This document has an approach of Software Engineering, we are interested on the actual guts of the game. We are not really interested in graphics, music or characters, although you will probably see some comments related to these points as well. Nevertheless, the most important things are actions and rules of the game. Features are game mechanics, they interact with the game state, hence removing and adding features mutates the game state. This document was created as if the games released patch notes of the game, even if it this wasn't as a patches, but you get the idea, documents released like this are pretty much Patch Notes.

I also want to inform people how game-franchises not necessarily improve with newer interations, but at the same time they don't get worse. There's good additions, bad additions,good removals and bad removals.

With this exercise I can only conclude that Pokemon is making more harm than good. The community speaks about the "one step forward, two steps back" and the patch notes yell loudly this point. Players are in their right to worry about the future of this franchise, and any other franchise they care about. Gamefreak is also in their right to change their product as much as they want, because it's their creation, as long as it stays ethical. I can only hope that Game Freak listens to objective fan-feedback and not just try to "surprise players" with things they think are a novelty, if you compare this document to other RPGs mechanics you can see that Pokemon has not aged well, the game design is stagnated. There are features that players would love to stay in every-iteration, let's remember how game design aims to create an experience for players, and removing loved features will just ruin players' experiences, and on the other side adding well polished features and quality of life changes makes players have a much greater experience.

I decided to create an age classification of the Pokemon games.

Golden Age : Generation 1-5

Silver Age: Generation 6-7

Bronze Age: Generation 8 (and probably the next generationsss)

Publication date of this document is December 2019, I am covering 23 years of Pokemon mechanics, I understand there are many mechanics that not being covered in-depth (in-depth coverage has been made from the community), plus there are mechanics that are missing. Mostly because: My sources didn't have a strong mention to them as well. They were probably over-shadowed by much better features in new games. They were forgettable mechanics. I personally forgot to add them.



Observation: My comments are intended to be objective, as they are biased to game-design/software engineering. Game Design and Software engineering are the core of my previous articles as well. The least objective comments you'll see start with a "Personally I think...", which are things that I like or dislike, and they can also have some objectivity.

I wrote this document all by myself, around 5% of the document was a copy paste, mostly Pokemon lists, or moves. Around 95% was hand-typed by me, you will notice random typos.

Special Thanks

Huge thanks to Serebii, Bulbapedia and Pokemon DB and my family. It is thanks to them I could have a lot of fact checks along with my own Nintendo hardware and Pokemon cartridges.

Quick Navigation

Mechanics

Let's define what are Game Mechanics , leaning more into the software engineering. According to Sicart:

" Game mechanics are methods invoked by agents, designed for interaction with the game state. " " The best way of understanding mechanics as methods is to formalize them as verbs, with other syntactical/structural elements, such as rules, having influence on how those verbs act in the game"

Example: The player uses a Potion. Result: Potions mess with the game-state, as potions interact with Pokemon data, healing, that is, adding HP to the current HP (that was super fancy to write 🤔).

Example: Nidoqueen used Surf in the Overworld. Result: The player can now proceed to water terrain, allowing them to reach new areas of the game, the fact that we can reach new areas is messing with the game-state as well, think of it as an analog of how in other games you can "climb, evade, dash", stuff like that, the big difference is that Pokemon is not an action game and this actions are slower but they change the game-state.



As you can see, when we talk about features, we are talking about interacting with the game and with them, we also talk about mechanics. Removing things like Condition or the Pokeathlon stats is messing with the state, is messing with the Pokemon data-structures, even if they were removed as interactions in the game, Pokemon condition is probably managed internally as a ghost stat because they could potentially add it again, OR/AS remakes were a good example of this.

Another comment is that remakes won't be really be focused for the patch notes, it's probably that many were not added. Remakes features are listed here, but those are features that the overall commmunity consider important. Spin-off games won't be considered here, such as Pokemon Stadiums, Colosseum, XD, Battle Revolution, Let's Go Games. I would love to add a lot of comments from those games but these patch notes will focus on the core-games.

Generation I

Game Boy ~ 1996

The beginning of our journey.

Player fight in Battles Turn based combat versus other trainers. Wild random encounters Grass patches "Dungeons" always have wild encounters (Caves, Power Plant) Catch Pokemon in these encounters

Pokedex can Regional and National Dex are the same, since every existent Pokemon are in this Pokedex. Listen to Pokemon cries. Area: This tells you where you can find the selecte Pokemon. A Kanto Map appears. Shows a description of the selected Pokemon Shows Height Shows Weight Total of 151 Pokemon 15 Pokemon Types (Fire, Electric, etc.) With 2 versions available you need other games and nintendo systems to complete your PokeDex. Need of multiple games to complete it.

Pokemon Stats ~ Pokemon interact with... HP Attack Defense Special Speed Individual Values (Genes)

Poke Marts Buy Items Sell Items Different locations have different items. They improve as you progress in your adventure.

