Did You Realize Pokemon Originally Had A Baby Blastoise Pre-Evolution?

Evolutions have become an essential part of the Pokemon franchise. Many of the "starter" types within the pocket monster series have the ability to evolve once or twice to achieve its final, and usually giant, forms. Such is the case with Squirtle, one of the original three starter types of Pokemon that trainers had the chance to "adopt" as part of the first generation of creatures appearing in the video games Pokemon: Red and Pokemon: Blue. Now, it's been revealed that the ultimate evolution of Squirtle, Blastoise, was originally going to appear in a much smaller package!

Twitter User DrLavaYT shared the original designs for Blastoise, one of the first Pokemon ever designed, that would have separated it entirely from Squirtle, making the pocket monster its own thing, albeit much smaller than the giant water shooting turtle we know today:

Lost Pokemon of the Day: Baby Blastoise

First revealed when Gen 1 beta assets leaked in Feb 2019, this turtle was Blastoise's original pre-evolution -- created before Blastoise was merged with the Squirtle family.

(Photo descriptions & more info continued in thread below) (1/4) pic.twitter.com/UO3fXCzH5W

— Dr. Lava's Lost Pokemon (@DrLavaYT) October 9, 2019

As the Poke-fan notes in his tweets, Blastoise was one of the first Pokemon ever created, eventually being linked to both Squirtle and Wartortle as their final evolution. Aside from being created completely separately from its earlier two forms, the initial version of Blastoise is clearly a much smaller, cuter version of the creature we know and love today. Not sporting the giant cannons on its back and holding a much smaller frame, it would have been interesting to see if this first form of Blastoise would have had evolutions all its own.

Squirtle has a long history in the Pokemon franchise, in both the games and the anime itself. Most notable, Blastoise happened to be under the control of Ash Ketchum's rival Gary, making for a good contrast to Ash's evolved Charmander, aka Charizard. Ash of course had a Squirtle of his own throughout the anime, but never has it evolve to its final form, being a-ok with the Pokemon retaining its initial form.

Squirtle itself is one of the most popular Pokemon around, seemingly only surpassed by Pikachu and Charizard when it comes to the top spot. Though Blastoise tends to get trapped in its shadow, it's no doubt that the final form of the water turtle is far more powerful.

What do you think of this initial design for Blastoise? Do you think it manages to surpass the final form of the ultimate evolution of Squirtle? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and Pokemon!