Chafépeur

First picture is an entry for a French Fakemon contest. The winner will receive a physical copy of either Scarlet or Violet.

It was painted with watercolors and color pencils (Winsor & Newton for both). It was one of my first backgrounds, and my first ever urban background ! And it was my first time attempting a nighttime scenery. More info on the Fakemon below!

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Name: Chafépeur (Chat (cat) + Fée (fairy) + Peur (scary, creepy), play on word on “ça fait peur” (”that’s scary”, or even “cat’s scary” in child talk)

Type: Fairy/Flying

Ability: Intimidate // Hidden Ability: Infiltrate

Pokédex description (the subject of the contest): "Thanks to its huge ears, it can detect Insect Pokémon. At night, he uses this ability to spot and hunt the small Pokémon living in human habitation."

Inspirations and Lore:

A person born in Madrid, and who’s family has for multiple generations, can take the honorary title of "gato" (cat). The origin of this title, or nickname nowadays, dates back to the 11th century, when Madrid was protected by a wall. During a conquest of the city, it is said that a soldier had climbed the wall with an astonishing agility; to the point that the king had exclaimed: "Look, he looks like a cat!". Subsequently, the king had given this soldier the honorary title, which had then been passed on to his descendants.

This story inspired not only the Fairy type of Chafépeur, but also its felid-like mammalian appearance. In addition, most domestic cat owners have probably already seen their companion chase insects! :)

This Fakemon can be seen hanging on houses’ walls at night, from where it throws itself to soar and catch its prey. It uses its ears to spot insects in a 360° radius, making it a formidable predator. Despite this status, Chafépeur possesses weak defensive capabilities, making it a prey of predilection. Natural selection has thus endowed it with various motifs evoking the threatening face of a much larger creature, when the rest of its coat blends in the night. Such a face can both be seen from the back and from the front of Chafépeur. It also has a third eyelid that it deploys when it seeks to frighten predators as well as prey.

This Fakemon settled in cities to benefit from the protection of humans. However, it quickly attracted their fear for its tendency to infiltrate houses and spooking passers-by in small, bad lit streets. So much so that, like Murkrow in some regions, Chafépeur has been given the reputation of bringing bad luck ("black cat").

Design details on the "threatening face of a much larger creature":
Front:
- The inside of its ears looks like eyes.
- Its eyes, once covered by the third eyelid, can be interpreted as nostrils.
- The pattern on its body evokes a mouth.

Back:
- The pattern behind its ears looks like eyes (inspiration "the white spot on the ears of some felines”).
- The pattern on its body evokes a mouth.

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The sketches are pretty much all concept art and thumbnails.