Dunsparce evolution | Was Dudunsparce always the intended evolution, or was Game Freak originally considering a radically different concept?

[The Charicific Channel]

Dunsparce has long been one of Pokémon’s most peculiar cases—a single-stage Normal-type with minimal battle prowess, yet deep lore inspired by the Japanese tsuchinoko cryptid. For years, fans speculated that Dunsparce would evolve into something grand, possibly a Dragon-type serpent or an elegant Fairy-type guardian. Instead, we got Dudunsparce, an evolution that doubled down on Dunsparce's original design rather than transforming it into something drastically different.

So, was this always the plan, or did Game Freak at some point consider a completely different direction?

[theSLAYER]

Not GF, so can't say for sure we know what their plans are. Generation 2 had weird design choices, scrapped content, and many odd 'broken pairs'; like Gloom getting a split evo but Weepinbell didn't (was considered and datamined from Spaceworld), and Vulpix not getting a pre-evo despite the Pokedex hinting at it (was also considered and was datamined from Spaceworld), and Farfetch'd's planned evo. However, the one thing that wasn't datamined from Spaceworld, was a Dunsparce evolution.

Granted, that doesn't cover all possible "left on the cutting room floor" ideas, but at the very least, through all the leaks, IIRC Dunsparce evolving wasn't a possibility they pursued.

If I had to hazard a guess, GF saw all the hype around fantastical evolutions, and decided to defy expectations.