I've only used three art programs, and a vary limited set of ways I do things
mspaint, paint.net, and drawpile, along with flat colors and no anti-aliasing
I think that pokemon pic is a step in the right direction, but
I don't think my programs are limited (mspaint probably is lel) but I think I'm too afraid to try new brush styles, I mean i've tried anti-aliasing, but I don't think I used it correctly?
I did get Krita which was suggested as 'paint.net but smoother' though I'm a little lost looking at it
Perhaps I need to watch some streams and see if I can replicate what they do to get something, because I really want something soft looking, something like Elfdrago or Angstorm...