Gastrodon is a fairly interesting Pokemon, and I don't often cover Pokemon beyond Generations 1 and 2. This Pokemon has quite a bit of interesting information about it, so I thought I'd compile it all so you can have a look. In Nintendo Power May 2007, it was said by Junichi Masuda that two "sea slug" Pokemon were meant to be in Ruby and Sapphire, but were cut. It's an interesting topic. There are actually two cut Pokemon in the Cry Order from the German Debug ROM, with fully functional cries. You can get the actual ROM here. Many often talk about Gastrodon and Shellos being in Gen 3 at some point, citing this magazine. However, this is false. The exact statement is; "There's also a sea-slug Pokémon that we weren't able to put in Ruby and Sapphire that we were able to put in this one, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl" It is highly likely that these unspecified Pokemon indirectly inspired Shellos and Gastrodon, like how Gyaoon inspired Tyranitar. I don't believe that these were the two Pokemon we got due tot he statement, though. There is also more evidence for this than one would think, so let's have a look. One case of a concept being completely revised for a game is Mantine, who was originally Haneei. This Pokemon was likely based on Glaucus atlanticus, or the Blue Sea Slug. In the end it became a stingray, more befitting its name (haneru means jump, hane means feather/wing, and ei implies stingray, thanks to TCRF). So it could be theorized that the concept of sea slugs being used for Pokemon could date back to Generation 2, given the appearance of Haneei (although you could say from the name that the evidence is a bit weak). Anyway, let's move on a touch. In August 2006, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl was in a debugging phase. How do we know this? Well, it leaked in June 2019. In this ROM, Shellos and Gastrodon had different Japanese names; Siiusi and Siidorugo, rather than Karanakushi and Toritodon. Gastrodon's name appears to be a reference to Dolgo, a Kaiju (thanks to Helix Chamber). These names were considered a mainstay it appears, as they made it into Pokemon Battle Revolution. In fact, the names made it into the final game under debug options. You may have also seen these sprites before, which are unused in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl as well. It is likely that these are our "Siiusi" and "Siidorugo", the old Shellos and Gastrodon, before they were changed into what they are now. You may notice that Shellos has the East Sea's back. This is because, well, at one point that concept wasn't exactly founded yet. The final game has a debug function talking about the forms. I like to think that they had a bunch of designs for these sea slugs that they liked, and chose to make multiple forms based on, well, the different sea's sea slugs. The Gastrodon here may have been one of the designs that they chose to cut. It makes a lot of sense, as compared to the final game and early Shellos, it's a bit out there. It would have been a bit redundant to have more than 2 forms as well, although the East's head patterns have no record of presence at this time. It could have been in their little Shellos-Gastrodon war chest, though! So there you have it, multiple generations of wanting sea slugs in Pokemon, amounting to the creation of Gastrodon and Shellos. And honestly, I'm glad it came out. It's a well-known competitive Pokemon in the VGC sector for its Storm Drain ability, and frequently finds its way onto teams to counter Rain. While it rarely ventures out of the lower tiers in Smogon, it has an OU tiering under its belt for Gen 5 and frequently travels through every tier above it in every game for one reason or another. While Shellos has significantly less competitive history, it's nice to see all of its development history, providing a deep inside look at how Nintendo designs their Pokemon.
0 Comments
I don't often cover generations after 2 due to a lack of information, but some recent findings with Pokemon HOME have finally given me something to look at. This is some rather new information brought forward by a Twitter user, but I wasn't sure about bringing this article up due to a lack of info. Thanks to an old friend named Eric though, he dug up a Reddit post that brought me to a source for some extra spicy stuff to put together for a new theory.
Back in 2012,Nintendo laid down new trademarks for their Pokemon receiving Mega Evolutions. At the time random (due to Black and White 2 being on the horizon), this included all of the XY Mega Evolutions. It also included Latias and Latios who were in the code of said game, but not released until ORAS. In addition, in 2013, Aggron and Absol were also added to this list. However, there was one, significant outlier: Jynx, who never received a Mega at all. Nobody knew why Jynx was on this list at all. So, what gives? There has been for a while, a long-running idea that Jynx possibly had a Mega Evolution cut back in the day due to this article. And thanks to a tweet by Mattyoukhana_, this has finally received some significant validity. In Pokemon HOME, an unused cry was found that was strikingly similar to Jynx's, with a Mega reverb to boot;
Those who played Generations 6 and 7 should absolutely know what that reverb is: it's a trademark of a Mega cry. My theory, is that this is a removed asset from Pokemon X and Y. Some have said it's a Galarian evolution, but the reverb and echo simply don't match that. Given the trademarks, the context here is clearly different. Besides, if this were the case, where's all the other content from the DLC?