Added PC Storage System Store your caught Pokemon here, since you can only have 6 in your party. Total Boxes: 12 (Non-Japan) 8 (Japan) Box Capacity: 20 (No-Japan), 30 (Japan) Total Capacity 240 Pokemon (All Regions)

Items The Bag holds EVERY ITEM. There's no item categories here. You can only hold 20 different items Key Items [They are not categorized as such here] Capability of Mapping a Key Item to the Select Button (Eg. Map bicycle to Select Button) Town Map Pokeflute Bicycle Keys Rods Pokeballs (Only useful in Wild Encounters) 4 Types of Pokeball Only 1 Masterball Usable Items Status Healers HP Healers Evolution Items Stats enhancer Battle Effect Items (X Items) Vitamins (Permanent stat increase) Moves TMs (Consumable, limit to 1 use) One Mart sells TMs HMs (Infinite uses) Repel [Huge and useful mechanic across games] Escape Rope (Identical to the Dig Move, but it's consumable) Mail

PC Item Storage System The bag has no infinite storage, so you have to store some items in your PC storage system. You can store 50 different items here.

Item Finder An item that will tell you if there's a secret item on the current map screen. If the ItemFinder makes a sound, means that there's something on your screen, it's very slow. You have to press A in every tile where you walk and see if you can find a "secret" item. These items are not required to beat the game, but they can be helpful.

Evolution Methods Leveling Up Stones Trading

Moves 165 Unique moves TMs can only be used ONCE PER PLAYTHROUGH HMs can not be removed. Field Moves (When selecting a Pokemon, a menu shows up) Hidden Moves can be used in the overworld to access other places. Dig transport you to a dungeon's entrance Teleport teleports you to the last Pokemon Center Softboiled. Restores up to 50% of the user's maximum HP

Gyms 8 Gym Leaders to defeat (bosses) Gym Badges mark your progress through the game. Obtaining Gym badges allow Pokemon of certain levels to obey the player. Counter mechanic for Pokemon from other games with high levels Obtaining Gym badges also unlock the ability to use Field Moves

Team Rocket You'll encounter these guys 4 times. There's even 2 dungeons for them. These guys are an actual threat for the current lore standards. Secret Game Corner Silph Co.

Elite 4 Fifth battle to claim the Champion title.

Safari Zone You can't use any Pokemon here, only bait and stones. The player must pay a fee The player is always given 30 Safari Balls You have only 500 steps in here, this could add pressure to the player for exploration, but at the same time, it will return and explore more (most likely of the "Fear of missing out".), players would try to evade areas that were already visited and see if they can find other Pokemon. You get an HM here, the HM will allow you to explore new areas in the game.

Game Corner Play mini games Get another type of currency to exchange for items or pokemon in these minigames.

Legendary Pokemon 3 Legendary Birds in 3 dungeons. Optional, but you were rewarded for extra exploration with strong and unique Pokemon.

Fishing Using different rods you could get Pokemon from different levels. You can attempt fish something in any water tile in the game.

Happiness Mechanic Only present in Pokemon Yellow Different dialogues depending on Pikachu's happiness value Objectively only useful if the player wants to get a Squirtle The idea is to create a bond with your partner Pikachu. It makes the game look lively.

Pokemon Daycare Leave a Pokemon here and it will gain experience. Apparently 1 step in the game equals 1 Exp. Point. Pokemon can level up here and even learn moves. You can only leave one Pokemon at the Daycare. Need of extra hardware to do this, the Link cable. You had to go to the Pokemon Center and ask an NPC to access this feature.

Important Decisions Per playthrough you can only pick one Fossil. Per playthrough you can only pick one fighter (Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan) Per playthrough you can only get 1 Eevee (2 missing for all evolutions)

Multiplayer Need of extra hardware to do this, the Link cable. You had to go to the Pokemon Center and ask an NPC to access this feature. PvP battles Players could battle using their Pokemon for "friendly" matches. Pokemon trading This is how you are going to com 1 Pokemon can be traded for another Pokemon's player

Dungeons ~ Total: 14 (Caves, Towers, Forests, Hideouts) I'm not even gonna bother with Routes, the average route is linear, of course there are exceptions. Dungeons are the real exploration in Pokemon games, as those have the real puzzles of the game. Cerulean Cave Diglett's Cave Mt. Moon Pokemon Mansion Pokemon Tower Power Plant Rock Tunnel Rocket Hideout Safari Zone Seafom Islands Silph. Co SS Anne Victory Road Viridian Forest

Added Pokemon Events These Pokemon are in the game maps as sprites, these Pokemon are not find in the wild, it also makes you wonder what makes them so special, and many players wanted to know more about the lore with them Pokemon List Snorlax As Fossils Omanyte Kabuto Articuno Zapdos Moltres Mewtwo

Objectives Get 8 Gym Badges Become the Pokemon Champion Defeat the bad guys, Team Rocket Catch all 150 Pokemon (Since Mew is unobtainable with legit methods)

Post game Catch your missing Pokemon Go to Mewtwo's Dungeon and catch him. If during your playthrough you didn't get Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, this is a good moment to go and explore these 3 dungeons, the most missable is the Power Plant. Some say that it's also good to collect all TMs. Worth mentioning.



