Summary
The legendary PokemonCelebi is well-known by the franchise’s fans as a cute, green fairy-like creature, but leaked game files from a very early build ofPokemon Gold and Silverreveal that the original version was much different from the one gamers are familiar with today.
While some Pokemon undergo slight changesfrom beta versions to the final product, there are others that transform drastically as they go through revisions in the design process. These early sketches generally never see the light of day until someone mines the data of each game, or a developer releases their beta drafts.
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Reddit user rc1246 posted his take on beta Celebi. The original version found in the leaked beta sprites is an all-black creature with a long, trumpet-like snout, tube-like arms and legs with no claws, a menacing look, and what looks like three tails sticking out of the back of its head. It’s certainly not the “Voice of the Forest” that’s since beenestablished in thePokemonmythos.
FamedPokemonexpert and historian of the franchise’s development, Dr. Lava, shed some light on beta Celebi in a post on Twitter made back in 2020. The beta Celebi design—as well as a whole batch of early Generation 2 beta sprites—leaked froma 1997 build ofPokemon Gold andSilver.Dr. Lava explains that Celebi’s original design was from 1998, and seemed to be based on the Southwestern Native American god Kokopelli, a trickster deity of music and fertility.
Somewhere along the way, Celebi changed from its Native American influences to the spirit-like Pokemon that’s based on the nature spirits from Japanese shinto beliefs. In another 2020 post on Twitter, Dr. Lava shows the evolution of Celebi’s design from beta to the final form, where there was a second draft that was a cross between the original and the current look. This Celebi was also Normal-type and classified as the “Plant Pokemon,” instead of the Grass/Psychic “Time Travel Pokemon” final version.
Not much is known as towhy these Pokemon designs were changed, but fans of the franchise have come to accept them as regular happenings as more beta builds and data keep getting leaked.