A day later, we also got this tweet stating that Jynx is highly likely to be an alternate form. This lines up with how Galarian and Mega forms are put into the game. In fact, through hacking, it is possible to have Mega Evolutions stored in exactly this way through both Bank and Home. So it definitely isn't Gigantamax.
So, why was this removed? Those who have followed this blog know that I have covered Jynx's controversial aspects in-depth on a good few occasions. Back in 1997 over to around 2001, Jynx was the recipient of a good deal of backlash by critics of the Pokemon series. This prompted a change in design, having its skin colour changed from black to purple. It's not unknown to my readers that Jynx's previous role in Gold and Silver was cut, likely due to this controversy. Jynx also hasn't appeared in the anime since 2006, in "Mean with Envy". Jynx is, to put it bluntly, Game Freak's problem child.
So, why would Jynx have been the intended recipient of a Mega Evolution? Well, by this time, the controversy had pretty much completely died down. Electabuzz and Magmortar received evolutions in Diamond and Pearl after all three gained Baby Pokemon in Gold and Silver. Clearly there is some inconsistency here. Jynx, Magmar and Electabuzz have all been seen as a trio in the past, while Pinsir, Scyther and Heracross are another. So, giving it something to make up for this seems quite logical. However, due to how controversial Jynx is, it was left in the dust. For all we know, there could just be a Mega Jynx design in Game Freak's old design vault. Maybe even that Mega Flygon that was also dropped. In fact, the very quote that is used here implies it was planned since XY; "...Flygon has had the potential to have a Mega Evolution since XY, but we were unable to complete a design and so it was dropped from consideration."
In which case, well, why don't we see Mega Flygon on the copyright list? Simple answer here is, well, he was cut early on. All the Mega Evolutions noted here must have been confirmed and/or had designs sorted. Filing a trademark isn't exactly cheap. This would strengthen the idea that Jynx, once again, likely has a Mega form all tucked away in Game Freak's vault. Obviously though, this is all speculation.
However, on this trademark list, we don't see Blaziken at all. I believe that Mega Blaziken may well have replaced Jynx after this discrepancy, as well as to foreshadow - and to build up hype for - ORAS. Far less risky and far more profitable. Jynx is simply not an easily marketable Pokemon, up there with Kadabra. Even the Kanto lovers have a common distaste for it. Can this Pokemon ever catch a break? So, what do I think of this? Well, as a person who's looked heavily into Jynx's history, I would love to see a redemption arc in this PR train wreck. My friend who tipped me off on this is actually a bit of an enthusiast! Jynx is among the most interesting Pokemon in the series, and almost viable to boot. Access to Fake Out, a very accurate sleep move in Lovely Kiss, very nice special attack, and a fairly good speed stat of 95: just 10 points away from breaking the dreaded 100 threshold. An old OU titan in Generations 1-2, and an underdog in Gen 3, seeing Jynx return to the Smogon Singles metagame would be pretty nice. I'd rather see ol' Tauros though, personally. I have requested The Cutting Room Floor, cut content enthusiasts, to have a look through XY to check for this cry. I'm not exactly savvy in datamining anything past GBA, but there are some individuals eager to try and seek out this cry in the data. Or perhaps, something more. Should anything occur, I will post a follow-up article as soon as possible. I have also contacted Mattyoukhana_ for comment. As Generation 7 begins to close its doors, I decided to look back on a certain Pokemon that has never been released since Generation 6: AZ's Floette, or officially known as Eternal Flower Floette. Many of you may have heard about this event, as it's the first to go completely unused in a Pokemon game. This Pokemon is quite unique and notorious as a result. I have done some digging myself and decided to document some stuff regarding this, as well as ironing out some rumors as well. The reason Eternal Flower Floette is the first Pokemon to go unused is because Events for Generation 6 are no longer run. As a result of this fact and how you cannot transfer Generation 7 Pokemon - regardless of the generation they were introduced - to Generation 6, Eternal Flower Floette is officially unused. This will never change. If it is released in Generation 7 later, however, it will not be unused there, but still in Generation 6 due to these facts. So, this is Eternal Flower Floette, with the Normal and Shiny Sprites (left and middle). Apologies for the resolution and present-ability, finding the animated models is a nightmare. As you can see, it is quite different to the normal Floette on the far right. It holds the flower in the opposite direction, and has a different coloration and general model. The Non-Shiny model for Eternal Flower Floette is also used during the AZ Cutscene in the ending of Pokemon X and Y. It's quite comical to look at when you know it's a battle sprite, but the scene is still cute and tear-jerking when you know the lore. It's still extremely unusual to see how it was never released during the XY Era. After all, it is a big part of the lore. Smogon has an analysis page for this Floette, as there's a policy to document all Pokemon in preparation for release. Obviously, Floette has sort of...not been released. Anyway, as you can very well see, this Floette has obnoxious stats in comparison to the original. In fact, the original Floette has 371 BST, while Eternal Flower Floette has 551 BST! A massive increase! The stats gear it towards being a Choice Scarf user or possibly a Life Orb attacker. Smogon played around the idea of a Wish Tank, and I agree that it would work well like that, especially with its unique attack. The differences don't end here either. Normal Floette gets Ally Switch, which this variant does not. What this variant does get is its own signature move in Light of Ruin, which is a 140 Base Power, 90 Base Accuracy move that deals half the damage in recoil. It also has a unique cry. This is the normal cry. Due to being an Event, Eternal Flower Floette has no access to Egg Moves. Luckily, the Flabebe Line only get these Egg Moves;