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Generation II

Game Boy Color: 1999

Being the second generation, I will only list new stuff or updated versions of old stuff. If something is removed, I am using the [REMOVED] brackets, I can also use the [EQUIVALENT] brackets to let you know that even if stuff got removed, there should be an equivalent way to do things.

[IMPORTANT] Game balancing. We will see this stuff in every game. So, while it's considered one "point" here, take into consideration that this point is very very important and time consuming.

Introducing Day-Night cycle

Use of Days of the week

Pokemon can now hold Items

Pokemon Stats [IMPORTANT] Special Stat has been split into Special Attack Special Defense Gender (Male, Female, Genderless)

Pokedex Added 100 New Pokemon Total of 251 Pokemon Connection with Game Boy Printer Pokemon had footprints Option Mode Old Mode - Listed by Evolution Type (Regional Johto Dex) New Mode - Listed evolution Type (National Dex) Alphabetically A-Z Search Mode Only using Pokemon types

[UPDATED] PC Storage System Total Boxes: 14 (Non-Japan) 9 (Japan) Box Capacity: 20 (No-Japan), 30 (Japan) Total Capacity 280 Pokemon (Non-Japan) 270 Pokemon (Japan) Added Capacity to rename boxes.

Items Items now have official categories, separated as "Pockets". Items Balls Key Items TM/HM You still carry a limited number of items, from what I gather, you could still carry from 20-30 items in your Items pocket. Added many items for Pokemon to held Items that increase damage per type Items that when held and trade, will evolve Pokemon Pokeballs Introduced 7 New Pokeballs. Apricorn Pokeballs Craft them at Azalea Town using Apricorns. Different effects that modify the capture rate. (Eg. Love Ball. Better capture rate if fighting versus a Pokemon of the opposite gender) Berries are introduced

[UPDATED] Itemfinder Works like the first generation. Now considered a Key Item, meaning that you can use Register the item and do some quick checkings, instead of just opening the bag.

[UPDATED] Pokemon Battles Added 2 new types for a total of 17 types. (Steel, Dark) Old Pokemon were reworked to change types due to this. (Eg. Magnamite is now steel)

[UPDATED] Pokemon Day care Improved mechanics. You can now leave 2 Pokemon. When leaving 2 Pokemon, these can breed and you can get an egg. Breeding is introduced. By breeding you can get new Pokemon like Pichu, Iglybuff, Clefa, etc. Implemented Egg Groups

Added Pokemon Forms "Forms" are not a thing until the third generation, but this is the beginning of that. Unown has 26 different forms (or sprites). Each letter is a different "form", modern times would call it a "skin". Shiny Pokemon are introduced If in this generation a different sprite is a different "form", then all 251 Pokemon have a "shiny form". Only certain Unonwn letters can be shiny due to how the game manages shinyness. IVs are linked to Shinyness. Probability to find a shiny: 1/8192

Added Breeding (pretty complex already, in terms of deep mechanicss) Moves are passed to new generations. Father is the one in charge of passing moves. Mother determines species

[REMOVED] Safari Zone [EQUIVALENT] Bug-Catching Contest Can only enter Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays Overall, Safari Zone has more to offer than the Contest

Added Move Deleter In the first game, you could not remove a Hidden Move. The philosophy behind this was that players could get stuck in an area if they got rid of a Pokemon with a Hidden Move. This is an NPC that will delete any move you want, even Hidden Moves.

[UPDATED] Happiness The happiness system is enhanced. Now it's not a thing of just Pikachu. Every Pokemon has a happiness value. Some Pokemon evolve if they are happy. Moves like Return and Frustration use this Happiness value

Added New Evolution Methods Added happiness At certain time of the day By trading AND holding an item at the same time.

Team Rocket Smaller threat due to disbandment in the previous game. You'll have 4 different encounters. Overall, same or slightly better than the previous game. Worth noting that you help the Champion, Lance. Slowpoke Well Rocket Hideout Radio Tower at Goldenrod city (Cool boss battles with Executives) Cerulean City The last encounter is just a Grunt hiding a machine part.

Objectives Get 8 Gym Johto Badges Defeat Team Rocket Defeat the Elite 4 (Which is Kanto's Elite 4 with new members) Get 8 Kanto Badges Catch 251 Pokemon Defeat Red, the protagonist of the first game

Post Game You could say that Kanto is the real post-game. When you defeat the Elite 4, you get to see the credits. Aim for those new 8 gym badges. Catch the missing Pokemon to complete your Pokedex. Defeat Red

