Pokemon Fan Makes Impressive Squirtle Squad Rug

gamerant.com:

One artistic fan recently created an impressive square rug inspired by the Squirtle Squad from the Pokemon anime. In the original Pokemon Red and Blue, Squirtle was one of three Starter options that players could choose from at the very beginning of the game, but Ash Ketchum met his first Water-type partner differently in the long-running Pokemon TV series. There, Ash’s Squirtle was the leader of the Squirtle Squad, a group of abandoned Tiny Turtle Pokemon who went about causing mischief in the Kanto region.

Even after the lead Squirtle left the Squad in favor of following Ash on his journey to become the world’s greatest Pokemon trainer at the end of their debut episode, the group still left an impression on Pokemon fans due to their funny antics and trademark sunglasses — and many have created fan art of the turtle troublemakers. These include recreations of the Squirtle Squad’s introduction scene using sprites from the Pokemon games and crochet dolls of the team’s leader.

Now, a Reddit user by the handle of PaleSyllabub1592 posted their own tribute to the legendary Squirtle Squad on r/pokemon, bringing back nostalgic memories of the water-squirting quintet. They created a square-shaped welcome rug of the Squirtle Squad’s leader, who is recognizable from its teammates due to its triangular shades. Other Reddit users have praised PaleSyllabub1592 for their work in the comments section, joking about not wanting to step on the cute but troublesome turtle and answering the creator’s request for ideas on other Pokemon they can base future rugs on.

As mentioned before, the Squirtle Squad quickly became fan-favorite characters in the Pokemon anime, making several return appearances with the most recent one being shortly after Ash finally won his first Pokemon League Championship last year — which marked the end of the original Pokemon anime storyline and the beginning of a new chapter in Pokemon Horizons: The Series. The Squirtle Squad has also made the jump to video