Summary:

- The article discusses how the Pokemon franchise almost took a very different direction in the West, with plans for a gritty, baseball-themed RPG instead of the classic Pokemon games.
- The proposed concept would have featured a more mature and realistic take on the Pokemon world, with the creatures being used in a baseball-like sport rather than the traditional battles.
- However, this alternate version of Pokemon was ultimately scrapped, and the franchise went on to become the hugely successful and iconic series that we know today.