At a Starry Night Time

Around six months ago, I detailed the story of a vivid Pokémon image that coincided with an equally vivid song. I also said that I had saved a copy of that image, but due to happenings in my life, I lost that copy of the image and wasn't able to present it even as a preview. Now, I can say that I have recovered that very image and can preview it for the purpose of a discussion on this blog.

While I have to admit that the "constellations" I spoke of aren't actually present - so much as "suggested" by the other stars and the outlines of the Pokémon present in the sky, the evoked feelings are more or less accurate. The starry nighttime sky seemingly brightens and illuminates everything around it, including Ash and his Pokémon.

Upon recovery, I immediately fed the image through Google's Image Search. While the image in its actual form (nor any higher resolutions) did not come up in the search, different forms of the same image did come up, though some of the forms had an extended border and a watermark. A bit of analysis showed that the specific form for the image and my copy of the image are in fact the same, albeit cropped, which means that my copy is the only definitive "clean" version.

Moreover, some of the results for the image search indicated the actual source of the image, which would be the ArtBox Pokémon Starry Night 500-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle. Thus, the image firmly identifies a piece of merchandise. However, today one would seem to be hard-pressed to find, let alone procure this merchandise, as it is (or was) sold only in Japan; my copy of the image is dated as being from 18 years ago, and thus the jigsaw puzzle is at least that many years old.

While I have no interest in obtaining the merchandise associated with this image due to its rarity, the image is still a significant one for me. It has become part of my Pokémon experiences, one that I still keep a hold of to this very day, nearly two decades later. That may be considered an amazing testament for this very image with its powerful sentiments, and Pokémon in general.

One year ago: Approaching Field Research Tasks
Two years ago: Restarting Go Fever Among Players