The Pokemon series has continued to add new Pokemon to its extensive National Dex, which now features over 1,000 creatures. Among the many Pokemon introduced in Generation 4 was Garchomp, who evolves from Gabite after Gible. Garchomp has become a fan favorite since this generation, with the Pokemon included in Pokemon Unite and the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. Despite the Pokemon world occasionally having overlapping themes with the real world, no sports are formally represented in the mainline series. While many battles in Pokemon Sword and Shield take place in what resembles soccer stadiums, there were no sport-based mini-games. One gamer has rectified this by creating a bizarre animation showing Garchomp playing basketball.
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Reddit user Szionblue recently shared a clip showing Garchomp playing basketball. The video begins with Garchomp slowly walking into an arena with a basketball tucked under its arm. The Pokemon then dribbles the ball before the footage cuts to a two-on-one basketball game against Ampharos and Wartortle. The Garchomp fakes one direction, with the Wartortle failing to intercept it, resulting in a 2-point shot from the Gen 4 Pokemon. The clip then shows a montage of Garchomp getting 3-pointers and slam dunks on the duo, posing in between. Garchomp then seems to perform the Pokemon move Dig to approach the net, resulting in a slow-motion slam dunk as it emerges.
According to Szionblue, the bizarre animation was inspired by a community member who made a GIF of Garchomp dribbling a basketball. The gamer also credits Pokemon Arena, a fan-made Pokemon project, for the reason the GIF came about to begin with. Although it doesn’t feature basketball, the Reddit user confirmed that Pokemon Arena is a team-based Pokemon battler with a roster of over 60 Pokemon. With Wartortle and Ampharos struggling to keep up with Garchomp on the basketball court, the Dragon-type Pokemon may be ideal for a Pokemon basketball game. While the Pokemon franchise occasionally dabbles in mini-games, especially in Pokemon Stadium, none have shown Pokemon competing in basketball yet.
Because the Super Mario franchise includes a basketball game in the form of Mario Hoops 3-on-3, it may not be outlandish for Pokemon to get a similar sports spin-off title in the future. As Game Freak continues to innovate on the Pokemon franchise’s roots, a sports mini-game could also be implemented in a future mainline game.
Pokemon is a franchise that needs no introduction. One of the most successful media empires in history, Pokemon spans games, television, films, manga, merchandise, music, and more.
