Animal Crossing: New Horizonshas been a phenomenon, and though its ever-present popularity on social media has begun to wane, theJuly 30 update patch adding fireworks, Dream Islands, and more shows the game will continue to have an audience. One reason for its success is the incredible things players have achieved through the island terraforming and decorating features, with one popular category being recreations of elements fromPokemon.
Some creations have been at a larger, more theoretical scale, like turning an island’s shape into the map of Sinnoh fromPokemon DiamondandPearl. Others have been more personalized and detailed, such as one playerrecreatingSunandMoon’s Melemele Island, or Reddit user JJKDowell adding Aspertia City fromPokemon Black 2andWhite 2onto their island.
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Aspertia City is the home of the main character in the Unova Region sequel titles, and JJKDowell captures this immediately through a video posted to the r/AnimalCrossing subreddit Tuesday, where they walk out of their house dressed as male protagonist Nate. From usingAnimal Crossing: New Horizons' museum as the city gym with battling toys in the back, to having hats replicate the three starter Pokemon choice, the level of detail in this recreation is a sight to behold.
Probably the most amusing detail is how JJKDowell went out of their way to add the lazy pig villager Hugh into their cast of characters so they could use his house to replicatePokemon Black 2andWhite 2’s rival trainer Hugh. The video they uploaded to show off their city also uses the theme from the Generation 5 game in the background, though they say they will be ripping out some of the trees to stop Isabelle from complaining.
As common asPokemon-themed island creations are, many of them lean closer to earlier entries in the series before the shift to 3D withPokemon XandY. This is likely in-part thanks to how well the grid-based sprites of older games fit intoAnimal Crossing, leading to a playerrecreatingPokemon GoldandSilverthroughNew Horizonsin their entirety.
The idea of islands having potentially hundreds of unique animal villagers has also helped withPokemoncreations. Some players have usedNew Horizonsto create mock Pokemon battles, for example, though there is something charming about using Godzilla and bear toys for battles as JJKDowell does with Aspertia City.
