Summary of "I Found 1,000+ Pages of LOST Pokemon Sun & Moon History"

Summary of “I Found 1,000+ Pages of LOST Pokemon Sun & Moon History”

This video presents an extensive deep dive into over 1,000 pages of early and lost development documents for Pokémon Sun and Moon (Generation 7), revealing numerous scrapped ideas, alternate concepts, and the evolution of the game’s storyline, gameplay mechanics, and design philosophy. The content spans from initial brainstorming in 2013 through to late 2015, highlighting Game Freak’s ambitious plans, budget constraints, and the iterative development process.

Storyline & Worldbuilding Highlights

Origins of Gen 7: Began as “Project Next” in October 2013, just before the release of X and Y.
Legendary Pokémon Concepts: Initially featured a male and female legendary Pokémon pair, with a third “child” legendary evolving from them, intended as a third version mascot (similar to previous third versions like Pokémon Z).
Parallel Pokémon & Ultra Wormholes: Early drafts introduced “parallel Pokémon” from parallel worlds with different forms and abilities, the prototype for Alolan Forms and Ultra Space.
Story Drafts:
- The early story involved a bridge collapse incident saving the protagonist by a legendary Pokémon.
- A mysterious girl bringing a Pokémon from another world (early version of Lily and Nebby).
- A region with no traditional gyms but island leaders and a unique Pokémon League structure.
- Underwater ruins tied to ancient civilizations and parallel holes, providing deep lore about the region’s history.
Team Rainbow Rocket: Originally planned as a post-game villain group featuring past Team Rocket leaders, with a complex storyline tying multiple timelines and characters.

Gameplay Highlights & Features

Multiple Party Sets & PC Access Anywhere: Early ideas included carrying multiple teams and managing PC storage remotely.
DLC Model: Proposed as ongoing content with new Pokémon, maps, events, and trainers.
Survival Mode: Players trapped in a facility with no Pokémon/tools, inspired by roguelikes, encouraging use of unusual Pokémon.
Trainer Battle Royale: A 32-player knockout tournament; a simplified version appeared in the final game.
Pokémon Island & Building: Early concept combining resource gathering and base-building with Pokémon, precursor to Pokémon Pelago and Dragon Quest Builders.
Surfing Mechanic: The protagonist would surf with Pokémon riding along, which appeared later as a minigame.
GB Work Emulator: Idea to play older Pokémon games on the bottom screen and transfer Pokémon into the new game.
My Gym Feature: Players could create and customize their own gyms, recruit gym leaders, and conquer other players’ gyms; this was later scrapped.
Friend Dungeons: Successor to Friend Safari, where friend codes generate dungeons for multiplayer exploration.
Battle College: A battle strategy training mode with quizzes, hosted by Giovanni or his daughter.
Battle Cruise: A massive post-game cruise ship hub for battling past trainers, multi battles, training simulators, and events; planned ports included Vermillion City and Castelia City. This feature was ultimately scrapped.
Pokémon Nursery App: A companion app for egg hatching and Pokémon raising, with cross-compatibility to main games.
Box Battles: 30 vs 30 Pokémon battles using entire PC boxes.
Legend Gate: Mechanic for summoning legendaries via gates, including co-op play.
Mini Pokémon: Smaller versions of Pokémon that follow the player, assist in battle, and find items; cut due to budget.
Pokémon Ride System: Several scrapped ride Pokémon including Magnazone (floating traversal), Vivion (jumping), Arbok (stealth), and Rapid Dash (speed boost).
Dynamic Weather System: Detailed weather changes with visual effects and sun/moon tracking.
Seamless Battle Transitions: Planned smooth transitions into battles, ahead of its time.
Miracle Aura: The core battle gimmick that evolved into Z-Moves, granting a fifth move slot and powerful moves.
Trainer Level System: Protagonist gains levels and unlocks new abilities.
Live Caravan: Early concept for real-time multiplayer exploration, precursor to raid battles.
Pokémon Planet: A 3D Pokémon Pelago with Street Pass communication.

Development & Production Insights

Platform Uncertainty: Early documents show Gen 7 was considered for either 3DS or Switch.
Budget Constraints: Many scrapped features and cuts were due to budget, not time constraints.
Influence of Yokai Watch: Financial reports reveal Pokémon’s response to the rising popularity of Yokai Watch.
Pokémon Design: Over 30 parallel evolutions were planned, nearly double the final number of Alolan forms.
Final Presentation (Feb 2015): Officially named Sun and Moon, with themes of transcendence, sharing, living Pokémon, and 20th anniversary celebration.
Game Freak’s Vision: Aim to push boundaries, rethink Pokémon systems, and create a beloved brand transcending generations and cultures.
Late-stage Development: Features like gym leader scouting, mega stone rewards, and Team Rainbow Rocket storyline were still in development months before reveal but cut later.
Early Beta Builds: Very rare and hard to find, with some alternate clothing and UI mockups.

Key Tips & Strategies (Implied from Concepts)

Trade between versions to unlock unique legendaries and events.
Use diverse Pokémon encouraged by survival and battle royale modes.
Customize gyms and recruit leaders (though scrapped) would have added strategic depth.
Engage with multiplayer features like friend dungeons and battle cruises to deepen gameplay.

Notable Gamers / Sources Featured

The video is presented by a YouTuber who has previously done deep dives on Pokémon Sun and Moon.
References to prior videos: “Sun and Moon Part Two,” “Pokémon Z video,” and other deep dive series.
The content is based on extensive archival research of Game Freak’s internal documents and development archives.

This comprehensive look into Pokémon Sun and Moon development uncovers a wealth of lost ideas and shows how the final game was shaped by both creative ambition and practical limitations. It also highlights Game Freak’s ongoing efforts to innovate within the Pokémon franchise.