We all love Pikachu; for people of a certain age (this writer included), that adorable little yellow face is a perfect representation of their entire childhood, when nothing else in life mattered except 'catching em' all'. As it turns out, things could have been very different for the electric rodent.
Ken Sugimori, Atsuko Nishida, and Koji Nishino, key illustrators and designers of the Pokémon series, recently sat down with Japanese newspaper Yomiuri to talk all things Pikachu (translated by Siliconera). When asked about Pikachu's evolution stages, and if there were any other designs created, Nishida spoke of an early idea for a pretty scary sounding final evolution.
"Yes. It was “Pika(chu),” “Rai(chu),” and “Goro(chu).” The Pokémon known as Gorochu bared fangs and even had a pair of horns."
The word "Goro" comes from the Japanese phrase "Goro-Goro", which is used as an onomatopoeic description of large rumbles such as thunder, suggesting that this final evolution may have been a colossal beast of the electric mouse family.
Of course, Gorochu never made it into the games, but it wasn't scrapped because of its scary nature, or from fear that it wouldn't suit Pikachu's loveable ways, as Sugimori explains.
"There wasn’t any problem with its appearances, but it was omitted due to matters surrounding game balance."
Was it too strong? Or did it simply not fit well alongside the rest of the original 151? We'll likely never know.
Do you think a final, beast-like evolution for Pikachu could have worked well? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
[source siliconera.com]
Comments 37
And so we got Pichu instead. Quite a contrast.
Sounds like it would've been influenced by Raijin, the Japanese thunder Oni which also bears horns and fangs.
Gorochu for Pokémon Switch!
It isn't too late to add it in. However if Alolan Raichu is anything to go by, we probably won't see Gorochu anytime soon.
Guess there's always Mega Evolution now.
Ha someone looked at the gen 1 metagame and said "Yes this is all fine, but if we add a Raichu evolution, THAT will make it unbalanced".
I’d love to have seen this. Plus people may use Pikachu more competitively to have a perfect gorochu.
I always thought pikachu was useless and didn't deserve to be the mascot anyways
Meanwhile Zeraora coming in a couple of months. Electric- check. Fangs-check. Claws - check. Horn - when it's pleased to see you.
Interesting. Never too late to add it though.
Maybe that got reworked into electabuzz somehow
Maybe Pikachu would've been worth using, then.
My mind automatically plays the goron sounds from Ocarina of Time whenever I hear "goro".
It's like they're prerecorded and on standby at all times in my brain.
That would've been pretty awesome.
There has to be something more to this... there just has to be.
Pokemon Yellow: Special Gorochu Edition
As long as it doesn't talk, I'm fine with it.
Well, we now have a name for the Raichu evolution only seen by the Cinnabar Lab NPC in Gen 1.
You guys bring up great ideas! Gorochu would be sick as a mega! I can just see raijin as a mouse pokemon!
And yet we received Pichu as a pre-evolution in Gen 2... Don't get me wrong, I love Raichu, but its stats are absolutely horrendous save for somewhat decent speed. It's a garbage Pokémon for battle and its Alolan form didn't help it out much, either. Raichu really could have benefited from an evolution.
Really surprised they haven't added it since, with all the gen 1's getting more evolutions. They're getting short on ideas after all.
Gorochu sounds like an awesome concept. The problem is, now I'm imagining a Goron-proportioned electric rodent with horns and a sneering grin. XD
@TheBigK: Agreed on Raichu. I used the Alolan variant when playing through Sun. While its attacks weren't bad, it had the defenses of a wet paper bag.
The concept art must be somewhere!
Wait, Game Freak cared about game balance during the first generation? The same generation where the Psychic type was extremely overpowered, the metagame was full of glitches, and it featured the God-tier Mewtwo?
Gorochu sounds badass.
Could’ve been a neat Giovanni ‘invention’.
Don’t know if I would’ve put it in gen 1. Those 151 are iconic to me. Wouldn’t change a thing. Maybe Gen4?
Pichu Gen2
Minun & Plusle Gen3
Gorochu Gen4
Well, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gorochu concepts in every fangame starting from now...
That sounds awesome! Wish it was in the game =/
I think one main reason why Yokai Watch never hit the same popularity in the West is because they didn't have an appealing, cute mascot like Pikachu.
Instead the characters are all weird looking or ugly, and too steeped in Japanese folklore.
Imo we'll never see Gorochu happen: we already have Thundurus for the Raijin reference nowadays.
I use my Pikachu with light ball. I feel like its a blasphemy to even evolve him to cute Raichu.Now this Gorochu is a monstrosity!
Sounds like Gorochu was going to have base total of 600 or something. 😂
"Pokemon was almost good."
Honestly, this explains why Raichu just looks like an orange Pikachu with barely any change – It's a middle evolution. Those are always boring.
I wish I could see some early sketches of their design idea for Gorochu!
Pics or it didn't happen.
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