Takeshi Shudo, Chief Creative and Head Writer for the Pokemon Anime from The Very Beginning up until 2002 (the first 5 seasons). During that time, Shudo created 2 light novels that were based on His Idea on how the Pokemon Anime Should be, Ideas that were rejected by the Producers.
To say that he wasn't thrilled was an understatement, but he begrudgingly went along with what his Superiors asked of him, after all, it was best for business, whether he liked it or not. It was a Team effort, and Shudo realized that he had to be a team player.
Shudo had a quite a history of substance use (tranquilizers, mostly) and alcohol-ism, coupled with constant depression that he never got treatment for. He would write his scripts and characters while either drunk or high, and mentioned that the booze and tranquilizers got his creative juices flowing, but he knew not to overdo it. Despite this, though, Shudo would be hospitalized many times during his time as Head Writer and Chief Creative.
Speaking of Creative Writing, Shudo had a tendency to create his characters by forms of method acting, in which he would speak in various different mannerisms and personalities while working.
Shudo would quit the Creative and relinquished his roll as Head Writer, sometime after his idea and script for the 3rd Movie were shot down, that was the last straw for Him.
In 2008/2009, Shudo created a blog, which talked about his life, as well as Ideas he had for the Pokemon Anime and Movies.
In 2010, He collapsed in a train station and died due to a brain hemorrhage at 61.
And that's an abridged description on Who Takeshi Shudo was. With that out of the way, Let's dive into His Version of The Pokemon Anime World.
Well, for starters, Takeshi Shudo's version of the World was way darker and more screwed up (but still fascinating).
10-Year-Old were considered Legal Adults, and could do Everything Adults can do And have All of the responsibilities that an Adult has. On the other side of that spectrum, 40-Year-Olds are legally considered to be Senior Citizens, and be treated as such.
This is Not my Favorite part of Shudo's Vision...in fact, I think it's stupid and pedo. But It Does raise a question? If 10-Year Olds are considered to be Adults, does that mean 6 to 8-Year Olds are considered to be Young Adults?
Anyway, moving on, If a Gym Leader Loses 5 Pokemon Battles in a row, they are Fired from their Job. And in order to keep employment, Gym Leaders are forced to Bribe Challengers into letting them win. This explains Why Misty's Sisters refused to Fight and Why Lt. Surge was so damn Brutal.
The Pokemon League seem to to be totally incompetent in these novels, because if a Gym Leader loses their Job, which likely is their Livelihood, the League would have to find New Gym Leaders. And what if they run out of Competent Leaders to find? And What about the Indigo Tournament?
If A Gym Leader never losses, then the Tournaments are gonna be bare, due to the lack of fresh participants. And since he Pokemon Master Test and the Pokemon School/Academy doesn't seem to exist in Shudo's World, earning Gym Badges is the only way to qualify for the Tournament.
And what about the fired Gym Leaders? What are They gonna do after they are fired? As for most, being a Gym Leader Is their livelihood. They'd be out of work and unable to provide for themselves and their families, unless they have relatives who run businesses, they're out of luck. The only thing left is to turn to crime or even join Team Rocket, due to the strict requirements for jobs in This World. This situation is made Even Worse for the Males.
Speaking of.. Nearly all the Male trainers in the World that have failed miserably And have no family owned businesses, are forced into a life of crime, due to having little to no employable skills. This leaves most of the jobs to the Women,who are considered to be more capable than Men.
Segueing to the next Factoid... The Officer Jenny's (Junsa in Japan) are a family that represent the region's entire Police Force, even though their number are kinda low to be considered a proper Police Force. Thankfully, they are more than competent and fit enough to do the job. Also, Jenny is their Family name, Not their First name.
On a related note, Nurse Joy is a Doctor, instead of a nurse. And is in the same situation as the Jenny's. (ie. a family of Pokemon Doctors with the Surname of Joy.)
