Pokémon Red and Green beta

As with most gaming software, Pokémon Red and Green, in their final release, contain several "dummied out" features that were programmed into the games but for one reason or another had their activating events taken from the final versions.

In addition, the English translations of these games, Pokémon Red and Blue, had several of their own altered aspects during the two years between the Japanese release of the Japanese Blue and the English translations.

Prototype names

During the promotional period that preceded the English release of both the anime and games, some Pokémon were shown with different names than they had in the games at release. These names varied from being slightly off from their current names, to being closer to their Japanese names, to being totally different from any current Pokémon name.

#		Final name	Beta name	Japanese name
014		Kakuna	Kokoon	Cocoon
016		Pidgey	Pidge	Poppo
019		Rattata	Rattatak	Koratta
023		Ekans	Arbo	Arbo
028		Sandslash	Sandstorm	Sandpan
035		Clefairy	Aria	Pippi
036		Clefable	Ariala	Pixy
037		Vulpix	Foxfire	Rokon
046		Paras	Parasyte	Paras
050		Diglett	Digda	Digda
058		Growlithe	Flamie	Gardie
059		Arcanine	Blaze	Windie
063		Abra	Hocus	Casey
064		Kadabra	Pocus	Yungerer
066		Machop	Kara-tee	Wanriky
067		Machoke	Kung-foo	Goriky
068		Machamp	Ju-doh	Kairiky
072		Tentacool	Jilly	Menokurage
073		Tentacruel	Man O War	Dokukurage
078		Rapidash	Gallop	Gallop
079		Slowpoke	Slowmo	Yadon
081		Magnemite	Coil	Coil
082		Magneton	Recoil	Rarecoil
084		Doduo	Dodo	Dodo
087		Dewgong	Manaty	Jugon
092		Gastly	Spirit	Ghos
093		Haunter	Spectre	Ghost
094		Gengar	Phantom	Gangar
104		Cubone	Orphon	Karakara
105		Marowak	Guardia	Garagara
108		Lickitung	Tonguetyd	Beroringa
109		Koffing	Ny	Dogars
110		Weezing	La	Matadogas
113		Chansey	Lucky	Lucky
114		Tangela	Meduza	Monjara
118		Goldeen	Goldy	Tosakinto
119		Seaking	Neptune	Azumao
123		Scyther	Stryke	Strike
130		Gyarados	Skulkraken	Gyarados
131		Lapras	Ness	Laplace
133		Eevee	Eon	Eievui
138		Omanyte	Ess	Omnite
139		Omastar	Kargo	Omstar
140		Kabuto	Att	Kabuto
141		Kabutops	Lantis	Kabutops
142		Aerodactyl	Ptera	Ptera
147		Dratini	Dragoon	Miniryu
148		Dragonair	Dragyn	Hakuryu

Battling against Professor Oak

At the beginning of the game, Professor Oak introduces the player to the world of Pokémon. However, he also has a full team of Pokémon programmed into the game, consisting of a Tauros, Exeggutor, Arcanine, Gyarados, and one of the final forms of the Kanto starter Pokémon (depending on the player's starter).

Oak's Pokémon are of an even higher level than those of Blue as Champion, perhaps implying that he was at one point intended to be faced after the defeat of the Elite Four.

This battle can be activated through the Mew Glitch with a special stat of 226 or by use of a GameShark code, and remains in place in Pokémon Yellow.

"The Misty" would like to fight

Before the U.S. release of Red and Blue, screenshots were released of a rival battle with the text "The BLUE wants to fight!". While this text would work with a typical Trainer, such as "The Lass" or "The Hiker", as they were not given personal names until Generation II, it would cause problems with Gym Leader, Elite Four, rival, and game link battles, leaving them to end up as "The Misty" or "The Lance" (as these Trainers did not at the time have titles, only their names). Perhaps because of the latter example, which implies the player is fighting against a pole-like weapon, the "the" was dropped in the final version of the game, leading to the somewhat odd sentence style used until Generation IV of "Trainer wants to fight!"

A screenshot in the instruction manual of Pokémon Red and Blue still contains the text "The BROCK wants to fight!".

Unused Trainer classes

An unused Trainer class known as "Chief" was omitted from the final game, though like Oak, a battle with an NPC with this data can be accessed through cheating.

The Trainer class is mentioned in-game by a Team Rocket Grunt in Celadon City, and shares its battle sprite with the Scientist Trainer class.

Female player character

Artwork featuring an assumed female player character, with a Squirtle

There were originally plans for a female character to be playable in Red and Green, as older sketches suggest. Green from Pokémon Adventures seems to be based on her. The character was redesigned and included in the remakes of the game, to continue the standard of including a female protagonist option.

Bird-type

The Bird-type may have been a prototype version of Flying-type. This can be seen in the final version of the game: Missingno., the infamous glitch, is part Bird-type. The Bird-type is present in the Generation II games' programming; this is unsurprising, since the game engine for Gold and Silver is based on that of the Generation I games.

Badges

Unused items with the names of all the badges exist in the game's coding. This could mean that the badges were originally going to be items that were carried in the player's bag. The Boulder Badge and Cascade Badge are the only ones that do something when used in battle - they allow the player to throw bait and rocks, respectively, as in the Safari Zone battles. When used outside of battle, they have another strange effect - after the throwing animation, the music changes to a strange, unused tune not heard anywhere else.

Surfboard

There is an item in the game that enables the user to Surf without using a Pokémon. This may mean that the move Surf was not implemented as an attack originally, or that the HMs did not initially exist. However, the Surfboard may instead have been a prototype object for testers to advance quickly through the game and access Cinnabar Island without breaking the game's own programming.

Battling with no Pokémon

In Pokémon Yellow, data exists for a battle situation when the Trainer has no Pokémon. In this case, selecting any option other than "Run" shows the message "Hurry, get away!". This may have been a prototype for the initial battle with the wild Pikachu at the start of the game (as the player has no Pokémon at that point) or as a further reference to the anime against a wild Spearow with Pikachu unable to battle.

Concept art

The early concept art by Ken Sugimori

In June 2006, early concept art of Red and Green by Ken Sugimori was uploaded on Pokémon France's official website. The concept art depicts rough versions of various concepts that made it into the final game. They seem to include various battles, the Safari Zone, Red riding on a Lapras, a Blastoise, Celadon City, Silph Co., and a town with a fountain which could have been reworked into Celadon City. Some other Pokémon are identifiable in a raw or semi-normal form, such as Gastly and others are prototypical of an entire class of Pokémon, such as a basic Dragon-type.

References

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