Cards by Hitoshi Ariga: TCG Illustrator Guide

Hitoshi Ariga (Japanese: 有賀 ヒトシ Ariga Hitoshi; born August 23, 1972) is a professional artist who primarily illustrates manga and picture books, and has assumed the position of graphic designer for several Japanese titles in the game industry. He first began providing illustrations for the Pokémon Trading Card Game in 2011, though has been a fan of the franchise for many years. His main passion, however, lies with the Mega Man franchise, known as Rockman in Japan, where he has illustrated numerous manga and artwork for affiliated products since the mid-90s. He likes to engage the community when he has the opportunity, appearing at exhibitions, and maintaining an online presence across several sites.

Ken Sugimori recognized Ariga's design work and invited him to work on X and Y. When designing Amaura and Aurorus, Ariga considered that a sauropod would pair well with Tyrunt and Tyrantrum, suggesting that the latter may have been considered first. Previous Pokémon such as Lapras, Meganium, and Deino already existed with a similar body shape, so Ariga chose to base the new family off the Amargasaurus, with the large fins on its neck. In creating the artwork for the villainous organization 3DS themes, Ariga pointed out the special attention given to how it looped seamlessly as the user navigated the 3DS menu. In the same thread, he also revealed that there were plans to create a 3DS theme for Team Flare, but they fell through as a result of the series moving from the 3DS to the Switch. Ariga's first spot as the lead character designer on the series was with Pokémon UNITE, though his affinity for paleontology led him to create a new design for Pikachu for the real-life Pokémon Fossil Museum, where he was reached out to by the organizers of the museum themselves.

Although he began officially working on the series in 2011 with the , his Pokémon fan art on DeviantArt dates back to 2010. From as early as 2011, Ariga would upload online battles against other players to his YouTube channel, which was something that he continued with well after the release of Sword and Shield. Though they were uploaded to what was originally his main YouTube channel, Ariga has since shifted focus to regularly live streaming art with his VTuber avatar.