Have you ever heard of the Pokemon Honōguma (ホノオグマ)?

[Gavyn]

He was a beta starter Pokemon that debuted in the Pokemon Gold Beta in Japan in 1997. However, sometime in development, he was cut in favor of Cyndaquil. Despite having visual similarities to Pikachu, he's actually supposed to be a bear! His name literally translates to "Fire Bear" in English. He would have looked something like this,

or maybe even this,

Personally, I would love to see this Pokemon be used as an official Pokemon.

Updates

+1 y

Let me be clear, this Pokemon was not fan-made. He was an official Pokemon created for the Pokemon Gold and Silver Betas that debuted at a live event in 1997. However, Game Freak (the company that makes Pokemon games) eventually decided to scrap it and they used Cyndaquil instead.

[lumos]

I didn't know about this, no. I like the second design more but I do think that overall, it looks a bit too much like Pikachu, which might be why it was dropped. Like, if Pikachu was a fire type instead of electric. I'm glad they went with Cyndaquil instead, it's one of my favorite starters.

[gothbxtch]

i have!! he’s always been one of the beta pokémon i was the saddest about us not getting, along with the baby meowth.

[gothbxtch]

thank you!!

[GuidoThePizzaMaker]

They should make this pokemon
They make tons of stupid pokemon now, seeing a pokemon like this would be refreshing

[drummerdude25]

Why not use him anyway? Doesn’t have to be a starter just throw him in the wild lol.

[Gavyn]

Don't ask me, ask Game Freak. They call the shots when it comes to the Pokemon games.

[drummerdude25]

Lol right, but still...

[EdouardGaudette]

Imagine his evolution

[Gavyn]

Actually, believe it or not, they already had his evolutions roughly planned out, names and everything. This is a rough interpretation of his evolutionary line:

[Gavyn]

The first evolution was named ボルベアー, or, when Romanized, Borubeaa/Bolver. That name is kind of like "Volcano Bear."

The final evolution was named ダイナベア, or, when Romanized, Dainabea/Dynabear. That name is pretty much like "Dynamite Bear."

As you can see, this Pokemon was fire themed and would have been a really interesting addition to Pokemon. I for one think he should still be added.

[Gavyn]

Sorry, correction on my interpretation of the Romanization Borubeaa; it's not Bolver, it's probably Volber/Volbear.

[Gavyn]

(I read Japanese, but I can sometimes still make mistakes haha)

[EdouardGaudette]

Imagine there's only one of them in all of the Pokemon games and it's like an Easter egg

[Snakeyes7]

It reminds me a lot of dedenne.

[SimonPaula]

Thats cute

[Gavyn]

It is! It's a darn shame they never used him.