Pokemon!...Pink...Version?

[Spikey-Eared Pichu]

Alright, so for those of you who don't know, a couple of months before the Pokemon anime ever aired, the producers of the series decided to swap Ash's partner Pokemon. The Pokemon they chose was Pikachu to replace the original partner, Clefairy.

That's right, Ash's original partner was going to be a Clefairy.

So, I ask, what do you think things would be like if Clefairy wasn't replaced? Would Pokemon Yellow by called Pokemon Pink, or even White? Would Clefairy be a more popular Pokemon? What would the anime be like?

Share your thoughts here (:

 

[Mew~]

Well Clafairy was changed for a reason, so I don't think we would have seen a Pink version either way, and it would have been handled differently in the anime also due to it's personality. Or something along those lines, the anime might not have turned out that popular either for all we know. Maybe even the whole franchise, and we may never have got past gen 2. D:

 

[Spikey-Eared Pichu]

Well, I wouldn't go as far as saying the franchise wouldn't have been as popular. I mean, the games themselves are what make the series popular, not Pikachu :p The anime may not have been as popular, but hey, I'd have liked to see how Ash handled a Clefairy.

To be honest, I think the anime would probably have been a lot more entertaining (Not to say it wasn't. I LOVED the Kanto and Johto arcs, Orange Islands too) if Ash had Clefairy. The constant zapping Pikachu gave Ash kinda lost its novelty after a while, but Clefairy plus Metronome equals random hilarity :D

 

[2Cool4Mewtwo]

Clefairy would've been bit "conflicting" because clefairy is more of a feminine pokemon IMO and it would just be awkward seeing Clefairy and Ash all the time :s

But it's probably just because we're not used to seeing Clefairy much. If it was the other way around I could've said the same about how awkward Pikachu would be with Ash.

 

[Spikey-Eared Pichu]

I agree. I think that it only seems like an outlandish idea because we're so use to Pikachu over Clefairy.

A couple interesting facts to note when comparing the two Pokemon:

+Both belong to the "Fairy" Egg Group
+Clefairy's BS Total is higher than Pikachu's (By 23 points)
+Both Pokemon are 1st stage Pokemon and belong to a full evolutionary family each.
+Both Clefair and Pikachu are evoled forms of baby Pokemon that evolve via friendship.
+Clefairy and Pikachu both evolve into their final forms via evolution stones.
+Raichu's BS Total is only 2 points higher than Clefable's.
+Cleffa's BS Total is higher than Pichu's by 13 points.

 

[blue]

It probally would because Yellow would be irrelivant to Clefairy, heck if that happened 5th gen coulda been Yellow & something, but I'm happy they didn't.

 

[Kenshin5]

To be honest, I think the anime would probably have been a lot more entertaining (Not to say it wasn't. I LOVED the Kanto and Johto arcs, Orange Islands too) if Ash had Clefairy. The constant zapping Pikachu gave Ash kinda lost its novelty after a while, but Clefairy plus Metronome equals random hilarity :D

I personally don't see how it would have increased the entertainment value. And if it is random Metronome you want then there is Togepi. It's funny but even that would get dull after awhile. I'd just stick with the physical comedy of Ash getting electrocuted every now and then.

I'm sure Clefairy popularity would be high as it would have been the feature pokemon. I really can't say how it would be like until that scenario actually came into play, but I would imagine they would have captured all the starters, regional bird, had the same type of set up as usual but with Clefairy at the head.


I think it would have been better if it was Eevee since it has the option to evolve into whatever it wants, and his Eevee and Gary could have developed a rivalry and then carried it on as Espeon and Umbreon.

 

[marcc5m]

Then there'd be tons of "AshXClefairy", because Clefairy is more of a girly Pokemon.
That and there wouldn't be nearly as many fans.

 

[Spikey-Eared Pichu]

Well:

#1. Yellow wouldn't exist and be replaced by a different version with Clefairy as the starter, or they could just have cut it out completely.

#2. As I typed the Metronome part, Togepi crossed my mind ;^_^ But its Metronomes went unnoticed, ya know? Ash & co. just assumed it was some supernatural phenomena.

#3. I'd have LOVED if Eevee was the Pokemon Mascot for that exact reason. Sadly, that isn't the case T_T

#4. AshxCelfairy...Try going to rule#34, typing in AshspacePikachu and get back to me.

