Rhydon: The First Pokémon Design
The usual answer is Rhydon—not Bulbasaur, the first entry in the familiar Pokédex. Pokémon designer Ken Sugimori has identified Rhydon as the first creature designed for the original games. That makes it the earliest design in the development story, not the first Pokémon players encounter or the first number in the catalog.
Why the First Design Wasn’t Number One
The original games were built around the idea of catching and collecting creatures, so the team needed a roster that could work inside a limited Game Boy adventure. Designers developed the creatures as part of that larger project; the Pokédex order was an organizing choice, not a record of which sketches came first.
Rhydon’s sturdy, horned silhouette also hints at the series’ early visual language: Pokémon needed to read clearly as small pixel sprites, while still suggesting distinct personalities and abilities. Its design was simple enough to be recognizable at a glance, but unusual enough to feel like a creature worth discovering.
A Prototype That Became a Landmark
Rhydon’s early place in development left traces beyond its own entry. Its figure appears as a statue in the original games’ gyms, a small visual echo of how foundational the design was to the world being built. So the answer depends on what “first” means: Rhydon was the first Pokémon designed, while Bulbasaur begins the numbered Pokédex.
