Cancelled Pokémon Game Could Have Been the Gold and Silver Revival We’d Been Waiting For

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is out today, but fans have already learned about another game that it could have been.

Judging from some of the early reactions to Pokémon Legends: Z-A, it seems that Game Freak has released another decent Pokémon game for fans to enjoy.

At the time of writing, the game has a Metacritic score of 80. Our Sam even called it “a fantastic Pokémon game.”

However, it turns out that the game was originally pitched as a completely different Pokémon sequel, and it would have come at the perfect time had Game Freak gone ahead with it.

The information comes from the “Teraleak” that Game Freak suffered last year, where assets from the Pokémon developer were breached and leaked to the public. The leak included things like source code, concept art, and in-game assets.

It also featured information regarding upcoming Pokémon games, including the original pitch for what Pokémon Legends: Z-A would become.

As shared on the Gaming Leaks and Rumours Reddit page, the game was originally going to be called Pokémon Legends: Ho-Oh and Lugia, and it would have been set in Edo-period Johto as a prequel to Pokémon Gold and Silver.

Judging from the title, it seems that two versions of the game were planned, as is tradition with the main Pokémon series. It was also targeting a 2024 release, which coincided with the 25th anniversary of Gold and Silver.

Other details about the game include it being set in an era where Pokémon trainers do not exist, and that the story would have been about their origins. The protagonist would also have been someone from the modern day who has “fallen through time” into this past era.

It seems that Pokémon fans really want to get this version of the game. After all, the plot sounds pretty cool and unique for a Pokémon game, plus Gold and Silver remains as one of the most popular games in the series, so a connection would have made a lot of sense.

“While I do like this idea, I think they went with modern day kalos and not another game set in the past to establish that Legends games could be anything and not just games set in the past,” wrote one fan in the comments.

“This looks sick. Hope the next Legends game will be similar to this concept,” writes another.

There’s always a chance that Game Freak could revisit the idea in the future. For now, we’ve got Pokémon Legends: Z-A to dig into, as well as a potential new Gen 10 title for Nintendo Switch 2 next year.