Featured Image Credit: The Pokémon Company
Topics: Game Freak, Nintendo, Pokemon, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
Topics: Game Freak, Nintendo, Pokemon, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
The eighth generation of Pokémon games is never going to be remembered as one of the best, as they failed to drive the series forward and essentially only saw developer Game Freak tread water for a bit while they tried to work out what to do next.
One of the major gripes was the relatively uninspiring designs of the new Pokémon that players got to see for the first time back in 2019, but if recent leaks are to be believed, things might have been so much different.
As shared over on Twitter as part of the major Pokémon leaks that recently hit the internet, Generation 8 was originally supposed to be themed around the prehistoric and they had some pretty cool ideas that were eventually scrapped.
"There were 3 types of Pokémon in the Pokédex," the Centro LEAKS profile shared with fans. "Cenozoic Era - Easy to understand cuteness and coolness that would appeal to modern people. Popular even as pets. Mesozoic Era -Weird Pokémon. Jokes/gags, indigenous/local, and regional colors/characteristics emerge. Paleozoic Era - Passed down through myths and legends. Ancient times. Wonder/Awe. Mystery/Mysticism."
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As you might expect, that potential future has gone down really poorly with fans who would have much preferred that reality, with the responses full of positive comments about the design ethos.
"You’re telling me they had this planned and they gave us the f***ing United Kingdom instead," one response read.
"Not just dinosaurs, but Paleozoic stuff too?? Damn man, that've been so cool. At least we got past paradoxes I guess," another added.
A third said, "That would have been fantastic. I hate when really fun ideas don't get used."
"The last Pokémon games stole my (totally original) prehistoric versions of Pokémon fangame idea i had a good few years ago (i still like the Pokemon: Ancient Days concept even if ill never actually do anything with it) and now they were going to make a full game and scrapped it?" another tongue-in-cheek comment added.
Whatever side of the fence you sit on, it's difficult to deny that prehistoric versions of the Pokémon we know and love would have been a very cool thing to see.
Though we did get a stripped back version of this in the following generation, a fully realised version of that would have been on an entirely different level, so hopefully it's an idea they return to in a future release.