If you’re an avid Pokemon gamer like me, you’ll be very familiar with MissingNo, a Pokemon that originated in Pokemon Red & Blue. It was a glitch in the game that revealed a Pokemon with no data, and an image that looks like a modern day QR code.
This glitch went viral amongst school playgrounds and was one of the most sought after Pokemon within the game, and was pretty easy to obtain if you had surf.
However, it never made it into future games, and was ignored by Nintendo for eternity. Well, that’s what we thought until a recent GameFreak leak has been shared across the internet thanks to Centro Leaks on X, with thousands upon thousands of files coming to fruition from old and upcoming games.
Many of the leaks showcase sprites, maps, and information of old games, including deleted Pokemon that never made the cut to enter certain games. But one of the most interesting leaks that caught me eye was an unnamed and untitled concept art which could showcase what MissingNo would look like in the modern day.
It is still not confirmed whether or not this is in fact MissingNo, but many of the community have been stating that it could well be. The concept art shows what looks like a rock-type Pokemon, with gecko-like rock limbs that wrap around the main part of MissingNo.
It can slot together or separated to attack/manoeuvre and it has UNOWN symbols along its back that resembles the colours of the original MissingNo sprite. Translated the symbols reveal: “Okutani Jun no Dezain nanodayo”.
This translated into English simply means” Designed by Jun Okutani“. Who was a graphics designer behind many Pokemon games, and a designer of many Pokemon too. Jun’s work with Pokemon was most predominant between 1999 and 2009, which could suggest that MissingNo was close to being featured in Gen 2 or Gen 3 games.
Again, as mentioned there is no extra information regarding this concept image, it could well in fact be for another Pokemon that didn’t or did make the cut. Heck, it could simply be an artefact or an item on the map that never came to fruition.
A part of me really wants to believe that Nintendo/GameFreak have considered MissingNo after the glitch was found by gamers. I have so must nostalgia for it, and would love to see it play a tiny part in future games. The concept art doesn’t stray too far from what many of us envision MissingNo to be.
It was first discovered in the water, which could mean this rock-type would have originally stuck out of the water, or from the side of a cliff in the ocean to mesmerise those surfing on their Pokemon. The UNOWN symbols adds to the weird QR code like imagery on the sides, and the silhouette of one large body part and one slightly smaller adds up too, but perhaps thats me wanting to believe it’s actually MissingNo.
I’d love to know what you think this is, leave a reply in our comments section below, i’m genuinely curious!
