Originally announced in 1997 as Pocket Monsters 2: Gold and Silver, Pokémon Gold and Silver went through extensive amounts of changes during development, with more known changes than subsequent titles. Most famously, when shown off at Space World 1997 it was almost a completely different title, with different starter Pokémon and dozens of removed Pokémon.
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Space World Demo
- Pokémon that received redesigns during development:
- Hoppip had a darker body, no arms, and no legs.
- Girafarig's backside was originally another giraffe, which connected Girafarig to its scrapped pre-evolution that were two ghosts conjoined together (later designs of this Pokémon seperated the two ghosts). This version of Girafarig was also a Dark/Normal type, reflecting its nature as two twins conjoined together.
- Bellossom was originally dark blue, not light green. This can be seen in early official art.
- Ampharos was originally completely yellow-and-black. It also has a shorter neck and only two neck rings.
- Ledian originally had star-shaped patterns on its body, which explains its category as the "five-star Pokémon".
- Phanpy's original design had pointier ears, a longer trunk, and different patterns on its body. At one point after the Spaceworld demo, the artists toyed with giving Phanpy more similarities to its evolution by giving it plate armor around its body.
- Sunflora originally had no legs. Instead, it was rooted into the ground.
- Ariados had a different back pattern. Its eyes would be beady with a darker colored head and normal six spider legs.
- Politoed originally didn't have the swirl on its head, its stomach pattern resembled the others in its line, and it had more frog-like limbs.
- Miltank originally had a circle on its head, not a triangle.
- Blissey didn't originally have an egg or a pouch. It had shorter limbs and a heart pattern on its head.
- Delibird originally wore a Santa-like hat.
- Remoraid and Octillery were originally going to have more weapon/military-style features.
- Rai, En, and Sui were much more dog-like versions of the Legendary Beasts.
- Porygon2 was originally based on a lion
◊, looking nothing like its final design or even the original Porygon — more than anything, it had a striking resemblance to Gen III's Castform Sun Form, or Mister Donut's Pon de Lion mascot, both of which it predates.
- Evolution-related changes:
- The 1997 demo shows that precursors to Mime Jr., Lickilicky, Tangrowth, and Leafeon were planned for Generation 2, but weren't added until almost ten years later in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
- Farfetch’d was also going to get an evolution named “Madame”. Pokémon Sword and Shield would give Farfetch’d a regional form with an evolution, Sirfetch’d, though Game Freak confirmed Sirfetch’d was just a coincidence. Qwilfish was going to get an evolution that was also scrapped, but like Farfetch’d, Qwilfish would get a regional form with an evolution in Pokémon Legends: Arceus in the form of Overquil.
- Vulpix, Tangela, Meowth, Ponyta, Goldeen, Paras, Doduo, Grimer, Growlithe, and Girafarig were originally meant to have pre-evolutions. Vulpix's pre-evolution Mikon having three white-tipped tails is a reference to how Pokédexes mention that Vulpix are born with one tail. Pre-evolutions for Vulpix, Meowth, Ponyta, and Goldeen were originally meant to be added in Gen I. Girafarig's was a pair of conjoined ghosts (later ghost twins) that were later reworked into Wobuffet. Girafarig was also briefly considered for an evolution, which was scrapped quickly, although it later gained an evolution years later in the form of Farigiraf.
- Baby Pokémon were all meant to evolve at Level 12. They were also more simplistic-looking, with Pichu being little more than a blob with ears and limbs and Cleffa not having its Tuft of Head Fur.
- Wooper was quadruped and looked closer to Mudkip's design, suggesting its beta design inspired the latter. A quadrupedal member of the family would be introduced years later as Clodsire.
- Pinsir and Ditto were also originally going to get new evolutions. Pinsir's evolution being Scizor's counterpart: it evolved via trading (at one point with a Metal Coat), was a Bug/Steel-type, and used the same BST as it's pre-evolution but with different stat distribution. It was likely scrapped due being too similar to Scizor and was later reworked into Heracross.
- Politoed, Xatu, and Espeon were supposed to evolve using the Heart Stone.
- Umbreon, Gloom, and Weepinbell's branch evolution was originally supposed to evolve from the Poison Stone.
- Instead of being a split evolution of Slowpoke, Slowking was supposed to be an evolution of Slowbro.
- Snubbull was originally female-only and had no evolution.
- Cut Pokémon:
- There was going to be an Electric-type tiger Pokémon named Kotora and its evolution Raitora, both of which were previously considered for the Gen I games, as well as shark Pokémon Ikari, which had an anchor for a tail.