#5. That point is solely based on the current fact that Pikachu is generally popular. However, it's up-for-grabs because we don't know how the masses would have responded to Clefairy if Pikachu never stole her spotlight.

 

[Masterge77]

The reason the mascot was changed from Clefairy to Pikachu was because Pikachu can appeal to both gendered audiences while Clefairy only appealed to females, and back then, that was a problem, but imagine having a different Pokemon for the mascot that Pikachu, such as Eevee, we could have had Pokemon Brown Version (no offense to Coolboyman), and since Eevee has more alternate evolutions than any other Pokemon, it would have made the perfect mascot for the franchise.

Although to be fair, there was no female player character in the games at the time, essentially making the games a mostly "boys franchise" as opposed to a "gender neutral franchise" as the Nostalgia Chick calls them, and would not appeal at all to female players unless they are a part of a periphery demographic (like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is to adult males), this is the entire reason a female protagonist was introduced in Crystal, in order to appeal to female video game players, if Clefairy was the mascot, the franchise would have not lasted very long at all.

 

[Guest123_x1]

As others have alluded to, if the producers did have Ash start out with Clefairy, it would cause an unusual situation in which the show would probably appeal to girls more, while the games were (at the time) targeted towards boys. With this in mind, the franchise would never have been as successful as it has actually been. Also, there probably would not be a "third" game (like Yellow, or Pink, as this thread's title suggested) produced in the series, and the franchise would've failed and have been discontinued at that.

 

[assasinn]

https://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Gengar_and_Clefable
This

 

[psyanic]

I wonder if Clefairy would have been more spunky than Pikachu when they meet in Oak's Lab for the first time. That would be entertaining for sure. But, would it even be out of its ball like Pikachu? One things for sure, Pokemon would be way different.

 

[luke]

https://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Gengar_and_Clefable
This

Super interesting link actually. Most of the time these sort of theories are a bunch of crock though. By the way, don't forget to adhere to our four word limit in your posts. A link and one word is not acceptable under this rule.

 

[Mew~]

Well, I wouldn't go as far as saying the franchise wouldn't have been as popular. I mean, the games themselves are what make the series popular, not Pikachu :p The anime may not have been as popular, but hey, I'd have liked to see how Ash handled a Clefairy.

Actually, I disagree - for one, Pikachu is one of the big reasons why the franchise is so popular, and why they picked it as the mascot, who knows what could have happened, since without Pikachu, not a lot of people have have gotten attracted to the series. But yeah, you could say I've been watching too much Doctor Who, but you know what they say, if you change one little thing it time, it could have big consequences for the future. xD

I agree on the handling of Clefairy, it would be interesting, but I don't see it as a relationship the same as with Pikachu, since the writers would handle it differently because Clefairy isn't exactly male material.

 

[pineco-a-go-go]

The reason the mascot was changed from Clefairy to Pikachu was because Pikachu can appeal to both gendered audiences while Clefairy only appealed to females, and back then, that was a problem

I remember the story being that one of the original storyboard artists made a mistake and drew the wrong pokemon onto the pilot storyboard. It was a happy mistake that they liked better than the original plan, so they changed it. That story could have been just a rumor, but I like it all the same. I like to ponder what the show would be like if they had chosen a different pokemon by accident: Something that's about the same size and still cute, like Oddish or Cubone....

And speaking of which, if Clefairy would have appealed only to females, imagine how the show would be characterized if the mascot wore a skull helmet.

 

[Spikey-Eared Pichu]

After reading through the posts I couldn't get to yesterday, I have to say that I see why things are as they are, but now I'm obsessed with the thought of Eevee being the mascot XDD

 

[Guest123_x1]

now I'm obsessed with the thought of Eevee being the mascot XDD

Eevee probably would've made for a good mascot for the Pokémon franchise. It had a branched evolution line from the start and can evolve into any of several different species of several different elemental types (3 at the onset during Generation I).

 

[vaporeon7]

From Bulbapedia
When Veronica Taylor was interviewed in the documentary "Adventures in Voice Acting", she stated that during her audition for the role of Ash, he was known as Casey at the time. This name would later be given to a recurring character from Johto.

Though Casey is a unisex name (I think it is anyway), Ash could've been a girl making Clefairy a more suitable partner. (I don't think I saw anyone else post this o this thread and I apologise if someone has.) I don't think the franchise would be as popular though. After all, it used to be targeted at males.

 

[The Best there was]

I think the show wouldn't of been as great as it is now, they made a good choice swaping them.