While we're still talking about the Jenny's. Pallet Town doesn't have any, being deemed too small and too broke to have a police presence. Instead, volunteers patrol the town.
And while we're on the subject of Pallet Town... It's poverty-stricken. That's right, it's a Broke Town, with with few jobs or any access for the residents to better themselves. Most Pallet Residents try and fail to make it as Pokémon Trainers.
The only Trainer from Pallet who even made it into the Top 1000, was hailed a Hero, due to being the Only one in town to achieve it. Everyone else, including Ash's Own Father and Grandfather, barely managed to crack the top 5000.
BTW, The Man who achieved the Top 1000 (ranked #931) was Professor Oak's ancestor, Pallet Oak, who was not only hailed a Hero, but was also named Mayor AND Had the Town named after him. Because of this, both Ash and Gary want to do even better, so that the Town can be renamed after them.
Those who fail, of course, end up turning to lives of crime to survive...especially the Boys and Men.
And another thing, every Parent in Town, except for Delia, is a total loser and jerkass. Though even She has her issues.
Moving away from Pallet Town. Generally and Culturally, leaving home to become a Trainer is considered taking full responsibility for your own life and turning your back on your home for good. This is why most Trainers who fail never come home, as they haven't got one anymore.
Pewter City Museum has no weekend traffic and makes up for its lack of major exhibits with whatever they've dug up, from crystals to lumps of coal.
The origins of Pokemon would've been vaguely explained. Pokemon would've just appeared one night after the other.
Most Characters of the Day from the Anime do not appear in the Novels and the Viridian Forrest Samurai is just a Bug Catcher.
Shudo had 3 Endings planned for the Anime 1 - A Pokemon Rebellion,lead by Pikachu and Meowth after the Mon are convinced that Humans were just using them as slaves. This would eventually lead to Ash realizing that he had Zero Idea as to What a Pokemon Master really was and then realizes that his Dream to become one was all for naught.
2 - Fast Forwarding to Ash as an Very Old Man, who was recalling the Adventures that he had and Friendships that he made, right before dying, only to be woken up by his Mother as a 10-year old, ready to start his Pokemon journey.
And 3 - Mewtwo Strikes Back
The 1st 2 planned endings would've Only worked if the Entire Anime was going to end. Planned Ending 1 especially would make it almost impossible for More Seasons to be created. It's also worth noting that the Anime was Only gonna last 1 Season. But due to the Anime's jolt in popularity, it was decided that the Series would continue.
With his endings shot down and the plan to continue the Anime past Kanto in the works, Shudo planned on having the Series grow with it's Audience and be maturer and maturer each Season, complete with Different Main Characters and Villains for each of the Seasons.
As usual, the Producers hated the idea, wanting the Pokemon Anime to gain a New Audience of Youngsters with each Season, instead of just catering to the same ones who grew up with the Anime.
This is something I also agree with, as having the Series become more and more mature would alienate a whole future generation of young Pokemon Fans. After all, The franchise, as a whole, was /is supposed to be mainly targeted towards kids.
Pokémon went on a four-month hiatus after the "Electric Soldier Porygon" incident, where thousands of Japanese Kids were hospitalized with seizures thanks to one scene in the episode. This was because the producers needed to investigate and revise the guidelines on what animation techniques were appropriate for television viewing, especially for kids.
This event would be known as Pokemon Shock and thanks to it, the episode "Electric Soldier Porygon" was never re-aired Or broadcast in other countries.
One of Takeshi Shudo's blogs revealed that there would have been an
anime episode prior to the movie where Ash and Mewtwo crossed paths, but
the four-month hiatus brought on by Pokemon Shock put an end to that. Now, let's talk about the Movies Shudo wrote.
The Original idea for the 1st Movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back, was for
Mewtwo to be a Villain who wanted revenge against Ash, but again, thanks to Pokemon
Shock, and the Episode where Ash and Mewtwo meet getting scrapped, this plan had to be changed. The 2nd Idea was to have Mewtwo still be a Villain, but one who wanted to overthrow Humanity and rule a World of just Pokemon.