- Rinrin and Berurun were two Dark-type black cat Pokémon that were cut. They had bells on them.
- The weird-looking Shellder on Slowbro's tail was originally its own Pokémon called Turbann.
- There was supposed to be a wolf-based Pokémon called Urufuman and its evolution Waaurufu. They would have been the franchise's first pure Ice-types if implemented.
- There was going to be a voodoo doll Pokémon named Norowara, which evolved into a Chinese Vampire panda named Kyonpan.
- Another cut Pokémon was Bomushika, a Water and Fire-type sea lion who balanced a fireball on its nose. The series wouldn't get an official Pokémon of this typing until Gen 6's Volcanion.
- Lugia did not exist at this point, and Ho-Oh appeared on the title screen of the demos of both Gold and Silver, suggesting that this one was going to be the cover mascot for both versions. Lugia was actually designed specifically for Pokémon 2000 by anime showrunner Takeshi Shudō (the only Pokémon that he designed, in fact), and was incorporated into the games after becoming hugely popular among filmgoers. Something similar would later happen with Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, which had both versions share the same game mascot.
- A 1997 playable Space World demo showed off the original three starters. Instead of the Cyndaquil line, the Fire starters were a bear-themed Pokémon line called Honoguma, Volbear, and Dynabear, while the Water-type starters were Kurusu, Aqua, and Aquaria, seal-looking Cartoon Creatures instead of Totodile. Happa was a very early version of Chikorita with a less refined design. Chikorita's third evolution stayed the same, but its middle evolution was a tiny Cartoon Creature in the middle of a flower called Hanamogura, which may have been a remnant of a different Grass starter line altogether. Honoguma was eventually reworked into Teddiursa.
- The 1997 Space World demo featured completely different starters (the above-mentioned ones), different Japanese names for the Pokémon, and a vastly different overworld. It also had the starting town as named "Silent Hills". Some of the original names were: "Elebaby" for Elekid, "Pukuu" for Harisen (Qwilfish), "Sunny" for Kimawari (Sunflora), "Painter" for Doble (Smeargle), and "Yoroidori" for Airmd (Skarmory).
- Internal data for the Space World 1997 demo shows that numerous Pokémon received type changes in development. Some examples: Umbreon was a Poison-type, Smoochum was pure Ice, Ho-Oh was pure Flying, Sneasel was pure Dark, and Scizor was Bug/Flying.
- The map in the 1997 demo is significantly more expansive than Johto or Kanto (although not as big as the two regions combined) and had a much larger scale, being based on the entire Japanese archipelago instead of just the Kansai, Chubu and Kanto regions. There are even cities based on Kyushu (Hoenn) and Hokkaido (Sinnoh). Kanto is already present, but it's more cut down than in the final game, being reduced to just one large map with a vaguely similar layout and a few notable landmarks (Pallet Town, the department store, the Silph Co. building, Mt. Moon, the Pokémon Tower, etc). It would have worked as a city (the last one visited before traveling to the Pokémon League, if its position on the world map is any indication), and Red (possibly named "Blue" here; not to be confused with the Gen I rival, who went by "Green") would have served as its Gym Leader.note
- According to the 1997 demo, Silver had a different role and personality. Silver lives in your hometown with his mother and has been your rival since infancy. He has a much more energetic and easygoing attitude, ultimately being more similar to Blue than his more serious and cynical finalized version.
- Blue was supposed to appear at the start of the game, saving you from wild Pokémon. It's mentioned that he began his journey a year ago, not three years ago like in the final game. It's also revealed that his loss to Red led to him adopting a significantly more humble and aloof personality than in the final game and becoming Professor Oak's assistant. Curiously, his anime counterpart would undergo a similar development by the end of the Johto saga, becoming a Pokémon researcher after losing to Ash.
- The 1997 demo features older intentions for the Gym Leaders and Elite Four:
- Falkner had a more samurai-inspired design with a headband and a bird Pokémon on his shoulder.
- Bugsy was older and resembled a showman.
- Morty's original name was "Enoki". He had a more generic-looking design with a simple short haircut, black shirt, and pale pants.
- Jasmine's original design featured a dress with a large bow, a different hairstyle, and hair ribbons.
- Chuck, Pryce, and Clair aren't in the demo.
- The demo features two cut Gym Leaders named Gama (which may have been a prototype of Clair) and Okera (who is thought to be a prototype of Pryce, due to several leaked files referring to him as Okeranote ). Both respectively use the Gen I Camper and Super Nerd sprites as placeholders.
- Red was a gym leader and was called "Blue".
