BETA POKEMON DESIGNS
One of my favorite things about any drawing is the design and concept stage. For all of the official Pokemon, there are designs and concept phases that each individual Pokemon goes through before its design is finalized, called beta designs. In reality, these designs would receive input from marketers, game designers, 3D modelers, animators, etc. to make sure that they are as accurate and conceptually resolved as they can be. Even though Pokemon Delta and Pokemon Gamma are dream concepts, not real games, as the sole designer and developer of the concept, I also go through these beta design phases when I come up with my finalized design. Since I've hit 50 Pokemon as of February 27th, 2021, and in honor of Pokemon Day 2021, I figured it wouldn't be bad to show some of the beta designs of some of your favorite Pokemon!
Grass Starter - Leavana
The grass starter was initially based on a Mansouraurus, an Egyptian sauropod. Cafern was developed well after Leavana, Graminaleaf, and Leavaterra were designed. It's kind of crazy to think that if Cafern was not the starter, then we'd have Leavana as the starter. I really like these Pokemon, but they just didn't fit the vibe of a starter to me, and they looked too similar to the Chikorita line in my opinion.
This is what beta Cafern's design looked like!
The sketch of Ceravine that became our beloved Ceravine today!
Fire Starter - Poiferno
You may recognize the name Poiferno, and that's because Poiferno stayed the same from beta design until now. The Poiferno line you've come to know and love hasn't actually changed that much, apart from the core design. It was a very strong concept, which is why I kept it the same.
Water Starter - Dolpod
Much like Cafern, Ocelpup was not the first iteration of the water starter. The water starter was still going to end up being Water/Steel, and it would still have much of the same concepts. The biggest difference between Dolpod and Ocelpup's line is the animal they're based on. Dolpod was based on Risso's Dolphin, whereas Ocelpup is based on an Epaulette leopard shark. I never actually finished Dolpod's line's designs, because I had a much better idea - Ocelpup!
This is what beta Ocelpup's design looked like!
Other Beta Designs
The following show various other preliminary beta sketches of numerous other Pokemon, including Teleling, Dramarine, and more!
Beta Teleling
Beta Poallen
Beta Serradonta
Beta Godorucha and Dramarine