Needless to say, Takeshi Shudo Hated that idea and rewrote the script to be much deeper....behind his Superiors backs, thanks to them being too busy dealing with ways to prevent another Pokemon Shock.
According to His blog, Takeshi Shudo intended for Mew to be "violent and unpredictable", and was angered that humans created a clone of it. It was also revealed that Mew was intended to have a speaking role, but that was changed in later script revisions. Mew picking a fight with Mewtwo in the Final Film still conveys this sentiment.
As I stated earlier, Mewtwo Strikes Back was gonna be the finale of the Anime, but this was vetoed and turned into just a continuation of Ash's Adventures. One has to wonder what the movie would've been like had Pokemon Shock never happened? Or had the Producers Greenlit Shudo's idea for the Alternate Ending? Like with How many licks I'd take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop... The World may Never know. Onward to the Next Movie, The Power of One.
Takeshi Shudo's first draft for the 2nd movie, The Power of One, did not feature Ash, Team Rocket, or any of the supporting characters from the Anime at all. It was only at the urging of the higher-ups that he added them in later drafts of the script. Who would've replaced the Main Characters is a Mystery, as Shudo never really told us.
Shudo also created Lugia, solely for this Movie and future movies. He was shocked when Nintendo and Gamefreak added it to the games. Shudo also intended Lugia to be Female as the Maternal Goddess of the Sea. He was pissed when he found out that not Only was Lugia given a Male Voice in the Movie, but was also made Genderless in the games.
Shudo's original script for the 3rd movie was about a T-Rex fossil on a rampage which also addressed the idea of real animals in the Pokémon World. It was rejected because, according to the suits, a story where a bunch of minerals that gain consciousness and comes to life wouldn't be a hit. And they wanted the Movie to be a Major Hit.
The early "Rampaging Dino Fossil" script had an entirely different story addressing the question of, "What happened to real animals in the Pokemon world".
So, it went like this, after the discovery of a fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex. Real animals would have been established to have existed (complete with photographs), yet no-one alive remembers seeing any. While the fossil is being studied, it comes to life and starts rampaging across the region, eventually hitting Pallet Town and Team Rocket's base. The Movie would've had Ash's Team, Team Rocket and Every Kanto Pokemon, sans Mew and Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, and Lugia team up to try to stop the Rampaging Fossil.
Where the Fossil would've ended up is a mystery, as Shudo intended to reveal it in a future Blog Post, which never happened, due to his death.
Personally, I'm intrigued on what this Alt-Pokemon 3 would've been like had it been made. Anyway, on to the creation of the Real Pokemon 3 - Spell of the Unown.
Shudo was hospitalized during the production of the 3rd movie, know known as The Spell of the Unknown. Though he recovered, he didn't feel like going back to working on it, so he asked Hideki Sonoda to finish writing the story.
Upon finding out the woman who shows up during the credits was supposed to be Molly's real mother, who was just in the hospital and not dead, Takeshi was outraged. He felt that this went against the story he was originally writing. As a result, he never wrote another Pokémon movie after this.
Y'see, Shudo felt that the relationship between a Father and a Daughter was something the media never focused too much on and so wrote the Movie with his daughter, Mii in mind (who was born when he was 45). He added the character Mii/Molly as a tribute and gift for his own Daughter, as he had serious doubts about his health and felt that he could die at any day.
Another reason why Shudo hated the change was because Shudo's Own mother died in the hospital and felt that the change from The Mother being dead to the Mother being hospitalized, ruined the Father/Daughter connection.
And like I stated, He was so Angry and frustrated, he never wrote another Pokemon Movie Again. Alright, on to the 4th Movie.
The 4th Movie's plot, as we know it, wasn't supposed to exist at all, but thanks to the Producers deciding at the last minute that Celebi should be in the movie instead of the Anime, Sans the GS Ball, the GS ball sub-quest was abandoned with no conclusion.
