The above image is rare concept art made for the first pokemon game. Concept art like this is to, well, figure out what the game's going to look like! On the left are small thumbnails with simple designs, because this is a gameboy game so they can only do so much with the graphics.

Despite the limitations of the gameboy though, the concept art on the right is still detailed, to get the feeling and idea of Pokemon fleshed out.

You can see some pokemon designs that are familiar, yet a little different.
At the top right is a turtle battling a starfish, the makings of wartortle and staryu. We can also see a lapras looking monster being ridden on (surf!), but the horn is in a different place.

Beneath them we see a giant gas monster fighting some kind of shelled pokemon. That monster would eventually become ghastly.

Here's ghastly as he appeared in the very first pokemon game.



Ghastly, in the latest pokemon game. Notice that his gasceous body has been given a solid core. Concepts can develope even after the game's been published.


The giant gas bodied pokemon idea wasnt' completely abandoned though, as we can see in...


Spiritomb! The concept of ghastly from the very beginning of pokemon, one that was abandoned in later versions, comes back as a totally new pokemon!



Always keep your artwork. Even if you think it's awful, that's good, understand what you don't like about it so you can improve it. Don't throw out the old version of an updated design either, maybe when you go back to it you can use it in a new way!

Mega Pokemon Thread

Boy, a lot of the students really really love their pokemon, that's the main question I get.

Finishing up with Tuesday's session, I was sitting on a bench, eating some blueberries. Two guys in the bench across from mine, chatting to pass the time, comment on the birds "pidgy... pidgeotto"

Pokemon is really part of the fabric of American reality now.

It's something I've stewed in my head, there seems to be a theme that each pokemon generation follows. This is based heavily on the antagonist team (Rocket, etc.) and legendary pokemon (Mewtwo, Groudon, etc.) and other details.

The themes are the sources of human conflict: weapons, territory, and energy.

First, the original generation of Red, Green, n' Blue that began it all, the main badguys:

Team Rocket

Their motto: "Steal Pokémon for profit. Exploit Pokémon for profit. All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket." They view pokemon as tools to be exploited and used. The player encounters them in their various schemes, and is even offered membership, as above all else they prize strength.

Their greatest scheme though is the genetic engineering of a new, powerful pokemon. This is possible through extracting DNA from the fossilized eyelash of the legendary pokemon Mew. The DNA of Mew contains the genetic code of all pokemon. When it falls under human hands, it is used to create the ultimate weapon, Mewtwo.

Team Rocket was unable to control their creation though, Mewtwo destroyed its creators and fled into the wilderness. He is described as a vicious pokemon that lives only to fight.

*Interestingly, Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket is ultimately an honorable man. As he and his organization prize strength above all else, after his defeat at the hands of the player, Giovanni steps down, stating that his weakness betrays the trust his men had placed in their leader. He leaves to train and become stronger.

There are also references to pokemon used in warfare and conflict.

Lt. Surge, a soldier, references that his electric pokemon paralyzed his enemies in a previous war.

Koga is a gym leader and a ninja. His poison pokemon use is inhereted from a long tradition of his ninja clan.