Pokémon Veteran James Turner Returns to Franchise After The Plucky Squire

James Turner, a veteran of the Pokémon series, is making a comeback to the franchise after leaving to work on The Plucky Squire. Turner is renowned for being the first Westerner to officially design Pokémon, having spent years at Game Freak, the core developer of the series. However, four years ago, he departed to co-found his own studio, All Possible Futures.

That studio released the innovative indie platformer The Plucky Squire, which features 2D characters leaping from their storybook world into 3D environments. It remains unclear what the future holds for the studio or any potential sequel now that Turner has moved on.

Last night, Turner announced on X/Twitter that he has taken on a new role as Creative Director of Pokémon Art and Design at The Pokémon Company International. While this doesn't sound like a development role—meaning Turner's days of designing new species may be over—it will be interesting to see what he accomplishes next.

Of course, next year is a major milestone for Pokémon, as the 10th generation games, Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves, are set to release on the Nintendo Switch 2. Early footage of these next adventures, powered by Nintendo's latest console, looks incredibly ambitious.

Turner has designed some of Pokémon's most peculiar creatures, including the ice cream-like Vanillite, the colorful fish Bruxish, the massive whale Dondozo, the haunted teacup Sinistea, and the sushi-esque Tatsugiri. He's also credited with designs like the Gene Simmons-inspired Obstagoon, the haunted tree Phantump, and Ultra Beasts such as the muscular insect Buzzwole and the wide-jawed Guzzlord.

In the meantime, The Plucky Squire is certainly worth checking out if you enjoy clever dimension-hopping puzzles and platforming. As IGN noted in our review of the game, which scored a 7/10: "A beautiful storybook adventure filled with brilliant wordplay-packed puzzles and clever dimension-hopping mechanics, but it drags on a bit too long after it's already used up all of its best ideas."