- The Elite 4 may have consisted of Misty, Bruno, Lorelei, and Giovanni, though it is difficult to tell for certain as Giovanni's sprites also appear in data for the Radio Tower invasion, even though he is also listed as a member.
- There were several Trainer Class differences between the 1997 demo and the final game:
- There were cut Trainer Classes called the "Fledgling"note , "Trio", "Manchild", "Sportsman", "Kung Fu Master", "Fortune Teller", "Hooligan", "Soldier", "Prodigy"note , and "Geruge Member"note .
- Cooltrainers are sporting whips similarly to their designs in Generation 1.
- Teachers weren't female-only.
- The Engineers from Generation 1 were meant to reappear.
- There's an overworld sprite of a Japanese Delinquent with a pompadour and gakuran uniform (possibly intended for the aforementioned Hooligan class), predating the introduction of the classes Street Thug and Delinquent in Generation VI.
- There were various removed items and items whose names were changed in development. Cut items include "Strange Thread" (which raises evasion), "Black Feather" (which acts like Sharp Beak), "Jiggling Balloon" (which weakens Normal-type moves), "Flee Feather" (which works like the Smoke Ball), "Stick" (which acts like the Silk Scarf), and "Gross Garbage" (which weakens Poison-type moves). Renamed items include the "Power Brace" (Black Belt), "Talisman Tag" (Cleanse Tag), and "Ice Fang" (Never-Melt Ice).
- There's leftover code that allowed the player to name their mother. According to the Space World 1997 demo, Silver asks you what you call her (with the default being "Mama"), and then laughs at you for calling her something so childish.
- The Steel type was originally Metal, and had practically nothing to do with the one we know. It was weak to Water and Electric (which merely resist Steel-type attacks now), resisted Poison (instead of being immune), Fighting (instead of being weak) and Rock (the only interaction that was kept), and was notably immune to itself (whereas it's now a resistance).
- Other miscellaneous changes to the type chart: Electric initially resisting Water, and Ghost being neutral to itself at first (instead of weak).
- Scary Face originally lowered Defense, not Speed.
- The "Impostor Oak" seen in the trading card game was a cut character. The anime utilized a similar concept when James from Team Rocket dressed as Professor Oak in a Johto episode and a Sinnoh episode.
- Agatha was meant to reappear as a NPC living in Blue Forest.
- Misty and Giovanni would have appeared as NPC trainers, and their position in the trainer list suggests they would have been Elite Four members, although it's known that Giovanni would have been involved with the Team Rocket section in the Radio Tower. (Humorously enough, there's a good slew of fanfics, many being Pokeshipping fanfics (fanfics that ship Ash with Misty), that make a Development Gag by making Misty become an Elite Four member in the fic.)
- When you look at the protagonist's TV in their house, it's shown that he's watching the episode "Primeape Goes Bananas!" from the anime:A Primeape is rampaging...Ash is running away!It's the POKEMON anime!
- It's a plot point that Professor Oak has mysteriously disappeared from Kanto, with speculation being that be moved away. It turns out that he's moved to the player's town of Silent Hills.
- Daisy has a bigger role. She appears at the start of the game, where she helps her grandfather out as an aide, and gives the protagonist his Bag. This one of the scrapped concepts that carried over to Pokémon Adventures, where she became Oak's aide.
- There are several cut minigames, including poker and Picross. The card matching game is Dummied Out in the final version.
Pokémon Gold and Silver
- The games were originally developed for the original Game Boy, with Super Game Boy compatibility in the same vein as the originals, and was slated for release at the end of 1997. However, the game ended up being delayed to 1999, allowing Game Freak to take advantage of the then-new Game Boy Color, making GS a GBC-enhanced game and Crystal a GBC-exclusive.
- The games had their Safari Zone moved - players have hacked an 'unused Safari Zone' in another area of the games that has grass but no wild Pokémon present.
- The game contains unused interior maps for a location called "Haunted House", as evidenced by an unused location name in the Japanese ROM. The maps resemble Team Rocket's Hideout, and the leaked source code suggests it would have taken the place of the Week Siblings' house on Route 26. The idea may have been revisited with the Old Chateau in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, much like the Sweet Honey talked about below.
- Dummied Out data implies that the Lake of Rage originally had its own town, complete with a gym.
- Updated maps for Cinnabar Island's Pokémon Lab are in the data (though they have no event data and some incorrect tiles), indicating that the island was originally going to return unchanged. Similarly, palette and map data (but no block data) for the Pewter Museum exist.
- A lot of early pre-release material discuss an ultimately cut skateboard item that could used to get to areas that couldn't be accessed with the bike. Gold from Pokémon Adventures uses a skateboard as either a Development Gag or an Early Draft Tie-In issue.
