With the emergence of the Pokemon Index List, the Capsule Monsters concepts, and so much more, many theories have been arising about Gen 1's development. From what Beta Pokemon became what to whether Magby and Elekid were in the game at some point. But none would be more backed up than the belief Blastoise was originally a standalone Pokemon. Sounds weird, doesn't it? But worry not, Papa Plague has you covered with all the information, continuing from an article I made a while ago. I originally thought that MissingNo. Index 181 could be two things: an unused evolution line from Spaceworld or an alternate Blastoise. Let's just say the prior theory was blown completely out the water. You see, I was originally kind of confused about Mew's placement in the index, as the last 3 MissingNo. in the Index were used for sprites in Lavender Tower and the Pewter Museum of Science. I initially believed they could have been reused, but what if they were intended for this all along? We could simply come to that conclusion and it all makes a lot of sense. As for Spaceworld, well, I did say it was circumstantial in that original article. So now, we arrive at the #AltBlastoise theory, with my old image to guide us through. We actually came across some very useful information to help validate this entire thing now too! For starters, let's bring up the main points from before;
But now, we have a new point. You see, thanks to the NHK broadcast showing that sprite sheet, we have confirmation that Blastoise used Cry No.30, which corresponds to Index Number 181: MissingNo. Hex B5. Weird coincidence, is it not? Suddenly we have some extremely strong evidence that Blastoise would have been separate from the Squirtle line at some point, backed up by design differences and general oddities spanning years. Next article will be going into Omega in more detail, the Pokemon which Mew replaced in the final game!
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Given how much history there is on Shellder and Cloyster at this point, I decided it would be fitting to discuss the entire history of the two lines. Linked by the claims of a "Spiral Shellder" being attached to Slowpoke so it becomes Slowbro, there's a lot to take in here. So, let's take a trip down memory lane to witness the development of some of Kanto's most interesting Pokemon! Funnily enough, both Cloyster and Slowbro existed in the Capsule Monsters sprite sheets. These sheets were taken at rather different times, but are nevertheless significant in devising the history of the two lines.
Slowbro was the 4th Pokemon conceived in Capsule Monsters going by the sheet, although it sits at Index Number 8 in the final game. Thus, the idea of a Shellder latching onto it is likely an afterthought or something. This also means that Tārban technically had its design made at this time, and could well have been saved for later as well. This is a bit of a reach, however. Cloyster, as it turns out, thanks to the NHK report that was unearthed, was also made during this time period. But this is where it gets weird: it was named Shellder, not Cloyster. This could partially explain why the thing on Slowbro's tail is called a "Spiral Shellder" in Pokedex Entries nowadays, but it's still a bit odd. It gets weirder though, as in the final game, the Shellder we know fills the index number Cloyster should be at; Cloyster is actually Index Number 139 in the final game. This could explain why Shellder's sprite was downsized during development. On a side note, Shellder held Scyther's index number for a period during development, before Scyther was moved to Index Number 26. This is reflected in the Popularity Poll (note that Scyther uses Index Number 23). As for how long and when this started, well, is hard to tell. What these facts mean, well, there are a few theories and facts that can be derived from this.
Later on we find the Slowpoke line getting more love, with Slowking being featured in Pokemon The Movie 2000 and being one of the first Pokemon revealed for Gold and Silver in June of 1996. Nothing really changes here. Later we see Tārban get added in the Spaceworld Demo as some bizarre...thing with only 3 moves. Incomplete, sadly it didn't get to fly and be seen in the final game. It answered so many questions and theories though, I'm glad we got closure in the end. I do think that the Slowpoke Line inspired Mantine's later design, going from a sea slug-inspired beast to a ray with a remoraid attached to it. Perhaps Tārban inspired the concept of a Mantyke with Remoraid in the party becoming Mantine! After all, Sinnoh appeared to use heavy inspiration from the Spaceworld Prototype. It's amazing to see how such an interesting line of Pokemon have such intricate history. While there are still mysteries to solve, it's cool to look at now and try to come up with theories to figure them out. Helix Chamber released some more info on Capsule Monsters Sprites after a shock report, featuring more early designs of the Pokemon. It confirms a multitude of theories, so I'm going to cover this with some speculation thrown in. Before we continue, these numbers on the paper are cry numbers, so you may want a list to gather an idea of how they sounded. From left to right, these are the Pokemon shown;
This is a very interesting sheet, as it not only shows a beta Pokemon, but it's a Beta Pokemon that has been bugging us historians for a while. You see, there's been a thing called "The Mystery O" among the thing, where we have a shred of a name of a Pokemon but nothing else. It just happened to be on this sheet! So here I just made a very poorly made reconstruction (using Helix Chamber's of the part as a basis) that I totally didn't make in 2 mins in MS Paint. Anyway, meet Omega, the ultimate E-Series Robot- wait, that's not it...I mean, the original user of Blastoise's cry! Yeah, this Pokemon looks pretty weird and early, much like the rest of the Pokemon there. It's not really much, just another Pokemon to add to the dinosaur list (likely why it was cut in my opinion). It's overall another Pokemon to go with the likes of Deer and Crocky, as it lived and died in exactly the same span of time. It's funny how this design didn't even get reused in the Spaceworld 1997 Demo. Seems they definitely did not like this Pokemon and killed it before it laid eggs. The name was so cool though! Next up we have Scyther, who I will say has the best sprite in the history of Pokemon in the Blue JP / Red and Blue Int games. I will die on this hill, you cannot prove me wrong. Anyway, we can agree that Scyther had very humble beginnings in Pokemon. Crappy sprite in Capumon, looked ugly in Green, had no Bug Moves and the only Flying STAB was 35 Base Power Wing Attack...yeah. Game Freak did not like this poor boy. To be honest, that initial sprite makes me think it was originally a Bug/Dragon Type, with the face and all. All speculation though. Gyarados was very different originally, seemed the original idea was to bring in something from Tremors or whatever. It may shock you, but yes, that name is Gyarados'. It looks a bit like Omanyte or Omastar, but a closer look will tell you that spiral is actually it dipping down or something. Hard to describe. But yeah, this explains why Magikarp is so far ahead at Index Number 133. The designs were originally very separate! Perhaps this inspired Eelektross at some point? It's all very interesting!
Now, the Cloyster thing is pretty weird, so bear with me. Index Number 23 has quite a bit of history to it now.
Blastoise being shown here so early also shows it is even more likely that it wasn't meant to be an evolution for Wartortle, strengthened by its placement in the popularity poll and the MissingNo. entry coming after Wartortle (as shown in another one of my articles). I believe this is a very plausible theory now. So yeah, that's some crazy info that we have here now! I've also updated my research document with this new information, so feel free to check it out! |
About meSo I really, really like researching Prototype Pokemon information. That's about it. I also do things on Smogon, I guess. Archives
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