>>48484337all of nishida's sprites, including when the pre-evos were shown in SW97 follow the 40x40, 48x48, 56x56 with the only exception being Pikachu > Raichu > Gorochu, where Pika is 40x40 and Raichu is 56x56.
If Gorochu was really cut and Raichu kept as is, Raichu would've been a 48x48 sprite. It's rumored that current Raichu is a mix of Gorochu's original sprite and Raichu's original design.
