Atsuko Nishida

Atsuko Nishida in 2018

Atsuko Nishida (Japanese: 西田敦子 / にしだあつこ Nishida Atsuko) is a graphic artist who has been involved with several aspects of the Pokémon franchise since it began. She was part of the graphics team on Pulseman, one of Game Freak's most successful early titles, working alongside Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri and artist Ken Sugimori. During the development of the first Pokémon games, she helped design key characters and several Pokémon, notably the cuter ones as opposed to the tougher ones.

Nishida is a character designer for the mascot of the Pokémon franchise, Pikachu. She stated that first design of Pikachu looked like a vertically long daifuku rice confection with ears.^[1] She also modeled Pikachu's cheeks, which are used to store electricity, after squirrels storing food in their cheeks.^[2] Nishida is also a fan of Eevee and the Eeveelutions, having personally designed all of the Eeveelutions except for Jolteon and Flareon.^[3][4]

She also contributed to the conceptual design of characters that appeared in the first few Pokémon movies, as well as several of the main cast members of the Pokémon anime itself, including Ash Ketchum, Misty, and Brock.^[5] Nishida has continued to work within many areas of the franchise, credited on the majority of the main series games and movies, and has produced an array of original illustrations for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. She is also the illustrator for the mini-comic series titled Together with Pokémon! (Japanese: ポケモンといっしょ！) for a monthly children's magazine, Chara Pafe (Japanese: キャラぱふぇ).

Design

Pokémon

The following is a list of Pokémon designed by Nishida.

Generation I
Bulbasaur[6]	Charmander[6][7]	Charmeleon[7]	Charizard[7]	Squirtle[6]	Wartortle[7]	Weedle[7]	Kakuna[7]	Beedrill[7]	Pikachu[6][7]	Raichu[7][8]	Vulpix[9]
Ninetales[9]	Oddish[7]	Gloom[7]	Vileplume[7]	Bellsprout[7]	Weepinbell[7]	Victreebel[7]	Ponyta[7]	Rapidash[7]	Vaporeon[3][4]	Dratini[7]	Dragonair[7]
Generation II
Espeon[3][4]	Umbreon[3][4]
Generation IV
Kricketot[9]	Leafeon[3][4]	Glaceon[3][4]
Generation V
Munna[10]	Musharna[10]	Cottonee[11]	Whimsicott[9][11][12]	Petilil[11]	Lilligant[9][11]	Zorua[9]	Zoroark[9]	Minccino[10][12]	Cinccino[10]	Karrablast (Idea)[10]
Generation VI
Mega Charizard X[9]	Sylveon[3][4][9][13]
Generation VII
Alolan Raichu[8]
Generation VIII
Alcremie[14]	Hisuian Zorua[15]	Hisuian Zoroark[15]
Generation IX
Pawmi[16]	Pawmo[16]	Pawmot[16]	Tadbulb[16]	Bellibolt[16]	Flittle[16]

Artwork

Official Artwork

• 

  Pikachu ceramic doll merchandise^[17]

Staff Artwork

This is a collection of unofficial Pokémon artwork drawn by Nishida.

• 

  Hisuian Zorua and Zoroark Design Announcement^[15]

Works

Games

Animation

TCG illustrations

Nishida has produced illustrations for the TCG since the some of the earliest Japanese promotional cards, though her first in regular expansions was in the Team Rocket set. Nishida's style is distinctive, using an airbrush technique with a soft palette of colors that is easy on the eyes and convey the feeling that the portrayed Pokémon is at one with their environment. Light is also a large factor, using it to highlight key areas of the overall image to maintain the "soft" aspect.

There are 446 cards illustrated by Nishida. For a list of cards she has illustrated, see here.

In-game appearances

Generations I, III, and VII

Main article: Erik and Sara

Sara (Japanese: アツコ Atsuko) may be a reference to Atsuko Nishida. She appears in all Generation I games, as well as their Generation III and VII remakes.

She and Erik (Japanese: コージ Kōji) mention each other in their dialogue. He may be a reference to Kōji Nishino.

Trivia

• Atsuko Nishida is the only person who has been credited as a Pokémon designer in every generation.
• In an interview with the character designers of Pokémon in 2018, Nishida said that Pikachu was supposed to have a third evolution stage after Raichu, which was named "Gorochu" (Japanese: ゴロチュウ). Ken Sugimori stated that it was scrapped for game balance reasons.^[6]
• Nishida's favorite Pokémon is Charizard.^[6]

References

External links

• Atsuko Nishida's Twitter
• Atsuko Nishida's Instagram
• Creator Profile: The Creators of Pikachu | Pokemon.com (archived)