Summary
An early piece of promotional art forPokemonseems to indicate that Flying Pikachu once had wings to propel it through the air. The art was originally featured in a promotionalPokemongiveaway where players could acquire either a Surfing Pikachu or a Flying Pikachu if they were lucky enough to win.
Flying Pikachu has had a presence across multiple video games as well asthe Pokemon Trading Card Game, but players are likely familiar with it using balloons to fly, not wings. Pikachu isn’t normally a Flying-type, but players have been able to get the balloon-wearing variant through things like giveaways or special spawns inPokemon GO.
A giveaway originally featured in Japanese publication CoroCoro Comics and shared by Reddit user Collector55 shows a design of Flying Pikachu with a small pair of puffy wings on its back. The flyer was published to advertise a contest where a winner could acquire either a Flying Pikachu or aSurfing Pikachu. Readers who managed to win would need to mail in theirPokemoncartridges to receive the Pikachu variant. While a Flying Pikachu would be included inPokemon Yellow’s intro, shown being floated by balloons, this flyer may indicate that the developers at Game Freak initially had a different design in mind.
Pokemon Redesigns are Nothing New
Pikachu going from having wings to a set of balloons might seem like a fairly large change to make, butPokemondesigns have shifted a number of times over the course of the franchise’s history. Pikachu itself almost saw a drastically different design whenPokemonreleased in the west, as Nintendo of America reportedly wanted to change the Electric-type mouse Pokemon into something closer to a tiger with breasts. Even the protagonist of thePokemonanime hasn’t been the same over the course of the series, asAsh Ketchum has been redesignedinPokemonmovies and the TV series alike.
Without further clarification from Game Freak, it’s impossible to say how early this Pikachu design was scrapped. It’s also possible that it was a concept purely dreamed up by CoroCoro to promote the giveaway. In any case,Flying Pikachu’s current design is somewhat iconic at this point, while Pikachu with wings is something that’s been largely abandoned, save for designs by fan artists. While this version of Pikachu will likely never be seen in a game or the anime, it’s an interesting part ofPokemonhistory.
Pokemon
Pokemon is a franchise that needs no introduction. One of the most successful media empires in history, Pokemon spans games, television, films, manga, merchandise, music, and more.
