Internal Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Documentary Reveals a Treasure Trove of Adorable Scrapped Designs

A fascinating leak has surfaced, revealing what appears to be an internal documentary from Game Freak that dives into the development of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. The footage showcases a treasure trove of scrapped designs that are sure to intrigue fans!

The documentary, which runs for 43 minutes and is in Japanese, can be found on the Internet Archive. While we await a translation, the visuals alone are captivating. It features numerous images of abandoned Pokémon concepts and early designs of familiar characters that look quite different from their final forms. There’s also some concept art of characters and scenes, along with clips of in-progress game areas. Super cool!

If you’re a die-hard Pokémon fan like me, you’ll want to check out the entire thing, but here are some standout moments:

Check out this adorable round character design! It’s just too cute.

Who is this mysterious figure? Could this be an early version of a grass-type starter that eventually became Turtwig? Or perhaps a variation of Sandshrew?

Haha, this is too good!

Wow, the original design for Dialga is a bit unsettling, isn’t it?

Around the 23-minute mark, there are a couple of quick flashes of concept images. I highly recommend watching the video closely to catch everything, but here are a few highlights I spotted:

IS THAT A PROTO-BIDOOF?!

So fluffy…

There’s a lot happening here, including what seems to be a yellow Gastrodon and a cool-looking bird, but I’m particularly drawn to that acorn creature on the right.

I am absolutely losing it over what looks like a Delibird evolution, decked out in full Santa gear. This is the best thing I’ve seen in ages!

I can’t wait for a translation so I can fully grasp what the developers are discussing. Beyond the exciting, unused Pokémon designs, it’s intriguing to learn about the development process behind these games, especially considering Game Freak, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company’s usual secrecy surrounding the franchise. And hey, Game Freak, if you’re out there, instead of trying to pull this documentary offline, how about giving us that Delibird evolution instead?