Bulbapedia description:
Chi-Yu is a fish-like Pokémon. It is composed of two pairs of curved jade beads, once believed to be sacred and commonly worn for religious rituals. Each of these pairs of beads circle a black orb coated by white around the sides; together, they make up the eyes of Chi-Yu, while the rest of its fish-shaped body is formed by a dark red and yellow flame. The beads sometimes glow red and yellow when it attacks. Like the other treasures of ruin, Chi-Yu’s true form is the beads forming its eyes, having been given life by the envy of those who desired them enough to start wars over them — while its body is a form it has constructed using its control over fire.
EXTRA DETAILS: To me it looks like a fiery goldfish with the green circling the eyes. The body is mostly yellow while the fins and tail taper to dark red with orange between. Some of the scales can be seen in orange. There is an orange line that comes forward from the dorsal fin to in between the eyes that ends in two diamond shapes. The diamond at the end is open with yellow inside, while the second diamond is full orange. The jade beads (four of them in total) are semi circles that are thick and dark green at one end and taper to being thin and light green. Two of the beads together form a complete circle around one eye
My notes:
I was in a quandary when it came to this Pokémon. It was quite clear that the author of Chi-Yu’s description had done a lacklustre job of describing it; they didn’t even go as far as to say what sort of fish Chi-Yu looked like. Vague descriptions have led Mum to some interesting new designs before, but I get disappointed when it would be so easy to make an addition to a description that would enhance the accuracy.
As such, I went ahead and gave Mum copious extra detail (which you can read above) to see if I could steer her closer to the original. Perhaps some of my audience would disagree with me doing this, but I think having more detail for Mum to work from is better than less. I remember how badly Groudon came out and would prefer to avoid such flops in the future, especially when it’s simple to give a few extra details. Another pro of this was that I got the opportunity to actually examine Chi-Yu a little closer myself and discover details I’d never noticed before, such as the line that stretches forward from its dorsal fin and ends in two diamond shapes. I must say Mum captured that well.
Once again, Mum’s version is much more detailed than the original, with a body full of red-and-yellow scales rather than the bare minimum we see on the official design. The mouth has a rather moustache-like quality to it. I’m pleased with the way the fins and the beads came out, even if the beads aren’t quite aligned as they are on the official Pokémon. That’s two Treasures of Ruin down, and two to go!
Mum’s notes:
Coming soon!