>>52760440Pokemon revealed in advance of their gen were basically the shillmon of yesteryear
For gen 2 I remember Ho-Oh and Togepi in Indigo, Maril in Orange Islands, Lugia and Slowking in the second movie, Donphan in the first movie, Snubbul in the first movie's short, and Belossom in the second movie's short.
For gen 3 I remember Kecleon being the first gen 3 Pokemon shown in media by a long shot. Wailmer in the cute short for 4ever, and then the Lati@s movie, with Blaziken in the silver conference. I'm not sure what else desu.
In both cases, I don't particularly recall media for the franchise pushing me towards particular Pokemon. IIRC the marketing machine was really focused on the sheer quantity for the first 3 gens. I had lots of merch, and toys came in packs of multiple mons, the BK toys were focused on trade nights and your ability to get as many as you could, workbooks/stickers/pokedex toys/info books were all focused on the ensemble cast and the concept of "the world of Pokemon" much more than the individual. Sure Pikachu, Charizard, Mewtwo, and Poliwhirl were on the cover of my Pokemon handbook, but they had just as much info in the book as Oddish or Cubone.
