Pokemon: Blastoise Might Not Have Been Squirtle’s Original Final Evolution

An early beta of the original Pokemon games suggests that Blastoise might not have been Squirtle’s final evolved form.

Earlier this week, a group of Pokemon enthusiasts shared sprites and other images from an alleged early beta of Pokemon Red and Green, which they had obtained from a collector. The files included glimpses of dozens of Pokemon that were eventually cut from the original Pokemon games, including some that have never been seen before. While the beta version only included back sprites as seen from the rear, it did contain some tantalizing clues about early plans for the Pokemon franchise.

One of the big surprises from the beta is the discovery that Blastoise wasn’t originally a Squirtle evolution. Both Squirtle and Wartortle have long fluffy tails and similarly shaped heads and bodies, but Blastoise radically departs from these designs for a much bulkier form, a more defined jawline and even different-shaped ears.

The beta contains two turtle-like Pokemon, one of which appears to be an evolved form of Wartortle. Although only seen from the rear, the sprite has a similar fluffy tail with a spiral and large oversized ears. Notably, the sprite is also listed as No. 181, and is right next to Charizard and in sequence with the Squirtle and Charmander families. Here’s a look at the alleged Wartortle evolution:

And for comparison, here’s the Wartortle sprite from the beta (which also is how the Pokemon appears in Pokemon Red & Green):

So what about Blastoise? Well, Blastoise does appear in the original beta and appears to be one of the first Pokemon designed (the Pokemon sprites are ordered by when they were designed as opposed to Pokedex number), but it doesn’t seem that it was originally connected to Squirtle. However, there is a Pokemon that appears much later in the sprite list that appears to have water cannons and a shell, albeit in a much shorter form. Here’s what some believe to be Blatoise’s pre-evolved form:

So what changed? Well, we don’t know. It could be that Game Freak decided that Blastoise (who appears to be one of the first Pokemon designed) was a better final evolution than Wartortle’s final evolved form. Or it could be that Wartortle’s original evolution was cut due to time constraints. Whatever the reason, we almost had a radically different Pokemon game, and Squirtle would have never been the same.