Aside from franchise mascot Pikachu, one of the most famous Pokemon characters in the anime is Team Rocket’s Meowth, who famously gained the ability to speak human language at the cost of his ability to battle.

In a recent interview with Animedia, longtime Pokemon director Kunihiko Yuyama revealed they had originally planned to give Ash’s partner Pikachu this ability as well. After some consideration however, they decided it would be more natural if Ash and Pikachu developed their friendship without having to rely on words, creating the impression of a much stronger bond overall.

Q: Satoshi (Ash) and Pikachu have developed a friendship that transcends species. What do you find most important when depicting their relationship?
Yuyama: The fact that they don’t rely on words. Ever since the beginning of the anime, I’ve wanted to get across the sense that they communicate using nothing but gestures and noises as much as I could. At first we actually toyed with the idea of having Pikachu talk just like the Rocket Gang Meowth does (laughs). However, we talked about how it would be both more realistic and more interesting if they had to communicate non-verbally, so that’s the way it ended up. I think it’d be really difficult to find a pair of humans that can understand each other as near perfectly as Satoshi (Ash) and Pikachu can, but I hope we managed to depict a duo everyone can look up to.

This little tidbit could explain why they had Pikachu speak in Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You!, although initially jarring for fans, perhaps it was a callback to those scrapped plans, and a brief glimpse into a universe where they followed through on the idea.

In the same interview, Yuyama also discussed their reasoning for choosing Pikachu as Ash’s partner Pokemon instead of one of the three traditional starter Pokemon. As one might expect, it was decided so that viewers didn’t feel left out if their favorite starter wasn’t chosen.

Q: Satoshi’s partner Pikachu showed a really strong personality from its very first meeting with Satoshi too, didn’t it?
Yuyama: I think of Pikachu as a combination of cuteness, strength and the ability to bring a few laughs (laughs). By the way, I decided from the very get-go that the Pokémon that would become Satoshi’s partner would not be one of the three you choose between at the start of the video game, since I figured that might make some of the viewers sad. That’s why he ended up with a Pikachu, a desicion I’m really glad I made.

You can read a translation of the full interview here, via Serebii forum user Dephender.

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