Blanche The Team Mystic Leader from Pokemon Go by Joe Eisma

The Mighty Leader of Team Mystic: Blanche.

Like many others in my age range I'm going through Poke-Nostalgia with Pokemon Go out.

I chose Team Mystic as my "Team" and thus Blanche is my Leader.

Blanche is interesting in that while likely meant to be a woman they have been accepted by many on the internet as possibly being a non-binary gender character, something I too think is likely. Many weren't sure if it may have been on purpose...

Interestingly designer Yusuke Kozaki who designed Blanche and the other Pokemon Go Leaders is not unknown for creating similar not clearly identifiable character having done so in Fire Emblem Awakening and Fates as its designer as well. When asked on twitter Mr. Kozaki gave a smiley emoticon and that Blanche can be interpreted as the player wants, likely meaning the ambiguity was purposeful in Blanche's design.

As with myself and countless others Pokemon Go is on many minds, as was with this piece's creator Joe Eisma. He too is (was?) a fan of the game and recently drew another of the Team Leaders (Candela) which actually led me to being interested in getting this commission. Best known for his Morning Glories series (of which he is co-creator) he's slowly expanding to other titles including Archie and DC Comics. If his recent work is any indication he has a great future in his hands.

And I absolutely love this piece.