Added Pokegear (2nd Generation Gadget) Gen II introduces a helper gadget with small helpful "apps" that improve the Quality of Life of the games. It has a clock and calendar. There's no more "Town Map" Item, the Pokegear has this included Phone Call other NPCs to get rematches [INTRODUCING TRAINER REMATCH] Introducing Swarms. NPCs can call you as well. There are trainers who tell you when a "rare" Pokemon has appeared, they even tell you which location to go. The Swarm lasts 30 real time minutes. Prof. Elm gives you storyline stuff Radio Use the slider to tune different radio stations. Some discuss or inform about "lore" of the game. Tune to listen to locations of some pokemon. Tune to listen to music, like a real radio! Tune to listen to your Lucky Number, if you entered the Lucky Number show. You can get a prize [Interesting game feel] Lorewise, The evolution transmission was used to force magikarp to evolve, Team Rocket created this transmission, and this is the reason of why the Red Gyarados exists. ​Serebii lists that the Evolution tranmissions's effect is to force Magikarp to evolve. I tried to do this myself and it doesn't seem to be true, I caught a Magikarp, tuned in the tranmission, I even leveled up a Magikarp to level 11 with the tuned transmission and it never happened, my magikarp NEVER evolved using the transmission. The magikarp forcing evolution had potential as a mechanic during that part of the game (and future Pokemon games could as well potentially base other evolution methods in this creepy things). Evolving a low level magikarp is not harmful game-design wise, as even if you bring a low level Magikarp, you would get a low level Gyarados, which will probably be useless because of the same thing, plus trainers have stronger Pokemon than level 20. Plus there are many Pokemon in-game that they should not even exists, you probably have seen a Lv.7 Pidgeotto in older games. The fact that you can use the radio and tune in the evolution transmission is a good detail, but it would probably be something weird and even a morale dilemma tu use it, which would be a reason to scrap them for "a kids game". [Interesting game feel] At the Ruins of Alph you can tune this station to listen to a creepy thing, but it helps with the game immersion. They seem to be the Unown cries. In Kanto, tune in a station to Increase Wild Encounters In Kanto, tune in a station to Decrease Wild Encounters As a game system, this is what the radio allows you to do (using the info from the previous point) Lucky Number. Chance to Win an Item Decision to change your game music Obtain Pokemon locations Increase Wild encounter rate (Only certain days) Decrease Wild encounter rate (Only certain days) (Like a kind of Repel Item) Use a radio station to Awaken your Pokemon [Equivalent of Pokeflute in Gen 1]

Your Room (Personal Customization) Feature to allow the player to add a personal touch to the room. Minimal customization, but during this era it kinda felt like a big thing. Nevertheless, being the first iteration it was a huge success, it even had a connection with Pokemon Stadium 2. Decorations Bed Carpet Plants Poster Video Game Console Dolls Trophies

[UPDATED] Pokemon Events Lapras Sudowoodo Red Gyarados [SHINY!!] Voltorb Electrode Snorlax The Beast Trio roams in Johto Suicine [CRYSTAL ONLY] In this version it will go back to Tin Tower as an interactable Pokemon Lugia Ho-Oh Celebi [EVENT EXCLUSIVE] The first event exclusive Pokemon using the Mysterious GS Ball

Added The Battle Tower [CRYSTAL VERSION ONLY] This is the first time the series introduces a more "balanced" battle challenge. In any game, you could be fighting weaker or stronger pokemon than the ones you have. You could start the game with a Level 100 Celebi and beat the game with that Celebi, while the Pokemon in the story are from level 5 to level 50. The facility idea probably came from the N64 Stadium games, where the player participated in different cups with different rules that were more balanced than a normal playthrough. Added 10 Challenges in different 10 Floors. Defeat the trainers in each floor. Each floor's rule is to use Pokemon of certain level. 7 Battles in a row per floor At Floor 1 you can only battle with Pokemon of Level 10 an so on At Floor 10 you can only battle with Pokemon of Level 100 You can't use 2 Pokemon of the same species (no 2 or 3 charizards on the same team) You can't use the same held item. (Eg. You can't have all 3 holding Leftovers) You can't use Legendary "non-trio" Pokemon. (Mew, Mewtwo, Ho-oh, Lugia, Celebi) Your reward is self-acomplishment, plus Vitamins.

Added Move Tutor [CRYSTAL VERSION ONLY] This NPC teaches certain moves to Pokemon. In this generation they cost Game Corner coins. As long as you pay for coins, you can teach moves.

Added Mystery Gift Used to receive items from other games, like Pokemon Stadium 2. You could get furniture for your Room.

Dungeons ~ Total: 21 (Caves, Towers, Forests, Hideouts) Johto Sprout Tower Ruins of Alph Union Cave Slowpoke Well Ilex Forest Bell Tower Glitter Lighthouse Whirl Islands Mt. Motar Rocket Hideout Goldenrod Radio Tower Ice Path Dragon's Den Dark Cave Tohjo Falls (Connecting both regions) Kanto (Many of them are not very dungeon-like, just one big room) Victory Road Diglett's Cave (Very linear) Mt. Moon (Only one Floor) Power Plant (Only one floor) Rock Tunnel Mt. Silver

[IMPORTANT] Added the capacity to trade Pokemon between both generations. The first 151 are 2-way tradeable, while the new 100 can only be traded between the second generation games (which is expected). This was called the Time Capsule



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Generation III

Game Boy Advance: 2002

We are gonna talk here about Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. The remakes will not be considered. Remakes should be improving the previous stated points from the generation been remade. As stated before, if it appears to be missing points, it's because it's something that was introduced in a previous generation and it wasn't removed in this generation, having retroactivity, also many things could slip my document, there's a lot of points here and it really took a while to write this down.