In the Anime, The GS Ball was originally supposed to be opened and contain a Celebi, which would then have its own story arc. But, the Producers decided to use Celebi in 4th Pokemon Movie instead....Sans the GS Ball!
Though the GS Ball subplot ended up being dropped completely. It would be featured in the Japanese version of Pokemon Crystal, and eventually be made available worldwide in the Virtual Console version.
Takeshi Shudo had very little to do with this Movie, but it Did make a major change to one his Anime Story Arcs - the GS Ball Sidequest. Shudo was upset at his Superiors for forcing the GS Ball Saga to end prematurely without a conclusion.
Rumor has it that Movie 4 was gonna implement Shudo's 1st Ending, where the Pokemon rebelled against Humanity after being convinced that they were being used as the Human's slaves. Of course, this was before the decision to make the movie about Celebi (without the GS Ball).
A 3rd novel was in the works, but Shudo died before he could complete it.
Now, for some Shudo-verse Character Tidbits.
Ash Ketchum / Satoshi
- Acts fanboyish towards Pinsir, a trait not found in the anime version.
- He's ten-going-on-eleven when he starts his Pokémon journey. However, in his society, he's considered an adult.
- He loves his Momma.
- His father left when Ash was a baby to become a Pokemon trainer.
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Pikachu
- If Pikachu evolves into Raichu too quickly, the power boost would give it a heart attack.
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Delia Ketchum / Hanako
- She isn't even 30 and has a nearly 11 year old son.
- She's a minor character in the Kanto arc of the Anime and is just "Ash's mother", but here's she's given a backstory.
- Her father went on a Pokémon journey when she was a child and never returned.
- Delia is mentioned to usually wear miniskirts, while in the show she wears a longer, regular skirt.
- Though not completely contradictory, Pokémon 3 implies that Delia has a different backstory in the anime. It's mentioned that she was Professor Oak's student once, with no mentions of her restaurant from the books.
- Delia often gets mistaken for her son's older sister.
- The books go into depth on her more than the actual anime. It's also mentioned that, though she loves her son, she was happy to have him out of the house so that she can relive her youth. She also has severe issues with the abandonment by both her husband and her father
.- Even though she wanted her son to go on his journey as soon as possible so that she could relive her youth. She still loves him very much but she's clearly enjoying her independence as much as he's enjoying his.
- She's hiding more troubles than she appears to be, unlike her Anime counterpart.
- She became pregnant with Ash around age 18.
- At age 17, she was featured on the cover of a adult targeted magazine called Pokémon Pals, becoming both a symbol of pride for the remote and ignored Pallet Town as well as being far too good for the men of Pallet Town after such recognition.
- She owns a restaurant, which she never has in the Anime. :
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Ash's Father
- He left on a Pokémon journey one day and hasn't called his family since.
- He married Delia as a teenager, not long after meeting her. He later wanted to go on a Pokémon Journey so he abandoned his wife and young son.
- He isn't given a name.
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Gary Oak / Shigeru Ookido
- It is implied that Gary's attitude is a result of feeling pressure to live up to his family's accomplishments. He descends from the greatest Trainer in the history of Pallet Town.
- The Cheerleaders he has were hired by his Father, who's the Mayor of Pallet Town, to give his son more encouragement.
- Gary's Dad is Pallet Town's Mayor.
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Misty / Kasumi
- Misty Holds her father in high regard, despite the fact that both he and her mother abandoned her and her three sisters.
- Misty's sisters have darker red hair naturally and their multi-colored hair are just wigs.
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Brock / Takeshi
Brock has 20 different siblings, as apposed to 9 in the anime. He's gone through nine different dads because his mother had married various men, unlike the anime where he and his siblings share the same parents.
- He never uses Geodude and never catches Zubat.
- He hits on any girl he thinks is pretty, even Misty. In the Anime, he only flirts with girls and women who are either older or the same age as him, and he never hits on his traveling companions.