Eternal Flower Floette also gets its own Pokedex Entries in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Ultra Sun: The flower it's holding can no longer be found blooming anywhere. It's also thought to contain terrifying power. Ultra Moon: Terrifying energy is concealed within its ominous flower, but Floette still swings it about innocently. So, the flower the Pokedex is talking about must be the "Eternal Flower".
The funny thing is, Pokemon Bank itself actually has no hackcheck, which allows players to upload clearly hacked Pokemon into the system without punishment. I, myself, have tested Eternal Flower Floette in-game thanks to the QR Code Exploit back in the XY-ORAS era. I still have it...in Bank. Have had for quite a few years now, actually! Pokemon Bank reads the stats perfectly fine, and even has a sprite for it. Hell, it lists Light of Ruin with no problem either. So, what gives? It's clearly intended for use at some point, why hasn't it? It's been in the files for multiple generations, plus Bank. They also used Eternal Flower Floette for debugging in Bank in the past. Given how this Pokemon is completely in limbo right now, I don't really know what to say about its future. Given the Pokedex Data being added in USUM, one could say that it is ready to be introduced. However, there have been many opportunities TO release it in the past. Pokemon Generations Episode 18 (the finale that featured AZ), the end of the XY Anime, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire since they mention AZ, the middle of the USUM Era due to the Pokedex Data...so many have been missed. It's so, so weird. If it isn't released by Generation 8, I'm pretty sure it'll be absent entirely in the eventual Main Series Switch Games. It's usually how Nintendo and Game Freak operate: use the old games as a base, then reset completely when the next console rolls around. In which, this really cool Event Pokemon will simply fade into obscurity. I really don't want that to happen, since it'll become the first official Unused Pokemon. So there we have it as it stands: Eternal Flower Floette has a ton of stuff going for it, but it has yet to be released. Will it ever happen? Well, I don't want to doubt it. It's honestly got a really cool design and a lot of interesting lore. It would be cruel not to give the Pokemon out for some cool event with AZ in Generation 8. I feel this could be the best way to release it at this point: as a cross-generational event, like the Celebi and Zorua, and Legendary Beasts and Zoroark Movie Tie-Ins. Those events were really cool and encouraged utilizing transfer features. Here, it could work just as well. Let's just sit back and hope this doesn't become a beta element for a second time... This is very likely to be the last time I cover this magazine until someone translates the Hideo Kojima area of the magazine (someone is doing it for me, next week seems promising). Also, apologies for my inconsistent uploading of articles, I like to keep it spaced out but it gets a bit much sometimes. I have covered parts of "Hitmontop" before, but never actually went in depth or put it all in one place. So, it feels correct to put it here. Given the turtle has no real thoughts on it, I don't think it warrants an article (Unless I need filler...heh). This article is mainly to compile my thoughts, and to clear up any misinformation regarding this thing. So, let's begin this with what is the speculative history of Hitmontop. All the images here will be recycled from my previous articles, since there's no point in redoing them: they're fine! One thing I questioned in my initial research of the Spaceworld 1997 Demo back in June-July times, the biggest thing I questioned was the drastic difference in design. The only similarity was the concept of a spinning top, but even then it is quite the reach. Now, let's bring up the interview retranslation that Obskyr did. It has been agreed upon that the designs were never intended to be canon from the beginning: notice that Tyranitar wasn't in the Spaceworld Demo. It wasn't intended to exist up until after Spaceworld when the designs were looked over again. I believe that as a result, we can say the same for "Hitmontop", who I don't think is Hitmontop at all. Thinking about it, the only way that we can really explain the drastic design difference and the existence of Hitmontop in the Spaceworld Demo is that this Pokemon is not actually a beta Hitmontop. It never was. Hitmontop is based on a practitioner of Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art. Got to commend Game Freak for researching such an obscure thing tbh, pretty cool. Hell, the Japanese name is a homage to it. Anyway, getting off track. This weird Pokemon doesn't feature any implications of any kind of fighting style, and is simply a spinning top. If anything, I really think it looks like Clefairy. Here's an image I put together using my HQ scanned images of it; Ken Sugimori stated in the interview with the writers of the magazine, that he had the idea of a parallel universe when designing these Pokemon. They were not meant to be canon, but obviously Tyranitar really complicated this when Ken looked back at his old designs and thought "hey let's contradict this for a laugh".