- An image from the magazine "MicroGroup Game Review" shows unused designs for two Pokémon: a turtle that resembles Tirtouga and what can only be described as a Hitmontop and Clefairy hybrid (with elements of the later Pokémon Spoink). It also shows that Tyranitar's normal coloration was going to be brown instead of green.
- The Honey Tree mechanic that debuted in Diamond and Pearl was originally intended to appear in Gold and Silver.
- Very early info mentioned that the protagonist had a brother three years his senior that gave him a hand-me-down computer that he likes to tinker with. In the final versions of Gold and Silver, the protagonist is an only child and just as much of a Blank Slate as their fellow Pokémon heroes, and computers aren't important to their characterization at all. Contrary to popular belief, the brother was not Red, as uneducated translations had assumed. The Spaceworld demo calls him "Ken", and he may or may not have ended up in the final game as Nick from the Bug-Catching Contest. His dialogue was given to Mom in the final product.
- Satoshi Tajiri mentioned several unused plot details in an early 1997 interview. He said that the story starts when the protagonist learns of a boy in Kanto who completed his Pokédex, implying that Red was an important character and that the story took place directly after the original games. The Spaceworld demo confirms this by showing that the original Kanto games only took place a year ago. Satoshi also implied that Giovanni would return (with the Spaceworld demo featuring him in the Radio Tower event, and possibly as an Elite 4 member), when in the final product he is absent and he didn't return until an event for the remake.
- Imakuni would have appeared as a DJ with his own radio program. He was eventually replaced by DJ Mary.
- There was going to be following Pokémon, which would eventually be implemented in the remakes.
- Ledyba originally had blue limbs, a black stomach, and an angrier expression.
- Concept art shows that Marill was originally pink, thinner, had smaller ears, and didn't have a zigzag tail.
- Cyndaquil was originally a (possibly single stage) Pokémon who was at one point named "Igurū", a corruption of the English word "Igloo". Instead of fire on its back, it had sets of large spikes (possibly icicles).
- There was a cut Delivery Stork Pokémon.
- There was a cut evolution between Natu and Xatu.
- Shuckle was originally the first evolution in a two-stage evolutionary line, having significantly weaker stats along with being Rock/Ground. Once its evolution was scrapped, Shuckle's defenses were dramatically buffed and it became Bug/Rock.
- As an inverse, Pineco was originally a single-stage Grass type whose stats were nerfed once it received an evolution.
- Concept art◊ for Whitney seems to suggest that her original design was that of a baseball loving Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak before being changed into a ditzy Genki Girl. Her orginal outfit◊ even looks like a baseball uniform (albeit with shorts in place of pants).
- Sneasel underwent several design revisions during the development of Gold and Silver, which can each be seen in this tweet. Notably, Sneasel did actually resemble a weasel during much of Gen 2's development, before being turned into a cat-like Pokémon for its final design.
- The Johto region itself went under many changes:
- Originally there were two towns between Violet City and Goldenrod City, based on the cities of Shingu and Arida in Wakayama Prefecture. Both of them were later merged into Azalea Town.
- There also no Cianwood City — the sea routes beyond Olivine City would instead go south and then east, connecting to Goldenrod City.
- Cherrygrove City was originally much larger, looking far more like an actual city.
- The internal trainer class list suggests that the order of the Gym Leaders was different: Whitney was 2nd, Bugsy was 3rd, Pryce was 5th, and Chuck was 7th. Whitney and Bugsy later swapped places, as did Pryce and Chuck.
Pokémon Crystal
- Crystal was originally going to have Super Game Boy capabilities. At some point in development, they decided to make it GBC-exclusive, instead.
- Game Freak has posted a unused character design for Kris, however the screencap is unusually small and details are hard to make out. Kris still had pigtails but they were styled differently and her hair seemed to be black, not blue. The screencap also seems to imply that Kris was intended as a female option in Gold and Silver.
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
- An unused PokéGear icon that depicts Kris can be found in the data, implying she was originally going to be the female player character before being replaced by Lyra.
- According to Shōko Nakagawa's autobiography, Spiky-eared Pichu was supposed to be distinct from other Pichu by being white in color instead.
- The Sun and Moon source code leak includes a list of all games released up to that point. Interestingly, HeartGold and SoulSilver are listed immediately after FireRed and LeafGreen, but before Diamond and Pearl, implying they might've been planned to be released first. In addition, there's an empty slot immediately after them, implying a separate Crystal remake might have been planned (the final versions of the games have all the added Crystal content except the new encounter tables built in).
