Is Gorochu a real Pokémon? Answered

There are over 1,000 Pokémon in existence, so you can be forgiven if a few Pokémon species have slipped your mind. Many fans have come across something known as Gorochu, and it appears similar to Pikachu and Raichu. If you are wondering what is Gorochu and how it ties back to the original Pikachu line, or if it is even a real Pokémon, there’s an explanation.

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Is Gorochu a real Pokémon?

Gorochu was part of the sprites and data mined from The Cutting Room Floor. Gorochu’s sprite and data were found in early Pokémon titles like Red and Blue. Most unused artwork and sprites hidden within the game’s files are based on early concept art for Pokémon that end up looking different in the release game. Some unused sprites are for Pokémon that end up not making it to the final product but still exist in the titles’ files and data.

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Only the back of Gorochu’s head exists in the games’ files. Fan artist Foxeaf created their own rendition of what Gorochu could have looked like on DeviantArt.

What was Gorochu supposed to be?

While most information on Pokémon that don’t make it to the final game is limited, we do actually know quite a bit about Gorochu thanks to an interview with Pokémon illustrator Atsuko Nishida and Pokemon designer Ken Sugimori. The interview was conducted in a Japanese newspaper but was translated by Lava Cut Content.

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Gorochu was a scrapped evolution for Raichu and would have been the final evolution for the Pikachu line. Gorochu had fangs and horns, and it was meant to look strong. It would have evolved from Raichu at level 40, but Gorochu was soon scrapped because of the limited hardware space for the Game Boy cartridge. There were also balancing concerns, with Pikachu already being decided to be one of the Pokémon with only one evolution.

So, Gorochu is not a real Pokémon. While fans hope to see the original Gorochu concept return in a future game, Pokémon director Junichi Masuda said in an interview with Gamespot that fans will likely not see Gorochu.