Unfortunately, as delightful as it would be to see some of these preevolutions, they’re merely a combination of urban legends and speculation after the discovery of pokémon such as happiny. You see, in the early 90s, the internet was quite a strange place, and as such, some people created webpages dedicated to what they wished had preevolved forms, complete with “pages” cataloging such (this was before blogging) and rather expertly done doctored images, often of such things as mops or kittens. These pages took off and managed to convince others who were less familiar with the more creative side of the internet, and before anyone realized it, the rumors took off.

No one’s quite sure what eventually killed the first craze of “baby pokémon,” although it may have had to do with the thorough debunking early Web 2.0 engaged in. Eventually, people forgot about it until nostalgia-based blogs and social media outlets dug up those old pages.

It certainly brings me back to my childhood, I must admit. The early web was a fascinating place, readers.