Added Weather in the Overworld Rain Intense sun Sandstorm

[UPDATED] Pokedex 135 New Pokemon Total of 386 Pokemon Regional Mode lists 202 Pokemon. Option to go to the top of the Pokedex (Treecko) Option to go to the bottom (Last one the player has seen) When selecting a Pokemon you can see the Size comparison versus the Player Character [UPDATED] Search Mode Order Option (You could do easy sorting using SQL in modern days) Order By Pokedex Number Order Alphabetically Order By Weight (Which is essentially descending or ascending) Heaviest Lightest Order By Height Tallest Smallest Search by letter, but from 3 to 3 letters (ABC,DEF,etc) Results are ordered with the selected "Order Option" explained in the last point. Search by color (Seems like part of the new Pokemon data is what color the Pokemon is) Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Black, Brown, Purple, Gray, White, Pink Shift Option Choose which is the default Pokedex listing. This uses the Order Option from Search mode. Numerical Alphabetically Using Weight Using Height National Dex This option must be unlocked. To upgrade the Pokedex, the player must trade Pokemon with first generation remakes. Makes sense, since it's a Pokemon that doesn't appear in the region. [REMOVED] Capacity of trading Pokemon with previous generations. So how can you get all 386 Pokemon? Due to technical limitations with how the internal Pokemon data is handled this was removed, you CAN'T trade your Pokemon from generations 1 and 2. They created Generation I remakes so you could get all 386 Pokemon in any generation 3 game. A step back, but it's something they took care of.

[UPDATED] Pokemon Stats [REWORKED] IVs Added the EVs: Effort Values Added 25 Natures Added Abilities Added Outside of Battle Secondary effects when in your party. [EMERALD ONLY] Some abilities have effects when you are in the Overworld. Eg. Magma Armor makes eggs hatch faster. Some abilities require Pokemon in the first Party slot. This continues in the next generations. Added Condition (Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Cleverness, and Toughness) Added Ribbons Considered Achievements per Pokemon. Examples: When winning contests When got all Effort values For winning at the Elite 4 For winning 100 trainers in a row at the Battle Tower Game tracks which Pokeball you used to catch a Pokemon

Added Move Reminder A very useful character. If you've ever had a Pokemon that evolved past their evolution level, chances are that a move that learns when it evolved was something your pokemon didn't learn. This character can teach your Pokemon moves that they were able to learn from previous levels. This comes with a price, you have to pay him a Heart Scale .

[UPDATED] Pokemon Battles Introducing Double battles, fight 2v2! Introducing Multi-battles! Essentially a double battle, but you can only control one Pokemon. Your ally Pokemon is controlled by another player. The 2 enemy pokemon are controlled by 2 opposing trainers. 4 Trainers, 4 Pokemon.

[UPDATED] New Pokemon Forms This generation introduces "real" Pokemon forms. Castform has 4 forms. every form has a different type (which has an impact on pokemon battles), unlike Unown which is just another "sprite. But still, remember that those sprites had to be designed and added to the game. Deoxys changes form depending on the version he is in. 4 Forms

[REMOVED] Your Room [EQUIVALENT] Secret Bases Overall, an improvement of "Your Room" from gen 2.

[UPDATED] Items [UPDATED] Categories are like this now Items Pokeballs TM/HM [NEW] Berries Key Items Pokeballs [REMOVED] Apricorn Balls (7 Balls) Added 7 New Balls Dive Ball Luxury Ball Nest Ball Net Ball Premier Ball Repeat Ball Timer Ball

[UPDATED] PC Storage System Added the capacity of changing the wallpaper Total Boxes: 14 Box Capacity: 30 Total Capacity: 420

Mirage Island (Random Event to encounter this misterious island) While in modern times this might be silly. Back in the day when not everyone had internet, this was something people talked about.

[UPDATED] Battle Tower Your pokemon are NOT auto-leveled, you must have Level 50 or Level 100 pokemon, this can be time consuming. [REMOVED] No more 10 Floors, 10 Challenges. [UPDATED] 2 Formats now. Pokemon in Level 50 or Level 100. Singles Mode (3v3) Overall this facility has been upgraded, even if there's no more different level challenges.

