Core series

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A version of the Pokémon games is a game, up to present, always released on a Nintendo handheld system and developed by Game Freak, which follows the now-standard model of a player's journey through a specific region to collect all of the species of Pokémon there. Collectively, the twenty games (twenty-one in Japan and twelve in South Korea) released with the label Version after the game's title are known by fans as the main series of Pokémon games. In Japan, this series of games is officially named Pocket Monsters Series (Japanese: ポケットモンスターシリーズ).[1]

File:Red Title.png
The title screen of the English Pokémon Red Version

Version formula

What makes a Pokémon game a version, aside from the label on the box and game media, is the standard plot which is shared by all of them. The player begins the game in a small town, having no Pokémon of their own. Through a course of events, he or she* will come into contact with their region's native Pokémon Professor, who will then allow them to keep a Starter Pokémon of their choice. The Starter Pokémon is always one of a group of three, a Grass-type, Fire-type, or Water-type, and the character who will become the player's rival will choose or already have the Pokémon whose type is super effective against that of the player's choice. The exceptions to this are Yellow, in which the player starts with Pikachu and the rival starts with Eevee, and Black and White, where one of the player's rivals, Bianca, starts with the Pokémon whose type is not very effective against the player's.

It is at this point where the storyline of all these games diverge. The player is allowed to journey across the entire region, capturing any Wild Pokémon he or she chooses to, and using a party he or she assembles to take on the eight Gym Leaders of the region. Alongside encounters with both other Trainers and repeated interactions with their rival, a villainous team will arrive to cause trouble early on in the player's quest, touting plans to seriously affect the world detrimentally and sometimes to capture Legendary Pokémon to do their bidding.

After all eight Gym Leaders have been defeated, by showing the Gym Badges to a guard or many guards, the player can enter the Pokémon League, where the Elite Four and Champion await challengers.

Though the game can be considered over as soon as the player has defeated the Champion, the player's other task of completing the Pokédex remains. After this has been done, the player will receive a diploma for completing the regional Pokédex and another for completing the National Pokédex (only one diploma is awarded in games with only one Pokédex). Starting in Generation III, a new task is added in order to fully complete the game: obtaining all Trainer card stars.

Mascots

Main article: Version mascot

On the boxart for each game, one Pokémon, always introduced during the generation that game is a part of, or a remake of, will appear. This Pokémon has become known by fans as a version mascot, and beginning in Generation II, has always (with the exception of FireRed and LeafGreen, remakes of the Japanese Red and Green from Generation I) been the Legendary Pokémon available in that game at the climax of the storyline.

Relation to one another

When a generation of Pokémon games begins, a pair of games, seen as counterparts to one another, is always released. These paired versions feature the same exact storyline as each other, but some of the Pokémon available in either one are different. For example, one game may have the Electric-type Pokémon Electabuzz, while the other has Magmar, a Fire-type. These Pokémon, due to their usual exclusivity to one or two of the games in a generation, are typically known as version-exclusive Pokémon and must be traded between games in order to complete the Pokédex, a feature that has encouraged collaboration among players since the series began.

A later third game, usually to conclude the generation, is later released with several minor storyline tweaks, but with the same basic plot and taking place in the same region. Like the first two games, it will always be lacking some of the Pokémon present in one or both of the other games, but will also contain some of those missing from one of the them; thus, players of this third version must link together with the original pair to complete their Pokédex as well.

Generation III was the first generation to involve the release of two sets of paired versions: first Ruby and Sapphire and then FireRed and LeafGreen. It was also the first generation that did not contain a third version for one of its pairs: the Hoenn-based Ruby and Sapphire were later joined by Emerald, but the Kanto-based FireRed and LeafGreen did not receive a third version because they were remakes of the Japanese Red and Green, the original pair from Generation I and the first games ever released. This was later mimicked in Generation IV, except with the third version being released before the remakes.

Generation V is still currently in progress and has had one set of paired versions, Black and White, released and a second set, Black 2 and White 2, which are sequels to Black and White.

List of versions

Paired versions Third (or more) version(s)
Generation I Japan
International
Generation II
Generation III
 
Generation IV
 
Generation V  
 

Trivia

References

Template:Main series