A new Game Freak design from Pokémons past has surfaced online showing what a scrapped Delibird evolution looked like, or could look like if one is added in the future. 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of Pokémon franchise, and it's far from the first time unreleased Pokemon have appeared online, either through leaks or official posts. In this case, the Delibird evolution was part of the planned set of Pokémon for Generation 4, Pokemon Diamond and Pearland it comes from a DVD showing Game Freak at work on the games in 2004.
Likewise an old design for a potential Lapras pre-evolution i Pokémon surfaced online after 20 years, considering it was slated for Gen 4, but first designed sometime between 2003 and 2004. While this isn't a leak, as the DVD was allegedly acquired legally at auction, the franchise has seen a plethora of leaks regarding unreleased Pokémon over the years. One of the biggest was in Gen 9, when the entire Pokedex was leaked online about a week before the games release. Some leaks have also appeared for Gen 10, although they cannot be confirmed at this time.
Pokemon Shows Official Unreleased Delibird Evolution in Gen 4 Documentary
-
Image via Pokemon TCG Pocket -
-
The “Pokemon Diamond and Pearl: Behind the Scenes DVD — DO EVERYTHING” The documentary surfaced online recently, including footage of many released beta designs and unreleased Pokémon. The DVD was revealed when it was listed at auction earlier this year. More recently, a collector named Neos was able to acquire a copy of the DVD, and its contents were then shared online. Among the many Pokémon in the documentary is a new version of I Deron, but not a fuistic builds more on Delibird's Christmas themes by making the Pokémon look like a bird version of Santa Claus.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Start
The unreleased Delibird evolution is shared on lewtwo.net as a beta sketch, but it was never released. The documentary includes many early sketches for Pokemon that were eventually released, such as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Baxcalibur and Tandemaus, Pokemon sun and moons Sandygast and more. Fans can also see early designs for popular Gen 4 Pokémon, such as the starters, their evolutions, Dialga, Palkia, and even Arceus. These iterations didn't pan out, but obviously shaped the Pokémon that fans know today.
Pokémons yellow Shellos and Gastrodon also make an appearance, with their first mention of the year Pokopiawhich says that scientists studied yellow forms of these Pokémon. It appears that these designs may return in Gen 10, though Pokopia lore is everything to go by. After all, many beta designs for Gen 4 found their way into the franchise at a later date, so it would make sense for the hyped yellow Shellos and Gastrodon to follow suit.
Even the unreleased Delibird evolution could join the mix, although this is the first time it's been mentioned and shown to the world. Fans will have to wait and see Pokemon winds and waves' Brand new Pokémon will include some of the scrapped designs from Gen 4, but that could very well happen.
- Released
-
2027
- Multiplayer
-
Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