Battle Frontier (Emerald Only) Exclusive to Pokemon Emerald, this is a huge post-game location. Imagine having features from a Pokemon Stadium game in a core series game, many facilities are here in this location. Rather than just having the Battle Tower like in Ruby and Sapphire, the Battle Frontier has a lot of facilities with different rules. The Objective is to defeat the Frontier brains, which are way harder than the story mode. Every facility features a Frontier Brain. You have to beat the facilities many times in order to have chance to challenge the frontier brains. Added the IV Judge NPC. This character tells you how good your Pokemon Genes are (IVs). But this NPC will use a spoken language, it will not be anything numerical. Here's an example for perfect IVs It's flawless! A thing of perfection! ...Hmm... That's how I call it." Trainer Card is now upgraded as the Frontier Pass. Aside from badges the player can also obtain the Frontier Symbols. [IMPORTANT] You could record one battle in your frontier pass so you can watch it later and even have some bragging rights to your friends. While it was a limited feature, specially within a GBA Cartridge, it meant a lot to know that in this era we had battle replays. [UPDATED] Battle Tower In Emerald, the Battle Tower is one of many buildings at the Battle Frontier. Level 100 format is now "Open Level" The frontier brain can only appear in Single Battle Mode New Battle Modes Doubles Mode (4v4) Multi Mode with a friend (2,2 vs 2,2) Battle Pike Challenge of defeating 7 rooms. Every time the player wants to advance, they are given a choice of which room they want to go. Your pokemon won't get healed after any room, there are rooms that will heal you. Battle Dome A tournamente between 16 trainers. Players can view the info about the other trainers. Battle Factory Use of rental Pokemon You can switch Pokemon with trainers you defeated Battle Arena A similar format like in the battle tower. It's a 3v3 You can't switch Pokemon You have 3 turns to defeat a Pokemon After 3 turns, you will be judged by the referee, the pokemon who loses, faints. Battle Palace An Autobattler, Pokemon fight on their own. This is dependant of the Pokemon's nature. Battle Pyramid A Challenge Dungeon per floors. You can navigate the pyramid Start with no items, but you will find items along your way. Floors are dark, but you get more vision along your way. Field moves like Soft-boiled are useful in this facility!

Collect Soot to acquire special items.

[UPDATED] Move Tutor (Emerald Only) Why is this feature only present in Emerald and Skipped in Ruby and Sapphire? Like Pokemon crystal, you can teach moves as many times as you want. The downside is that they cost battle points, and they are only obtainable by winning at the facilities.

[UPDATED] Swarms Instead of using phone as in generation 2. The player must watch a TV Show. Then becomes active. No Longer last 30 minutes. They last a whole day.

Added Berry harvesting You can find berries at harvest them. You can plant berries on soil. This makes berries a renewable resource, potentially infinite overtime.

Added Pokemon Contests Every condition has 4 levels. Players are invited to conquer all conditions in Master Rank Mini game that features 4 participants and a Judge. Only one Pokemon will be consider the "Coolest" or the most "Beautiful". Multiplayer was possible. Added PokeBlocks. These are used to raise Pokemon's condition. Create Pokeblocks with the Berry Blender. Berry blending can be multiplayer. [IMPORTANT] Remember that there are 354 Moves in this game? Well, the team had to take their time to add them a move conditio and effect in thiss game. When you play the game it doesn't feel like much, but it's still development time and effort. Consider this as one reason to add or remove the contests in future games.

[UPDATED] Generation Gadget [PokeNav] No more PokeGear from Gen 2. [REMOVED] Radio Added condition check. Check for Pokemon with certain "condition" stats. These are the Pokemon Contests useful stats. [UPDATED] Trainer Rematches. The Trainer Eyes allow you to rematch some trainers in the game. First time ever. Gym Leader Rematches (Emerald Only) Double Battles Sadly you can't get a rematch anytime you want

[REMOVED] Bug-Catching Contest [REWORKED] Safari Zone You can use Pokeblocks to attrack Pokemon, instead of bait like in generation 1.

Added Record Mixing Need to go to a building called Record Corner Television Shows will feature the players you mixed records with Other players secret bases will be in your game, including the whole layout they have in their games. The Mauville Pokemon Center Men. Curious NPCs that are generated with your trainer ID. One of those NPCs is the Story Teller. Tells you records from your or other players. Pokemon Trainer Fan Club. Praise recorded players for their achievements. Similar to the Mauville Men. Feebas Factor. Feebas is hard to find, as it only appears in specific water tiles in your game. When mixing records, tiles will change to the recorded player's. Battle tower records Player who mixed records can appear as recorded trainers at the battle towers, with the same team and moves. Eon Ticket. Consider it a viral item. If someone has the Eon Ticket, it can be transmited to other players so they can catch Latios or Latias. Mix records at the Record Hall (Emerald Only) Mix Swarms from other games to get exclusive Pokemon during the swarm duration.

The Trick House. A small 8 puzzle dungeon. You get new dungeons as you progress in the game.

Team Magma / Team Aqua Each version has a different team. Which is a way, it's a "good" reason to have 2 versions of the same game. The game features a better narrative and it's the first time the story is relevant to the game, instead of just "just go catch stuff and become the champion". There are 8 encounters, even more than the previous generation. From Serebii. "Depending on the version. They either want to use Groudon to expand the land masses to give more room for land Pokemon, or use Kyogre to expand the oceans to give more room for sea Pokemon. In both cases the opposite team serves a supporting role to you in the story."

[WORSE] Your Rival This is the first time you get a friendly rival. Sadly this generation has a very weak rival. You don't even get to see the final evolution of their starting pokemon. Blue and Silver are better rivals. At the same time, you get a second rival, Wally. Wally becomes stronger than your first Rival.

