Umbreon

Design and development

Pokémon are a species of fictional creatures created for the Pokémon media franchise. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Japanese franchise began in 1996 with the video games Pokémon Red and Green for the Game Boy, which were later released in North America as Pokémon Red and Blue in 1998. In these games and their sequels, the player assumes the role of a Trainer whose goal is to capture Pokémon and use their special abilities to combat other Pokémon. Some Pokémon can transform into stronger species through a process called evolution via various means, such as exposure to specific items. Each Pokémon has one or two elemental types, which define its advantages and disadvantages when battling other Pokémon. A major goal in each game is to complete the Pokédex, a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia, by capturing, evolving, and trading with other Trainers to obtain individuals from all Pokémon species. Each Pokémon game starts by giving the player a choice between one of three Pokémon to become their starter Pokémon. Typically, the options are Grass-type, Fire-type, or Water-type Pokémon. In the second generation, the player can choose between Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile as their starter.

The second generation of Pokémon is set primarily in the region of Johto, which is based on the real-world region of Kansai in Japan. The second generation of Pokémon, unlike other subsequent generations in the series, was primarily designed as a "sequel" to the prior generation, which was focused around the games Pokémon Red and Blue. This resulted in many second-generation species being related to earlier ones, or reviving designs scrapped from Red and Blue. Unlike the prior generation, however, the second generation more clearly defined what a Pokémon species design would look like, with many in the second generation having their designs rooted in some form of real-world origin, such as in the form of plants, animals, and mythological inspirations. Designs for the generation took a more "rural" approach, in contrast to the prior generation, where Pokémon such as Porygon and Muk illustrated more "urban" influences. The release of Pokémon Gold and Silver on the Game Boy Color additionally allowed for more freedom in creating the colors of species in comparison to the prior generation, which tended to have simpler color schemes than those from the second generation.

Two new types were introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver – the "Dark" and "Steel" types – intended to better balance the gameplay of Pokémon battles. Dark and Steel types fare well against the then dominant Psychic type. The concept of breeding was also introduced in the second generation of Pokémon games, which allowed players to manipulate the in-battle skills of their Pokémon to a greater degree. Some of the new Pokémon introduced in Gold and Silver are pre-evolutions of generation one Pokémon, such as Pichu and Igglybuff. Referred to as "Baby Pokémon", they are usually only available by breeding their evolved forms. The generation also introduced a new variation of Pokémon called Shiny Pokémon, which are rare versions of Pokémon with alternate color palettes from a standard version of the species.

Scrapped Pokémon

Pokémon Gold and Silver were first revealed at Nintendo Space World, a live trade show event, in 1997. A demo was showcased at Space World, which was not made publicly available again until it was later leaked online in 2018. At this point in the games' development, they had a significantly larger world map than the final game and featured around 41 Pokémon designs that were either removed or replaced when the games were released in 1999. These designs included scrapped pre-evolutions for Pokémon from the first generation, such as Paras, Meowth, and Doduo, and scrapped evolutions for Farfetch'd, Qwilfish, Pinsir, Weepinbell and Ditto. Some scrapped designs are believed to have later been reused for future games such as Tangrowth, Sharpedo, Leafeon and Lickilicky; however this has not been officially confirmed. Many entirely unique designs with no association to other species were also discovered, such as a flaming seal, a doll impaled with a nail that evolves into a panda-like being, a Dark-type cat evolutionary line, and a shell Pokémon (named Taaban) that bears resemblance to the shells seen on the tail and head of the Pokémon species Slowbro and Slowking respectively. Many Pokémon introduced in the second generation also had design differences from their final incarnations.

One of the most popular designs discovered in the beta was the Kotora evolutionary line; consisting of Kotora, Raitora and an unnamed third evolution. This line was given the Electric-typing and was based on tigers, with Kotora's name translating to "baby tiger" and Raitora's translating to "thunder tiger". It was discovered that the Kotora line had been scrapped from both the first and second generations. Due to its cute design, many Pokémon fans were disappointed about the Kotora line being scrapped and hoped for its return in a future Pokémon game.

A big change from the demo were the starter Pokémon. Aside from Chikorita, both the Fire-type and Water-type starters were different species instead of the Cyndaquil and Totodile lines chosen in the final game. The Fire starter was initially filled by Honōguma (translated into Flambear for the English version), a bear-like Pokémon that slightly resembles Pikachu. Honōguma would eventually evolve into Borubeaa (Volbear in English) and Dainabea (Dynabear in English). The water starter was initially filled by the Kurusu (Cruz in English), a seal-like Pokémon that bears a resemblance to the seventh generation starter Popplio. Kurusu eventually evolves into Akua (Aqua in English) and Akueria (Aquaria in English).

In April 2020, two more leaks were documented online, one from a demo from Space World 1999 and the other from a pre-Space World 1997 build of Gold and Silver. The latter leak, dubbed the Korean Index due to being discovered within a Korean backup file, featured more previously unseen scrapped designs such as Pokémon based on a koala, snow rabbits [ja] (雪うさぎ), a Viking longship, as well as designs resembling early versions of later generation species Chimecho and Burmy. These leaks, as well as the Space World 1997 demo leak, were a part of a series of continuous data leaks known as the Nintendo Gigaleak.

Reception

Cian Maher, writing for TheGamer, considered the generation's Pokédex to have the strongest selection of Pokémon, noting its particularly memorable designs. In a later article co-written with Dave Aubrey for USA Today, he elaborated on the opinion, stating Pokémon such as Tyranitar, Heracross, Scizor, Houndoom and Typhlosion were why the second generation had the best line-up of Pokémon out of any given Pokémon generation. Kayleigh Partleton, in an article for Pocket Tactics, found several of the designs from the generation, including Furret, Scizor, Wobbuffet, Miltank, Snubbull, Entei, and Togepi, as highly favorable and well-crafted. Hayes Madsen, in a retrospective for Pokémon Gold and Silver, regarded the games' designs as among the most creative, citing Smeargle, Hitmontop, Wooper, and Unown as examples of designs that did not feel "formulaic".

Lowell Bell, in a ranking of each generation's Pokémon for Nintendo Life, stated that the second generation's Pokédex was the weakest out of all generations. He stated that while several designs, such as the final evolutions of the Starter Pokémon, Scizor, Espeon, and Umbreon were popular and well-designed, many of the generation's Pokémon, such as Ledian, Stantler, Pineco, and Sunflora, were forgettable, deeming a large majority of the generation "disappointing" as a result. Patricia Hernandez, writing for Kotaku, found that the second generation's designs were a "baby step" in comparison to the design philosophy of the first, stating that many designs were anchored in or were based around design concepts from the first generation. She believed that subsequent generations had more original and creative designs as a result.

In a 2016 poll held by The Pokémon Company, Umbreon, Tyranitar, and Lugia were voted to be among the top thirty most popular Pokémon among voters. A later poll determined the three aforementioned Pokémon, alongside Typhlosion, Scizor, and Ampharos, to be among the six most popular Pokémon of the generation.