Pokemon: Slowbro's Tail Monster Was Originally Its Own Pokemon

Pokemonfans the world over may be looking forward to the forthcoming release ofPokemon SwordandShieldand its corresponding anime. This may be especially true for those looking forward to the major change-ups, namely sinceAsh Ketchum finally won a Pokemon Leagueand a new protagonist named Go is appearing alongside him. Nonetheless, there are always fans who would rather look back than forward, with some new details on Slowbro recently popping up.

This isn’t exactly brand new, but it’s something that has been so limited that very fewPokemonfans — especially those of the younger generations — know. The monster on Slowbro’s tail, which consumes him whole in his Mega Evolution, was intended to be its own Pokemon known as Turban in Gen 2, but it never made it into the official list of Pokemon. This name isn’t exactly official, but since it is the best translation of its Japanese name “Taaban,” it’s what many have stuck with.

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Turban was first revealed in 2018 whenPokemon GoldandSilver’s 1997 demoleaked, confirming that it was first intended to be its own Pokemon. This demo confirmed that it would have been a Water-type, and its unfinished moveset only included the likes of Harden, Body Slam, and Water Gun. There also wasn’t any information linked Turban to the Slowpoke family, but whether the date was incomplete or it was intended to be separate on its own is still uncertain.

Lore suggests that Slowpoke becomes Slowbro when its tail is bitten by a Shellder, which may explain how Turban never became canon. This makes a lot of sense given Shellder’s color scheme and its lack of the protruding spikes over its body. Why Turban was skipped over inPokemon’s Johto regionhasn’t ever been officially confirmed, either.

Turban is far from the only “lost Pokemon” to never see the light of day, with the aforementioned Gold and Silver demo also suggesting the existence of a Farfetch’d evolution (different from theSwordandShieldSirfetch’d evolution), a baby version of Meowth named Meowsy, and a baby version of Vulpix called Trifox. There is a lot of history to lost Pokemon, something that many fans of the franchise will always appreciate.

ThePokemon Sun and Moonanime ends on October 27 in Japan.

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