Pokémon’s Original Artwork Was So Much Better Than It Looked in the Manuals

Pokémon archivists are sharing newly-uncovered scans that show how Kanto and Johto’s original Pokémon were always meant to look.

As broken down by YouTuber and Pokémon archivist Lewtwo on Twitter, they were sent, “accurate scans of the original 251 Ken Sugimori Pokemon artwork to archive in high quality.”

Ken Sugimori is the primary creature designer for the Pokémon series, and he designed the original Pokémon rosters for the franchise’s early Game Boy entries. The 251 recently-discovered scans cover Pokémon’s first two generations: Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow and Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal.

For the very first time, we’ve been sent accurate scans of the original 251 Ken Sugimori Pokemon artwork to archive in high quality.

the difference is insane. pic.twitter.com/KmNUIJQ2yv

— Lewtwo (@Lewchube) April 17, 2023

As Lewtwo described, it doesn’t take long to notice that “the difference is insane” when looking at the new scans and the old. Some of the Pokémon Lewtwo featured in the Twitter thread include Diglett, Ivysaur, Tauros, Mew, and more.

Ivysaur, for example, appears blue and orange in the old, inaccurate artwork. But in the new scan, it looks green and pink, which is truer to the character. Diglett looks washed out with little detail in the old artwork, but both the character and the ground surrounding it come alive in the new scan.

Lewtwo explained that artwork from Pokémon’s Game Boy days on the internet, “had inaccurate colors, were often misshapen, and generally VERY low quality.” Apparently, these low quality scans were first used in Nintendo Power’s Pokémon Red and Blue Player’s Guide in 1998. Eventually, this washed out artwork became the default for the original Pokémon designs.

For over 20 years, the Red, Blue, Gold & Silver artwork of each Pokemon across the internet had inaccurate colors, were often misshapen, and generally VERY low quality.

Thanks to scans provided by @ExcaliburZero_Z, we’re finally able to see how they were always meant to look. pic.twitter.com/aCTYVzC0DZ

— Lewtwo (@Lewchube) April 17, 2023

But everything changed when Twitter user @ExcaliburZero_Z sent over scans that appeared to be Sugimori’s original design. They did “a LOT of cross-referencing” to confirm that these new scans are real, comparing them to official Game Freak assets, scans of Japanese magazine CoroCoro leading up to Gold and Silver’s original release, press kits, and more.

In the coming months, Pokémon archivists are going to work with Pokémon fan sites like Bulbapedia to get the word out even further about these new scans. But if you’re nostalgic for the old versions, don’t worry. Lewtwo said those will continue to be preserved as well.

For more on Pokémon, check out the brand new Pokémon recently introduced in the anime. Or, check out one fan’s mission to create designs for over 150 original Pokémon.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.