Added Two kinds of Bicycle Mach Bike Faster Bike Acro Bike You can perfom tricks You can't have both bikes at the same time. From a design perspective, this just could be solved when by merging them at the end of the game, as a "reward". Both Bikes allowed you to proceed to different terrains.

Added Stats/IV Judge (Emerald Only) This NPC will tell you in a "spoken language" if your Pokemon has good genes (IVs).

Dungeons. Total: 23 (or 30 with Trick House) Abandoned Ship Aqua/Magma Hideout Artisan Cave Cave of Origin Dessert Underpass Faraway Island Fiery Path Granite Cave Magma/Aqua Hideout Marine Cave Meteor Falls Mt. Pyre Navel Rock Petalburg Woods Seafloor Cavern Sealed Chamber Shoal Cave (It even changes depending of the time of the day) Sky Pillar Southern Island S.S Tidal Terra Cave Victory Road Trick House (Many puzzles!) 8 Chambers. We can say it's one big dungeon, or 8 mini dungeons.

[UPDATED] Pokemon Events Like previous games, there are Pokemon you find in the Overworld and they add a layer of exploration and lore that makes players wonder why you find these pokemon this way. Pokemon List Kecleon Rayquaza Regirock Regice Registeel Latias Roams in Sapphire Interactable in Ruby with the Eon Ticket Mystery Gift (This is very exclusivity beecomes more annoying) Latios Roams in Ruby Interactable in Saphhire with the Eon Ticket Mystery Gift Groudon [RUBY ONLY] Kyogre [SAPPHIRE ONLY] Rayquaza Sudowoodo [EMERALD ONLY] Mew [EVENT EXCLUSIVE MYSTERY GIFT]

[UPDATED] Breeeding This feature has been enhanced too, sadly, breeding it more technical than the average points listed here, for the sake of "layman terms", not much details will be covered, as the "philosophy" behind this too is the fact that "every pokemon is unique" and there has to be "hidden" infomation, to keep stuff like genes "special". Breeding small details could be a huge section, but we are talking about many mechanics, not just breeding, be aware that many things might just touch the surface but are even more complex inside. Baby inherits 3 IVs from parents. Using items, like the everstone can make a pokemon to inherit the parent's nature.

Post Game Complete your Pokedex Catch the in-game legendaries 6 legendaries in one save file Win all Master Rank contests Complete the Trick House challenges Defeat 50 trainer challenge in Battle tower

[UPDATED] Trainer Card This is the first time the trainer card is relevant. While it appeared in the previous generation, you can get stars for completing specific tasks. Every post-game activity I listed, except for the trick house.



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Generation IV

Nintendo DS: 2006

The games are Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. Let's list more mechanics. There's a lot of things that improved by having 2 screens.

Added Transfering Pokemon from Other generations You can transfer Pokemon from the III to the IV generation by going to a place called the "Pal Park". [REMOVED] Two-way generation transfer You can only transfer one way, from third to fourth. At this facility you catch the Pokemon using Park Balls You transfer a max of 6 Pokemon everytime you go to the Pal Park

[UPDATED] PC Storage System Total Boxes: 18 Total Capacity: 540

Added Amity Square 11 Pokemon from 493 can follow you at the Amity Square. A special area to make Pokemon find accesories and berries

Added Any Pokemon following you [HEARTGOLD/SOULSILVER ONLY] While this is a remake feature, it is a feature that pretty much everyone loves, considering that you can see your partner pokemon, remember that the Pokemon games and even the anime convey the players to create a bond with pokemon, and while this is a "useless feature" because it's just an NPC thing following you, it's something that everyone loves! A feature that returns from Pokemon Yellow, this time ANY POKEMON can follow you. As long as it's the first on your party. Yes. Any Pokemon, all 493 Pokemon with their different forms and even gender differences, meaning that they had to do more than 493 sprites for every cardinal point. If your pokemon is shiny it even displays as a shiny Consider that this is a lot of graphical work, it's a lot of sprites.

[UPDATED] Mystery Gift You can now receive gifts from the Internet Get wireless with the included DS Wireless communications, instead of extra hardware like in the third generation. Share with friends using the "Get from friend" Some gifts allow you to trigger special events in game. Like the Darkrai Event

Added Pokeball Seals A very interesting feature that was exclusive to this Fourth generation. Add seals to customize how a Pokeball will have its release animaton. 13 seals to customize ANY Pokeball

[UPDATED] Move tutors No longer a thing from "Special versions". Whoops! Did I say special versions? Yeah! While Diamond and Pearl HAVE move tutors, they only teach 4 moves... if you want more moves you have to get Platinum, once again, A STEP BACK AND A STEP FORWARD, this is such a bad decision to make that is only supported because of business. Platinum and Remakes They have more move tutors with A LOT of moves to teach to Pokemon. Could you call this Pay 2 Win?

