Pokémon Developer Says Pikachu’s Scrapped Evolution Unlikely To Be Revisited

Pokémon fans hoping to one day see the Pikachu family receive an additional evolution are setting themselves up for disappointment, it seems.

As part of a dedicated team effort to document the highs and lows of gaming’s most beloved franchise, fans and amateur historians have discovered a wealth of discarded Pokémon concepts that never came to be. The most famous case, of course, was the huge number of scrapped Pokémon discovered on prototype versions of Generation 2’s Gold & Silver way back when, but they’re far from the only potential ‘Mons lost to time.

Last year, series developer Game Freak detailed an evolution it had originally planned to give Raichu that had ultimately been removed due to hardware constraints. In light of that revelation, Twitter group Helix Chamber obtained a series of leaked Generation 1 beta assets that, among other oddities, contained early sprite models for the so-called Gorochu. Thanks to descriptions provided by Game Freak itself, some fans have even come up with their own interpretation of what the ‘Mon may have looked like, one of which you can see below, courtesy of artist Foxeaf (thanks, Dr. Lava).

Given the outward display of love and adoration from fans for Gorochu, you’d think Game Freak would be willing to give the poor sod a second chance, right? Not so, unfortunately. Speaking to GameSpot, series creator Junichi Masuda told the site that “None of the Pokemon that we worked on, got to a point, and then discarded them have actually ever re-appeared yet, so I would say the chances are low.”

On the bright side, Masuda doesn’t outright condemn Goruchu to the cutting room floor, but with Pichu now rounding out Pikachu’s evolution line in recent Pokémon games, such an event is incredibly unlikely. Rest in peace, Gorochu.