With the rate that The Pokemon Company and related studios are going, Pokemon will become an immortal franchise. While the days of seeing an actual pocket monster pal roaming the streets exist in an alternate reality or perhaps in the far future, there’s a lot of mysteries and hard work to go into the design and execution of each generation. This also happens to include rejected Pokemon designs.

Thanks to a feature on Japanese television channel NHK, Pokemon revealed a variety of rejected Pokemon designs from the first generation. While some of them are simply early versions of the final product, others weren’t so lucky to make it to the final stages of becoming a collectible fighting companion. A few creatures that eventually made it on to become classic Pokemon include Tentacruel, Gyarados, Ghastly, and what looks to be Arcanine. While the final designs look vastly different from these, there are a few similarities to pick out. See below:

初公開ポケモン資料 #nhk pic.twitter.com/XpFwYyb8sC

— べにすん?やなぎなぎライブ参戦します (@benisboy) December 18, 2018

There’s also Lapras, Scyther, Blastoise, Starmie, Tangela, and Cloyster. While a few of the rejected first generation Pokemon designs look relatively close to the ones seen in the games, Scyther looks like the one with the biggest transformative process. Initially, it looked like a smooth dinosaur baby with sharp appendages for arms. Now he just looks like a giant bug with a smooth, green shell of a body and blades for hands. We’re okay with that.

What do you think about these rare design reveals from the first generation of Pokemon? Do you think a few of them should have made it through the final stages or are you blessing Nintendo for leaving them in the dust? Let us know what you think in the comments section below or start a conversation on DFTG Facebook page. To stay up to date on gaming news as it happens, follow us on Twitter! Here’s some of our latest to catch up on:

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