Final Submission
Design Process
After starting out with a martial arts bird design and receiving lukewarm reception, I thought it would be better to restart from scratch and come up with a better source of inspiration. This led me to the concept of a fighting punching UFO, which was ultimately expressed in
this design. The giant hand draws its inspiration from the idea that UFOs abduct people and animals by forcibly grabbing them from the surface of the Earth. The wings on its head are meant to evoke the winged helmet of a Valkyrie. It's got a mean grin cos it's a bad ass.
After receiving comments that it looked a bit too 'prevo-like', I decided to redesign it to look leaner and meaner. It was at this point that I fleshed out the red/yellow color scheme. You can see the design
here.
Meanwhile, I had received some input from Rising_Dusk, it was his idea to work clouds into the concept, an idea which I ultimately agreed with. Not only does it discourage the comparisons to a Steel-type, but it also better represented the stat spread, which placed the emphasis on bulk and Special Attack. The decision was also made to give it two hands and make them disembodied a la Haunter, giving it more of a special attacker vibe.
The first iteration of the cloudy UFO design can be seen
here.
The second iteration can be seen
here. It's a side view and I reworked its wings slightly and gave it smaller eyes.
For the final design, you'll notice that I've made its eyes and wings a compromise between the first and second iteration. I've also made the hands more curvish and the cloud a darker color.
Backstory
It's a bird! It's plane! No...it's this thing...
For centuries, people have reported sightings of unidentified flying objects. The ancients depicted them in tapestries and paintings, while modern day enthusiasts document them in videos and photographs. Sometimes they turn out to be just strange cloud formations or weather balloons, but more often than not, it's this Pokemon.
This Pokemon is a solitary soul. It likes traveling alone across the sky, and is most active during the hours of dusk and dawn. Its cloudy and light composition allows it to move quite freely, and from its palms it can issue a wide variety of techniques. Its disembodied hands can also move quite far from its main body to ambush unsuspecting opponents. It's very competitive, and exudes the aura of a fighter. It will never back down from a challenge, and many weaker Pokemon know to pack their shit up and flee when this Pokemon is in the vicinity.
It adores chocolate pudding and apparently enjoys the film 'Pulp Fiction'.
Closing Comments
This is the first CAP in which I've played a more active role and actually followed the process from beginning to end, and I can honestly say that I've enjoyed it. Making the design and getting feedback and comments from people was a lot of fun, and I'm astounded by the amount of talent on display here. Good luck to all the other entrants, I thank you, and your country thanks you.