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James / Koujiro
- Everytime James hears an expression or figure of speech, he needs to look it up.
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Jessie / Musashi
- Jessie had a mother, who was a high ranking member of Team Rocket, thus why she's a member too.
- Unlike Ash's and Gary's Fathers, Jessie's Mother has a name - Miyamoto.
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Meowth / Nyarth
-Besides the Human Language (Japanese), Meowth can also speak and understand various Pokemon Languages too
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Giovanni / Sakaki
- Giovanni's Mother was the Original Leader of Team Rocket, before he took over.
- His Mother is/was known Only as Madam Boss.
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The Narrator
- He's snarky in these Novels.
- He's rumored to be Takeshi Shudo himself.
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Now it's time for some Wild Mass Guessing, where I give my own theories about the Rest of Takeshi Shudo's Pokemon World that was never revealed.
Note: Since Shudo only did the Original Series (which covers kanto through johto), I'll only be focusing on that.
Note: These guesses are in NO WAY Word of God and are just Theories, Theories that Could be Proven False later.
Since the 2nd Light Novel ended with Ash defeating Lt. Surge for the Thunderbadge, I'll start these theories with the St. Anne/SS Anne episode. In Shudo's Novels, it is said that many young Men and Women (mostly men) who fail at being Pokemon Trainers and have no means of getting a Job, turn to crime. Well my theory is that when Ash and his Team encounter the Greater Team Rocket, they recognize some of the Grunts as Old Friends and Acquaintances.
Giovanni would've acted much Much more like a Yakuza Head than in the Main Anime.
Brock would've attempted to flirt with Erika and then, Sabrina. Erika would've shot him down and Sabrina, thinking that Brock's advances as sheer stupidity, would've actually hurt him. Brock never flirts with them in the Anime Proper.
Speaking of Sabrina, She would've been much more Dangerous and much Creepier than she was in the Anime.
And due to that dumb "Fired After 5 Loses in a Row" rule for the Gym Leaders, it would've explained Why Erika has such strict standards for Challengers, Why Sabrina is downright Mean and Scary, Why Koga's Gym if full of Dangerous Traps, and Why Blaine hid his Gym in a Volcano, only allowing Trainers who pass his test to Challenge Him. They didn't want to lose their livelihoods, so they needed to take precautions. None this is explained in the Anime.
As for Giovanni, he likely didn't care too much about losing his Gym License, as he was the head of the biggest Crime Organization in The Joint Kanto-Johto Regions....and possibly the richest.
Speaking of, It might have been revealed that the Viridian City Gym would've been used as one of Many Rocket-Owned Business. Or even a front for one of their HQs. Maybe Both. Again, Why Team Rocket Owns an Official Gym goes unexplained in the Anime.
I doubt, I may be in the wrong here, that The Rocket Duo, Cassidy and Butch, would've been featured in the Novels.
The Rocket Trio's backstories Would've been explained a bit more than what was seen or told in the Anime. Shudo liked the Rocket Trio more than any other Antagonist in the series, so this would've made sense.
My guess is that Jessie was abandoned by her Mother at age 10,so that she could provide a better life for her by joining Team Rocket, eventually becoming a Top Agent. Jessie would've then later joined Team Rocket to follow in her Mother's footsteps.
James's parents, like in the anime, were oppressive toward their son. So He ran away to join Team rocket, where Jessie, already a member, would've taken a liking to James and would've convinced Giovanni to let him join.
As for Meowth, his backstory would've remained the same as in the Anime, except he would've fathered a Bastard Meowth with ,his then girlfriend, Meowsie.
Whether or not Brock would've perused a career in Pokemon Breeding in these Novels is anyone's guess, as Shudo never really mentioned it. I'd like to think that he still does.
I'd like to think that the Indigo Tournament, had Shudo reached that point in his Novels, would've been the same in the Anime, but Ash and Gary would've taken their losses harder, due to the current situation in Pallet Town (mentioned above).
