User blog comment:Aandrew07/Discussion of the Week: Subspecies/@comment-5020152-20121021170912/@comment-58.169.80.29-20121024120058

I think what they meant was that in first gen, they weren't really considered subspecies, e.g. Green Plesioth was just a Plesioth which happened to be green, it wasn't meant to be considered a subspecies. In first gen, the quests for the "subspecies" didn't mention that it was a different-colour variant (using Green Plesioth as an example again, a quest would simply say "Hunt 1 Plesioth", without mentioning that it was a Green Plesioth). I'm guessing the "subspecies" in first-gen were simply a reason to have a greater variety in weapons/armour, and the whole "subspecies" idea didn't happen until Unite, where, as we all know, the subs differ from the originals more. It would be interesting to see if the Japanese versions of the games made mention of them being subspecies.