'Pokémon X': Lugia's Explosive Birth
Image Source: CultureSlate
If you’ve played the Johto games of Pokémon or watched the 2000 movie, then you’ve heard of Lugia. The box art legendary of Silver and SoulSilver: Lugia is a Flying and Psychic type Pokémon who serves as an iconic fixture of Generation 2. Did you know, however, that Lugia wasn’t even created for the games, but the movies? In fact, it may not have made the games at all. Join us then, on an insight into the creation of what was once codenamed Pokémon X. It is a tale of addiction, and the twisty and turny development of Pokémon Gold and Silver.
Takeshi Shudo was the main writer for the Pokémon anime during the Kanto era and much of the Johto era. He also served as the writer for the first three movies; due to the success of Mewtwo’s Counterattack, Shudo was given greater creative freedom. As such, he created what would originally be dubbed Pokémon X, an entirely new Pokémon created for the movie. One darker aspect of this, as revealed by Shudo himself, was that alcohol and pills were involved in the making of the anime, and the 2000 movie was no exception. These addictions would sadly haunt him for the rest of his life.
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Image Source: Bulbapedia
As stated before, Pokémon X was created for Pokémon The Movie 2000: The Power Of One, known in Japan as Maboroshi no Pokémon: Lugia Bakutan (roughly The Phantom Pokémon: Revelation Lugia). Lugia was given a reptilian design reminiscent of Ryujin, the legendary Dragon god of the seas. Lugia in the film served as a protector and guardian of the sea with a connection to water currents, and was given a connection to the Legendary Birds. Shudo envisioned Lugia as a maternal figure, and wanted a female to voice it, though in the end, a male would voice it instead (Koichi Yamadera in Japanese, and Eric Rath in English). Shudo would disagree with this decision; it’s believed the Lugia featured in the anime, a mother and child, was a direct response to this.
Game Freak would finalize Lugia’s design to make sure it matched up with the art style. Ken Sugimori would make the final design, along with an intermittent design that emphasized an “X” motif that was ultimately dropped. There was also a scrapped design, leaked a while ago, that vaguely resembles Lugia’s final design, albeit resembling more of a ship than the final design.
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The name “Lugia” was chosen after a vote from all corners of the Pokémon franchise, including animators at OLM, the animation studio behind the anime, Game Freak staff, and merchandising representatives. Lugia is believed to derive from the beluga whale, deluge, and Lugeo, a Latin word meaning “to lie dormant”. Lugia’s role in the second movie was as a guardian of the seas, represented by sea currents; the main villain's goal was to add Lugia to his collection. Ash and his friends end up having to save the day, but in fact, early drafts had originally excluded them, only for Shudo to be convinced to bring them in.
“But if Lugia wasn’t in the games,” some readers may ask, “If Lugia wasn’t made for the games, how’d he get into Silver?” While the exact details aren’t certain, we know that Lugia wasn’t originally intended for inclusion in the Gen 2 games. The leaked SpaceWorld demo didn’t feature it, while other leaks show a silver wolf-looking creature alongside Ho-Oh. After a delay, however, much of Gold and Silver would be heavily reworked, and Lugia would join Ho-Oh as the mascot of Silver. Shudo, by his account, was ultimately surprised that Lugia made it into the games.
Image Source: IMDB
Of course, that is not the end of Lugia’s story, as there are certainly other aspects about the Diving Pokémon that we could go over. For now, however, that is the main story of how Lugia was created and how it ended up in the games. For more details, you can refer to our source, which will be embedded into this article for better viewing. For now, we will return to our dens at the bottom of the surface web and await further news. Until then, be sure to check out our website for more Pokémon information.
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Source: DidYouKnowGaming?
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