Games

All Unreleased Pokemon Seen in the Massive Leak Explained

Published

1 month ago

October 18, 2024

A massive leak has hit Game Freak, revealing an enormity of information about the Pokemon franchise. Nicknamed the ‘Teraleak’, this explosion of information has unveiled, among other things, a smorgasbord of details pertaining to scrapped Pokemon critters.

The Pokemon series’ major leaks have produced a near-endless well of development info for games past and upcoming, detailing unreleased Pokemon, future releases, prototypes, and scrapped character bios. Related to the last category, one scrapped lore story about Typhlosion blew up in particular—its contents akin to the creepypastas about Hypno or Drifloon. Game Freak has since issued a statement about the leaks, stating that, in addition to franchise information, 2,000 pieces of employee information were unfortunately released to the public. Game Freak apologized for the oversight, and has said that it will be contacting affected employees where it can.

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All Scrapped Pokemon Revealed Via Game Freak’s Teraleak

In addition to upcoming and prototype Pokemon being leaked, a good number of scrapped Pokemon have also been discovered. These unused Pokemon have been collected by u/vagrantwade on the r/PokeLeaks Beta Leaks Megathread. In this post, the ‘Gen 3 Prototypes’ spreadsheet doc can be found (originally compiled by The Cutting Room Floor), which shows off all the lost Pokemon that have been unearthed. Most fall into two broad categories: Orange (those likely to have been scrapped before February 2002) and Pink (those likely to have been scrapped after March 2002). Exact dates are extremely fuzzy, so these benchmarks shouldn’t be taken as gospel.

Orange is certainly the largest category out of the unreleased Pokemon found in the leaks. Many of these creatures have names that haven’t undergone the changes most Pokemon receive, chiefly that each name is scarcely deviant from the original Japanese. An example of this in these leaks is the Pokemon Wailmer, shown here to have once been named ‘Hoeruko’.

As with other Pokemon leaks, small details have flown as readily as the big. Many Pokemon listed include developer notes, many of which are evidence as to why these Pokemon were ultimately left behind. The bug-like Bii, purportedly replaced by Wingull, has the note ‘I would change the colours’—which lines up with the switch to Wingull, another flying Pokemon but with a different color scheme. Some Pokemon, such as Sudowoodo and Keromeelo, were deemed too similar to other Pokemon, while others received more lukewarm remarks like Rikugin’s ‘I like the idea, but…’.

Monorabi, a Pokemon that looks like if Eevee was a fire-type, got one of the least flattering critiques, a simple note that reads ‘looks deformed’. Just like other Orange-category Pokemon, all of which purport to be scrapped before February 2002, Monorabi has very few details in its bio—whereas some Pink-category Pokemon have small stories attached.

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Warabitto, The Scrapped Starter Pokemon

Starter Pokemon are among the most iconic for their respective generations, but some get left behind. An example shown in the document is the Pokemon Warabitto, a rabbit-like creature wearing a life preserver who was once destined to be a Gen 3 starter.

Based on the concept art originally depicting Warabitto, fans have been able to piece together that the rabbit was once going to be the Water-type starter. This means that Warabitto was replaced by the beloved Pokemon Mudkip, though it seems that many fans wouldn’t mind Warabitto making a comeback, with the aqueous rabbit fast receiving its share of fanart.

Pink-category critters got further than other Pokemon in the leak, but are unlikely to ever see the light of day. Nonetheless, the fact that these Pokemon got a tad further than those in Orange means that they have more stories to their name. Archeon, for instance, has a number of ‘Undecided’ notes about its traits, namely that ‘its scales have formed into wings’ and that ‘it has not changed its appearance since the age of dinosaurs’. In fact, other notes in its spreadsheet section call it a ‘living fossil’, with feathery scales strong enough to cut iron.

Uulon is another Pokemon with thorough lore, with numerous descriptions of its nomadic nature. Puruun is similar, with a good amount of detailing surrounding its diet and love of flight. Evolotto is an odd case with this, as much of the lore surrounding this canceled Pokemon pertains to its ability to evolve into any Pokemon—a trait almost akin to Ditto’s core abilities. However, its ‘Unconfirmed’ section of notes suggest that it evolves through ‘transformation’ and into ‘various’ different Pokemon, which muddles the true nature of its concept even further.

Still, as with other parts of these Pokemon leaks, some scrapped Pokemon in the Pink category have critiques attached. Some of these are, again, criticisms related to Pokemon that look too much like their peers, such as Otoma’s note ‘I want it to be less similar to Poliwag’. More humorous is Kodomon, who’s labeled with the note ‘Looks like Dragon Quest’, which could refer to its smiling face and wide eyes, which are indeed similar to Dragon Quest’s famous slimes.

The school that you’ve enrolled in as you play Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet hosts a special independent study project. The theme of this assignment is “A Treasure Hunt.” Explore the world and seek out your very own treasure!

Three stories will be woven into your adventure while traversing the sprawling Paldea region. Along Victory Road, you will go to Gyms in different locations in order to to achieve Champion Rank. On the Path of Legends, you can join Arven in search of rare ingredients. And in ★ Starfall Street ★, you’ll challenge Team Star, a group of delinquents causing trouble for the school.

These stories are set in an open world, so where you go is all up to you. A world teeming with Pokémon and people to meet is waiting for you—traverse the Paldea region wherever you heart desires.

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