Somewhere, out there, exists an early prototype of the first Pokemon game, and thanks to a group of Pokemon fans, they might have allowed for the public to get a glimpse at some of the interesting bits and pieces within, similar to the Spaceworld Gold and Silver beta from last year. According to Helix Chamber, the site that managed to get ahold of these assets, an anonymous source contacted them, claiming that they had a prototype Generation 1 Pokemon game. After trying to contact this mysterious person, they were given a zip file that contained assorted files that were ripped right from the ROM. Though they refused to dump the ROM in full, (which is potentially concerning, in regards to the validity of the files) there's some never before seen early designs that would later be cut or repurposed for the final release of Pokemon Red and Green.

First revealed was an early working logo for Pocket Monsters, with an included unfinished Rhyhorn in the center. Also supplied were back sprites for these prototype Pokemon, but no front sprites were given, nor did the owner give a reason for omitting them. Front sprites were made in an attempt to re-create what could be, but they are in no way official, or part of the "leak", only existing as artistic interpretation.

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What has been hypothesized and deciphered by Helix Chamber are numerous things, such as a different evolution for Wartortle, a potential beta design for Tyrannitar, a weird form of Psyduck, Red's original design, and much more. A full breakdown can be seen at the source below.

Around the middle of last summer we were approached by someone who claimed to have Gen 1 prototypes and wanted to remain anonymous. We communicated via a private IRC channel of their making, and they provided us with some answers.

— Helix Chamber (@helixchamber) February 18, 2019

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Source

 

[AlanJohn]

I'd argue it's one of the more legitimate ones, and internal documents that have already come to light confirm its existence, even if the sprite restoration isn't perfect.
Read the breakdown of what Barunda is here: https://twitter.com/helixchamber/status/1009847358723645440

Hmm. After looking at some more evidence, I've decided to retract my statement. The balloon Pokemon is certainly legitimate in the sense that it was a scrapped gen 1 Pokemon. I still question the validity of the ROMs existence, though. That large trainer Sprite looks like it's from a 2019 indie game with pixel graphics. The type of shading used there is just too "advanced" for the time.

 

[VinsCool]

Hmm. After looking at some more evidence, I've decided to retract my statement. The balloon Pokemon is certainly legitimate in the sense that it was a scrapped gen 1 Pokemon. I still question the validity of the ROMs existence, though. That large trainer Sprite looks like it's from a 2019 indie game with pixel graphics. The type of shading used there is just too "advanced" for the time.

Not only that, the art style simply isn't fitting.

 

[MikaDubbz]

Yeah, I'm not convinced these are official. They may have looked deep into what is known about the early prototype of Pokemon such as the Balloon Pokemon to help make this look all the more legit, but it could all just be fan made assets that the creator wants us to believe was from the actual game. Certainly cool, but I'm far from convinced that these were real.

 

[Something whatever]

Can't wait to see GBA Rom hacks that uses these sprites

 

[DuoForce]

Reminder that all of these are fan-made because of a prick who refuses to leak the prototype.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

Pretty sure this is fake. Especially with the omitted stuff, and some things just being sketches. It'd be one thing if they claimed they just had artwork from the prototype, but these are supposed to be dumped assets.

Reminder that all of these are fan-made because of a prick who refuses to leak the prototype.

A guy who might not even have a prototype.

 

[x65943]

Yeah, I'm not convinced these are official. They may have looked deep into what is known about the early prototype of Pokemon such as the Balloon Pokemon to help make this look all the more legit, but it could all just be fan made assets that the creator wants us to believe was from the actual game. Certainly cool, but I'm far from convinced that these were real.

I agree

They used legitimate source material to fabricate these sprites

All you need to know to know these are fake is the supposed existence of a prototype and the insistence not to release it

It's like those people who say ghosts are real but refuse to let actual scientists study their "proof"

Edit: the reason only the backs were supposedly released is because they are effectively 1/2 the resolution of the front, and thus easier to fake (half the work)

 

[DarthDub]

The credibility of this is very questionable at best. I hope someone dumps the actual prototype.

 

[medoli900]

If Cubone is so good, why isn't there a Cubone-2?

 

[Gamer90Kirby]

Imho the Pokemon sprites look mostly authentic(with some of them probably being traced or scanned from a hand drawing).

But the trainer sprite looks fake to me. Compared to the final sprites(https://www.spriters-resource.com/game_boy_gbc/pokemonredblue/sheet/8729/), it's far large, it wouldn't even fit well on the title screen. It's stylistically completely different, proportions and depths more pronounced via shading, then in the final sprites, besides the different outlining. Every pre release concept art shows Red as a boy and not some tough Pokemon torcherer, it contradicts the original idea of Pokemon: kids collecting Bugs.

Now I’m not saying the sprite isn’t fake but it does fit the theme. All early artwork gave the impression that Pokemon were monsters and were kept in cages. So a whip wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to tame a monster.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Now I’m not saying the sprite isn’t fake but it does fit the theme. All early artwork gave the impression that Pokemon were monsters and were kept in cages. So a whip wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to tame a monster.

Not to mention that some officially released art, including some trainers in the final games, retained whips. It was also noted that this was the age adjusted version of the player character, much like how the rival character aged between the start and end of the game. I'm finding a lot of the details about this hard to dispute. Shame the owner won't share the ROM.

 

[Vhestal]

*Sitting at the office*
*Looks at latest news*
*Sees this thread*
*Clicked*
*Comments*

I am deeply disturbed by that whip.

 

[Kigiru]

*Sitting at the office*
*Looks at latest news*
*Sees this thread*
*Clicked*
*Comments*

I am deeply disturbed by that whip.

It means that you're too young to remember when every cool trainer, tamer, team rocket grunt and even gym leader Sabrine used one to train their Pokemon.

 

[PRAGMA]

Here's what I have on this

 

[Vhestal]

Oh I do remember, its just that I'm specifically disturbed by "whips."

 

[Kallus]

This better end in a rom release and/or leak. You can't tease us like this

Also for the people saying the Red sprite looks fake, take a look at some concept art:

Dude in the art looks pretty similar to the one in the sprite.

 

[LowEndC]

 

[osaka35]

There seems to be some confusion since they added some of these into a green rom to show off stuff, and slightly misled folks? The comment section is full of annoyed people. But they tried to clear things up, so it's safe to give them the benefit of the doubt.

It's interesting, and it seems mostly legit, but I'd rather see the entire rom. Being so many steps away from the original makes it difficult to trust.

 

[PawsofHorror]

Hopefully a dump will surface anonymously...