Since when is this abomination a Gen 1 pokemon?

I stopped caring about pokemon entirely after Blue/Red and Yellow and in my mind this embarassment was always a prime example of the "K mart knock-off look" that Gen 2 and all subsequent gens had. And now you're telling me it's part of Gen 1 all along?

I feel like I must've been drugged and transported into a parallel dimension at some point between 1998 and now. What the fuck's going on?