So really, this Pokemon was never meant to be used from the beginning. As I said in my previous articles, this Pokemon was a throwaway design, just like the turtle and Tyranitar (god it still feels weird saying that). All in all, the most this Pokemon could have done is indirectly contribute to Hitmontop's inception: the concept of a spinning top, that evolved from there thanks to the drug-fueled beings that are Pokemon's designers. So, not Hitmontop. It's about as irrelevant as the turtle Pokemon that may or may not have become Tirtouga. Tyranitar is a much loved Pokemon almost universally in the Pokemon Fandom, competitively and casually alike. Depicted as an engine of destruction in the anime and games alike, there really isn't much not to like about it. Well, maybe that Rock/Dark Typing that has started to bite it in the past few years is something to hate, but oh well. Let's get to the point. So, Tyranitar's Dev History. Turns out, this is probably one of the first Pokemon to have ever been thought of: only in a different name. You see, concept of a Godzilla-like Pokemon goes back as far as the original thoughts on Capsule Monsters, as Godzilliante. The other concept Pokemon here is Gorillaimo, which never got much further than this. Personally, I think that Tyranitar did not directly get derived from this. This is because this was the early days of development, and I doubt any of the characters were really thought about that much. This concept was to demonstrate the battle system more than anything else. However, I am not denying that this could have indirectly inspired Tyranitar. Anyway, onto the time where a Godzilla-like Pokemon actually got added into a game in some form: Gyaoon, also known to some as Gyarth. The name is onomatopoeia for Godzilla's roar. So here's our first sighting of the first solid idea for it. What we're looking at is the first Sprite Sheet printed of Pokemon in Capsule Monsters, circa 1990. Gyaoon is Index Number 1, which is next to Rhydon's beta design. We can see that it is very different to Tyranitar's final design, but it is clear that the concept of a Godzilla-like Pokemon was very much in vogue during development. We later see Gyaoon in the Satoshi Taijiri Manga, which goes over Pokemon Red and Green's Development. Only this time, with a new sprite. This happened in 1992-1993. The top of the image is purely a blur due to the way it was set up, but we can see that the sprite changed to show it leaning over roaring, rather than rearing its head. It looks similar to Croconaw and Feraligatr here, so maybe it indirectly inspired them in the future? It was Index Number "C", so most likely not fully decided on yet. I'm not sure what the letter means - nor does anyone else that I know of - but as we know, it was cut. Nobody has quite put together what the idea was for Gyaoon, but there are elements of the final product in there. From what I can see, it looks like it could have been a Dragon Type. However, this is purely speculation. However, Gyaoon was never seen again after this. Cut, and likely never implemented. Perhaps the Dev Team wasn't fully in favor? I mean, Exeggutor won that poll, so it's clear their opinions were pretty terrible. However, justice was soon to come for this Pokemon. Fast forward to April of 1997, and we see this cursed magazine: MicroGroup Game Review Vol.14. As I went over in a previous article, Ken Sugimori drew the Pokemon for this cover as simple throwaway designs. Tyranitar was on its knees at this point, ready to get cut. It wasn't in the Spaceworld Demo in November 1997, and it was not being shown anywhere but here.
