#grafaiai

bc both are art themed pokemon but smeargles give posh visual arts kid and grafaiai is troublemaker street kid

"Miles the Grafaiai"

This Pokemon grew up near one of the abandoned labs that belonged to Professor Ture. The lab was left after an accident that caused an explosion and a leak of a strange tar substance. The substance polluted a large lake nearby where this Pokemon was bathing at the time, and unfortunately, the strange goop clung to the pokemon before anything could be done. There was a large cleanup effort that immediately took place after the spill so the lake wouldn't be left in such a bad state. Luckily, no other Shroodles were affected by the substance. But the substance permanently left this particular Shroodle's appearance reddish-black, with a red sheen.

Later, after the Shroodle evolved into a Grafaiai, he noticed that his color had not changed. His body had adapted to the tar, making the colors permanent. He also found out that with the adaptation came a mutation. The tar that his body excreted was sticky enough to climb with. So with this newfound ability and a means to use it, he grabbed as many berries as he could in a sack and set forth to the biggest human establishments that he could find, and he began tagging walls as a form of revenge for what happened to his body. 

Of course, authorities were always called on him. And he didn’t always escape out of trouble. The relationship that he had with humans was volatile at best. He had found himself stuck in a cycle where they would attack him, and he would “attack” back with more tagging. Eventually, he came across another artist’s work while climbing up the side of a building. Climbing inside through the open window, Grafaiai saw various works in progress as well as some pieces that reminded him of home. The ones that reminded him of his origins inspired him enough that he reconsidered his venting methods. Instead of painting crude jokes and provocative imagery, what if he made something that he was proud of?

He spent that night training on some of the artist’s empty canvases until he made something that he could consider “beautiful.” The artist/resident of the apartment eventually woke up and came into her art study to work only to find the Grafaiai in the process of mimicking her work. A normal person would have been mad, but she joined him.

Weeks passed, and while driving the establishment absolutely crazy like the little vandal he was, he would come back to this artist’s abode and learn. These sessions were the only time he was ever truly calm and happy. She sported him a new sweater and a belt of empty ink vials that he threw over his shoulder. She gave him the ink vials so that he had his own set to use so he didn't mix berries with the paint. He promptly stuffed the vials with whatever colored berries he could find.

Thanks to his time spent with this artist, his anger mellowed out. Instead of drawing crude jokes and suggestive graffiti, he started painting more thought-provoking murals on the side of buildings. If he were agitated or provoked, he would revert back. 

Eventually, the artist that captured Grafaiai's attention moved to Levincia. Of course, he followed her there. There, his work would become noticed by the mainstream, and he would become a meme of sorts amongst the people there. Much to the authority’s chagrin, the city’s gym leader, Iono, did not help the matter. Rather, she encouraged it.

#5: scarlet and violet promo by aky cg works

#4: mega evolution by dsuke

#3: paldea evolved by souichirou gunjima

#2: surging sparks by nc empire

#1: paldea evolved by oswaldo kato

Grafaiai

🃏 Nuova Carta Pokémon: Grafaiai! 📦 Set: Mega Evolution

Grafaiai Card Sleeves (2023)

Artist: Kazuma Koda