Lost Pokemon of the Week:

A beta leak in 2020 revealed that only a few months before launch, Gold & Silver contained a Girafarig pre-evolution called Tsuinzu. It ended up getting cut at the last minute, but there's even more to the story.

(More info continued in thread) (1/4)

(2/4) Pictured above was actually Tsuinzu's final design before getting cut. Another leak from two years earlier in development showed that in Gold & Silver's 1997 demo, Tsuinzu originally looked like this -- and Girafarig was actually planned to have two equally-sized heads.

(3/4) Tsuinzu and Girafarig were both Dark/Normal type early in development. But in the end, Tsuinzu got scrapped and never returned to the series -- while Girafarig ended up with the design we have today, and had its type revised to Normal/Psychic.

(4/4) To see dozens more Lost Pokemon, learn about their origins and lore, and see how their designs changed in development, check out this new 20 minute video:

All beta sprites in this thread come from 2018-2020 leaks, with recreation art by @RacieBeep.