However, thanks to Ken Sugimori's philosophy of polishing old designs as said in the Interview in that same magazine, Tyranitar got another shot. The Godzilla-like Pokemon idea that had been thrown around for 7 whole years finally came to fruition: Gyaoon may have failed, but Tyranitar came out of it...and boy was it a doozy. Rewarded for its wait, Tyranitar was introduced in Pokemon Gold and Silver in 1999-2000, as a Pseudo Legendary Pokemon that would dominate Smogon for many years to come. Maybe good things really do come to those who wait? The thought that Tyranitar may have never come to GSC is a real shocker to me personally. It's been a meta defining Pokemon in almost every main series game, and was pretty much "The King of Gen 3" by the end of it. Hell, it's one of my favorite Pokemon to use: I even have a plushie of that angry dinosaur. But god am I glad it got included at the end of that 7 year battle. In the end, it finally got justice. I'd like to thank Helix Chamber for their article on the Taijri Manga, since it allowed me to collect a lot of images I used to source the Capsule Monsters content. Having it all in one place is really helpful. So, this is my first Blog Post for this new thing. I was suggested to do this by a moderator on Helix Chamber, and hopefully this will last more than a week. My first topic will be Venomoth, a Pokemon that has an interesting development history. It was added at Index Number 119 in Pokemon RBYG, so around the middle of development as an evolution to Venonat. So, neither late nor early. So, what's the history? Well, Venomoth has a history of having its design switched around in Pokemon Games. When I say switched around, I mean flipped like a light switch. You see, in earlier iterations of Venomoth, it had some yellow spots on the back of its wings. Early artwork by Ken Sugimori proves this. Hell, it was even released as "Sabrina's Venomoth" when the Gym Heroes Expansion in the TCG dropped, Number 34/134. Now, what does this mean and why is it even important? Well, as we all know, Venomoth did not have this sprite in RBYG. In fact, the sprites were pretty awful. However, we never see this specific art in the game. Unlike with Kakuna, who we see with the arms in Red and Blue International but not in Red JP and Green for some reason. Nobody knows why he has arms, nor why there was so much promotional work showing it, but hey, you do you. Now, this would be where Venomoth's almost meaningless design change ends. However, the Spaceworld Demo has reignited this weird tale, since it actually uses the old design. As you can see, the sprites for RBG do not use the design. Nor does Yellow. Nor does GSC. But, the Spaceworld Demo tells us that not only did they intend to keep the derpy eyes, but it also wanted to keep the back wings from the beta design. It doesn't end there though, since the Back Sprite didn't have the back wing design while the Front Sprite did. The sprite was completely different and clearly quite complete and ready for shipment. Obviously this didn't happen, and the game was rebuilt the following year.
So now the question: what the hell was going on with Venomoth's design? Well, it seems they were torn between making it a moth and making it not a moth. Sadly, the latter won and now Venomoth is barely a moth at all. Nobody really knows why the design changed, nor why they were bringing it back for Generation 2 multiple years later. However, this sprite does pin down some development history dates for the Spaceworld Demo: it quite clearly started development in 1996. Early Planning began in 1995, as we can see that the MissingNo. removed had a relation to the Unused Kotora Line thanks to Helix Chamber's discovery. It can also be pinned down because the game was first revealed on 5th August 1996 in the Corocoro Magazine with a number of reasonably complete Pokemon: it took years for the RBYG Roster to be completed. Venomoth's early design was made in 1996 for Pokemon Red and Green's promotion, so all in all it is quite easy to see when this sprite was made. Thanks, Venomoth! But there is more on Venomoth, specifically with the Pre Evolution Venonat. Some believe that it is meant to be Butterfree's long lost Pre Evolution. Just going to say this is false. You see, Venonat was added very, very early as Index Number 65. It was originally not even going to evolve into or from anything, and it had a very big sprite to prove it. However, Venomoth was added at the aforementioned Index Number 119. That is why it was downsized for RBG. The Butterfree Line was added AFTER both of these Pokemon together. Caterpie is Index Number 123, Metapod is 124, and Butterfree is 125. As a result of this, it is impossible to say Venonat was ever meant to evolve into Butterfree: it was clearly intended to be in the Caterpie line from the very beginning. Thus, the relation between these two lines is purely coincidental. It's a real shame we never got the older design of Venomoth though. It looked really cool, and a lot more like the genus it is based on: Morpho. The spots gave it a bit more character and generally made it more interesting, y'know? Now, if only it got a Bug/Psychic Mega Evolution... |
About meSo I really, really like researching Prototype Pokemon information. That's about it. I also do things on Smogon, I guess. Archives
January 2021
Categories
All
|