The Sugimori Sketches: The Origin of Pokemon

Everyone under the age of 30 knows what Pokemon is. If you didn’t play the video games, card game, or watch the show as a kid, your sibling, cousin or classmate certainly did. Pikachu is just about as recognizable as the American flag.

For many people, Pokemon simply always has been around and the detailed origins of the franchise are hazy to them. Only big fans know who the creators of the game are, which is a bizarre concept if you think about it. In Western Culture, the creators of major franchises like Marvel’s Stan Lee or Harry Potter’s JK Rowling are household names. The average person knows who is responsible for some of the largest fandoms in history.

Ken Sugimori

Why people don’t know Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori, the duo that created Pokemon is beyond me. Tajiri is seen by many as the creator of the concept of Pokemon, inspired by his childhood catching creatures by his home in rural Japan. Sugimori rarely gets his due from casual fans. He quite literally designed every one of the original 151 Pokemon as well as the design mechanics and aesthetic of the video games, card games, and anime.

Think about that. This man created every single Pokemon you know. The sheer amount of ideation, drawing, and design is hard to fathom, but Sugimori and his team have been doing it for over 20 years. All of your favorites began as an idea in this man’s head. Electabuzz? Yup. Charmander? You bet. Piplup? Of course.

Miraculously some sketches from Ken Sugimori have surfaced as scans online and show some early concept artwork. These sketches are the conceptual seeds that created the Pokemon franchise and serve as a rough representation of what the series would eventually become.

Each of these sketches deserves deep analysis, so that’s just what I’m going to do. Where shall we start?

Left: A trainer searches through a cave with his Pokemon and spots a wild Pokemon in the distance. It appears at first glance that this trainer is in the forest, but the dripping stalagmite suggests that they are in a cave, a common location to explore in the Pokemon world. If this is the Kanto Region this could be an early concept of Mt. Moon or Rock Tunnel. The Pokemon that accompanies the trainer outside of its Pokeball appears to be an early concept of a Rhydon. Fun Fact: Rhydon was the first Pokemon ever created by Ken Sugimori.

In the distance the trainer spots a wild Pokemon which appears to be emerging from an egg. This appears to be a Pokemon that was never created. It has a rough head and big eyes, perhaps because it is based off a lizard, which would make sense if it were coming out of an egg. In Generation 2, Pokemon Eggs were introduced as a way to acquire Pokemon through breeding. Sugimori clearly had a plan for eggs early on in the development of the universe.

The trainer also has a flashlight and a few other items attached to his belt. Sugimori could have intended to have a flashlight as an item that the character could acquire to see in dark caves. Instead of this flashlight, the HM Flash needed to be known by a Pokemon in your party. It would have been nice to have a flashlight instead of having to waste a move spot on Flash!