However, for Gary, I'd imagine he'd go into Politics and join the Oak Political Dynasty, or at least become a Pokemon Researcher, following in his Grandfather's Footsteps, like he did in the Anime.
While Ash would consider joining Team Rocket, though he would be convinced by Prof. Oak, Delia, and His Friends not to. Plus, Oak would tell Ash that by coming in 16th at the Tournament, he did better than Any Pallet Town Trainer..including Pallet Oak, His Father, and Grandfather. And with that, Ash would be encouraged to continue his Pokemon Journey.
Now for some Orange Islands Saga Theories. I believe that Tracy Sketchit would've been a bit more perverted, when he's sketching girls and women that he thought were pretty, he draws them in a very mature way. This Is Takeshi Shudo's World, after all.
In the Actual Anime, Tracy's perverted tenancies are way way more subtle, as when he sketches women and girls, he draws them as is.
The GS Ball Quest would've started here, just like the Anime, with Prof. Ivy giving the GS Ball to Ash and Co. Speaking of Prof. Ivy, She would've likely been very flirtatious in these Novels, very much unlike her Anime Counterpart. Again, Welcome to Shudo's Pokemon World.
Misty would've develop more of a Girl-Crush on Lorelei (Kanna) than what was depicted in the Anime. I believe Shudo would've done this too.
Now for some Johto Theories. It would've been revealed that the Reason Brock left Professor Ivy was due to the fact that she was either a Married Woman Or a Lesbian....maybe. This is just a widespread Theory, which may or may not be fact. In the Anime, it was never explained Why Brock left Prof. Ivy.
Speaking of Brock, I wager that in Shudo's Johto Saga, He would hit on The 3 Female Johto Gym Leaders in a more adult way. This is how Shudo envisioned The Character, after all.
As stated earlier, The GS Ball Quest Was gonna have a definitive conclusion near the end of the Johto Saga of the Anime, which it would've been revealed that the GS Ball would've contained Celebi. Well, here's how I'd think this abandoned Arc would've been:
Kirk gives Ash and Co the GS Ball back and there would be a reveal that it contains Celebi. Team Rocket finds out about it and plans on stealing the Ball, unleash Celebi, and use it's powers to take over the World.. This would've been the Anime debut of the Rocket Execs from Gold and Silver. The Arc would end with the Rockets arrested (though not the main trio) and Celebi roaming free.
Again, this is me Wild Mass Guessing on how the Episode might have gone, had the Show's Producers decided to give the GS Ball Quest an ending, instead of just leaving it incomplete.
It is unknown if Shudo would've implemented one of his 2 planned ending for these Novels.
Now, everyone is wondering about The Elite 4 and Johto Gym Leaders? Well, as far as the Elite 4 goes, Shudo himself never really said anything about any penalties for them if they lose. So there's that.
As for the Johto Gym Leaders? There's evidence to suggest that Shudo abandoned his infamous "5 Losses And You're Fired" Rule for the Gym Leaders after the Kanto Saga, as the Johto Gym Leaders are a bit more chill than their Kantonian Counterparts and don't seem to mind losing.
So I figured that instead of the Johto Leaders being Total Retards, that stupid Shudo rule was thrown out before the start of the Johto Saga,
And that's all I got for these Theories. Theories that show how things Might have been, had Takeshi Shudo lived and made more light Novels (not to mention finishing and publishing his 3rd one).
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For more Info on Shudo's Works. Please go to the following addresses: https://pokemonthenovel.dreamwidth.org/380.html and https://lavacutcontent.com/takeshi-shudo-ending-pokemon/
That was a completely interesting romp, wouldn't ya say. Well, that's it for now. So, Until Next Time, Punch a Nazi, Kick a Commie, Resist Modern Attitudes, and Stay Gold!
R.I.P.
Takeshi Shudo
8/18/1949 - 10/29/2010
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