True, there's more than just the fire-snake that shares the too-sharp shading lines, including the giraffe's original Zebroot file. The time stamp may not be accurate, but the art style is pretty damning and still doesn't match Sugimori artwork any more than it did without a known artist.
These are all false equivalencies. While it's true that these examples did not follow a pattern, they all continued to contribute to the game in an equal or greater way than what they replaced.
So the artist was probably just trying to troll us. The shading is too clean
I say; stellar detective work, Legolas! Between this revelation, and Oriden's professionalized artist's evaluation from earlier, the trio in question's legitimacy is far more pear shaped than ever before! With enough patience, tolerance and the power of ever vigilance, fine forum communities such as this can civilly bear the terrible burden of this mountainous hearsay, all the while fostering a healthy dialogue in the greater name of Pokémon pondering! Pity, though; many of these sorts of illegitimate concept arts have a habit of burgeoning into our hearts, though they're still no less lacking in quality! Enjoyable art will always be enjoyable, after all.
I must apologize for my silver tongue; long ago, it was decidedly pink! :3
Surely, those of outstanding insight into the inner machinations of Pokémon marketing may be at a greater advantage in propagating a suitable response; but, from what I've gathered, it may not be so much a matter of "why is it releasing in 2018", as it may be "why isn't it releasing in 2018". Apart from an impressive deal of speculation and possibly leaked information, (sadly) the switch game's development and possible release window of "2018-2019" is our sole foundation from which our conclusions can be drawn. However...
