"Don't worry, I have Generation X all planned out!"

[Oryx]

Planning Ahead and Pokemon

Ho-oh, as seen in EP001: Pokemon, I Choose You!​

We all know that some Pokemon are planned from the beginning, for example Ho-Oh being shown in the very first episode of the anime, proving that at least that one was planned way in advance of the games. But how far in advance do you think they plan most Pokemon? Did they have all the generations planned out before Red and Green in Japan, or do you think the Pokemon are slapped together the day before the game is sent out to be released, or something in between?

Do you think that most Pokemon are planned as the game is developed, or beforehand?
Are there any Pokemon that you believe were planned way in advance (i.e. Munna due to the R/B trainer)?
What about Pokemon that were planned at the last minute? Do you think there are many of those? For this question, try to keep in mind that this isn't a "does this design look slapped together" question, otherwise 90% of you will answer "Garbodor looks terrible", etc.

 

[infersaime]

Do you think that most Pokemon are planned as the game is developed, or beforehand?
I think that most pokemon are beforehand made.
Are there any Pokemon that you believe were planned way in advance (i.e. Munna due to the R/B trainer)?
I think but I don't know which
What about Pokemon that were planned at the last minute? Do you think there are many of those?
A lot of pokemon are last minute.

 

[Pyrax]

Do you think that most Pokemon are planned as the game is developed, or beforehand?
I believe that the pokémon are planned before the game is developed, considering that Fraxure was apparently the "homework" of some GameFreak employee. There's also a bunch of stuff to think about, like a beta pokémon's type, evolutionary family, etc.

Are there any Pokemon that you believe were planned way in advance (i.e. Munna due to the R/B trainer)?
Does Shellos and Gastrodon count? They were intended to be in R/S instead of D/P.

 

[~*!*~Tatsujin Gosuto~*!*~]

Do you think that most Pokemon are planned as the game is developed, or beforehand?
It could be a little bit of both like for example, Ho-oh was developed but I do not believe that he was completed

Are there any Pokemon that you believe were planned way in advance (i.e. Munna due to the R/B trainer)?
Ever since I heard of the Munna story I believe so and ho-oh appearing in the first episode of Pokemon

What about Pokemon that were planned at the last minute? Do you think there are many of those
By looking at certain Pokemon designs, I believe so lol


:t354:TG

 

[Yoshikkko]

Do you think that most Pokemon are planned as the game is developed, or beforehand?
I think that definitely the biggest part of the Pokémon are planned beforehand but not fully completed yet, and as they develop the game, they touch them up and I think by doing so, maybe get new ideas for other Pokémon.

Are there any Pokemon that you believe were planned way in advance (i.e. Munna due to the R/B trainer)?
I know about Shellos/Gastrodon, that were meant for the 3rd gen, instead of the 4th gen, and that Throh and Sawk were meant for 4th gen, and of course Ho-Oh. As for Pokémon being created way in advance - I think so, yes, because when you are creating something, all kinds of ideas pop up into your head. Though with productions like Pokémon, there is a limit to how many details there can be on a Pokémon, and how many Pokémon there can be, so those ideas couldn't be used at that moment. I think that all those ideas that the designers get in the progress, are maybe made note of, and that they keep that in the back of their minds for a next gen.

What about Pokemon that were planned at the last minute? Do you think there are many of those?
I think that especially with the 4th and 5th gen, there were a lot of Pokémon designed last minute. You said not to judge by the designs, but most of the designs seem uninspired to me, and that they weren't thought of enough. Designing a Pokémon last minute, could be the reason for that, because then you are rushed because the dead-line is coming soon.

And I think that a very big part of the 2nd gen was already planned when they were making the 1st gen.

 

[AtomicRebirth]

-Do you think that most Pokemon are planned as the game is developed, or beforehand?
Likely beforehand. I can definitely see Gamefreak working on several games simultaneously. I wouldn't be surprised if Gen V pokemon were being designed when Diamond and Pearl were released, or even before that.

-Are there any Pokemon that you believe were planned way in advance (i.e. Munna due to the R/B trainer)?
In advance, yes. But not that far. Like I said in the last question, I think they're probably developed maybe one to two generations in advance, but that's the earliest I can imagine. I believe this whole Munna thing to be a complete coincidence. I mean, what reason does Gamefreak have to come up with a pokemon while develpoing Red and Blue and then not release it for over ten years? It's not some big conspiracy people, it's just coincidence.

-What about Pokemon that were planned at the last minute? Do you think there are many of those?
It's entirely possible. Games are going through changes and updates all the way through development, right up until the end. I honestly would not be surprised if some of our favorites were cobbled together just weeks before the game's release.

 

[smurf]

i think that the pokemon are made be4 hand some of them maybe slapped together weeks be4 but most are be4 hand.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Do you think that most Pokemon are planned as the game is developed, or beforehand?: I think that the next generation Pokemon are planned out as the current generation passes.
Are there any Pokemon that you believe were planned way in advance (i.e. Munna due to the R/B [COLOR=blue !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=blue !important][FONT=inherit !important]trainer[/COLOR][/COLOR])?[/FONT][/FONT]: I think so, because of the aforementioned example.
What about Pokemon that were planned at the last minute? Do you think there are many of those?: I don't think there are too many Pokemon that were planned at the last minute.

 

[Yoshikkko]

I should add though, about Ho-Oh - in Japan, the first games were released in 1996, and the anime aired first in 1997. During that time, they probably already started developing the 2nd gen, so it's actually not that strange that Ho-Oh appeared in the first episode, since the anime was released a year later than the game. G/S got released in 1999 though, so they did plan the Pokémon 2 years ahead

 

[Pekin]

I definitely believe that many Pokémon are thought of way before they are introduced in any game. Many of them are probably loose ideas for a long time, and then during development, their design is completed. I mean, I come up with ideas for Pokémon all the time, heck, I could've introduced about 23 generations, each with a complete Pokédex of at least 150 Pokémon. So yeah, I believe that there are many ideas for different Pokémon way before they are introduced. Some of them might also be last-minute-work, sure, if someone happened to come up with an awesome idea at the last minute.

 

[psyanic]

Do you think that most Pokemon are planned as the game is developed, or beforehand?
A lot of them seemed to be planned. I remember surfing around the web and found a few Pokemon designs in an earlier generation such as Shellos and Gastrodon.

Are there any Pokemon that you believe were planned way in advance (i.e. Munna due to the R/B trainer)?
I'm not too sure, but I thought Rhydon would have been the most planned, seeing it being the first designed Pokemon. I think this applies to most of the 1st Gen.

What about Pokemon that were planned at the last minute? Do you think there are many of those?
I can see more and more of these as the generations progress, but this is all a matter of opinion on all designs. But who can tell?