[UPDATED] Day-Night Cycle. While it wasn't completely "missed" in generation 3. It's not something you can really see in gen3, there's no feedback of time, it's always daytime, but there are still time mechanics. In this game, you can see how time passes as the areas look different depending of the time. Like in second generation, there are songs that that show up at day or nighttime.

Pokedex 107 New Pokemon Regional Mode lists 151 Pokemon in Diamond/Pearl 201 Pokemon in Platinum You can see Pokemon entries in other languages if you get a Pokemon from that region. Fully functional Touch Pokedex. Great stuff here [UPDATED] You can compare the height of the Pokemon with the player. It even tells you how tall you are. Added Weight comparison, there's even an animated scales. You can unlock the National Mode by SEEING all Pokemon in the regional mode and you have to beat the Elite four. Removed Shift Option , your default Pokedex listing can only be Regional or National. [UPDATED] Search Mode The same core functionality than Generation 3 but you can add more search filters. Generation 3 only had 1 filter per search, you can combine them here. For example, you can search pokemon ordered by Height (Tallest/Smallest), only Pokemon with letters PQR, and search with any type you want, like Electric (or if you want a second type, you can add it too) New Filter: Search by "Form", which the Pokedex names as "Body Style". It's a small improvent in terms of functionality, but the UI is more intuitive thanks to the second touch screen. Since the Day-Night cycle is back, when you look a Pokemon's area, you can use the touch screen to change the time of the day. And you can see if a Pokemon can appear at a certain time. Morning Day Night

Items [BIG UPDATE] The bag has now infinite space PC ITEM Storage system is obsolete. [UPDATED] Item Pockets are updated once again, for good. Items Medicine Pokeballs Added Dusk Ball Added Heal Ball Added Quick Ball [UNOBTAINABLE] Added Cherish Ball You can only get Pokemon that already have this Pokeball, this ball is for event Pokemon Added Park Ball. Used to catch the Pokemon from third generation. TM/HM Older generations had 50 TMs, there are now 92 TMs, almost double the moves. Berries Mail Battle Items Key Items

[UPDATED] Berries Added 21 Berries Total of 64 berries Berry Pots [HEARTGOLD/SOULSILVER ONLY] As mentioned before, while we don't really talk about remakes, there are some features that are an improvement to the franchise. There is no soil in the Johto remakes. So you can carry Berry pots, which is a key item. Why is this relevant? Because there's no need to go and check your berries at certain routes. YOU CAN CHECK YOUR POTS AT ANY TIME. That's a feature that is relevant, it can be time consuming to go and check all berries.

[UPDATED] Moves [BIG UPDATE] ALL MOVES had to be reworked (yes, all of them had to have a review). From Generation 1-3, move's stats were linked to the Type, Fire Type moves were always special attacks, this is, if you hit with Fire Punch which is essentially a move that is using Physical strength, but it was considered a Special Move because Fire Type moves were always Special. There's a total of 467 Moves in this generation.

Games can now connect to Internet! Use of DS friend-codes to connect with other players Enjoy the old features you had in local play but you can do them over the internet now. Trade and battle with your friends online. For Free, no subscription or anything. Use voice chat to talk with your friends, possible with the built-in DS Mic. Global Trade Station ~ GTS Added theAllows to look for a Pokemon you want and trade it for something in return. Players will deposit pokemon here expecting a trade. The Geonet can be used to set your real world region, because GPS is not something we had during this era in games. [UPDATED] GTS is now known as the "Global Terminal", the building has more features. [PLATINUM AND HEARTGOLD AND SOULSILVER ONLY] You can view other player's PC Boxes. You can view Super Contests Dress up pictures The Vs. Recorder is now a separeted feature and key item from the Frontier Pass that was introduced in the previous generation. (As a note again, why was this feature not in Diamond and Pearl?) The videos are called "Battle Videos". You can record from The battle frontier Wireless Battles (Local) Wi-Fi Battles (Online) Watch your videos Players can upload videos to the Global Terminal Players can download videos from the Global Terminal

[UPDATE/IMPORTANT] New Pokemon Forms Some Pokemon now have gender differences. Which will be counted to "skins", like Unown. Kanto: 22 Pokemon have new gender differences Remember that Nidoran 🚹 and Nidoran 🚺 were the first pokemon with a notorius difference? Johto: 22 Pokemon have new gender differences Hoenn: 18 Pokemon have new gender differences Sinnoh: 31 Pokemon have new gender differences. This makes me think that gender differences were put into consideration when creating the designs of this new pokemon, there are more pokemon with differences in Sinnoh than other differences. Total: 93 Pokemon have gender differences (94 with Nidorans). Remember that this has to be taken into consideration with stuff that has to be carried over to new generations. We are not just talking about 493 Pokemon now, we are talking about 493 plus 96 gender differences,plus other forms, plus shinies, while it's not double the workload, time will be used to support of all this different Pokemon variations, right now we are not dealing with 493 pokemon designs, we are dealing with more.

Dungeons ~ Total: 15 (Although there are other, non-dungeon areas that are great for exploring with the new HMs) Distortion World (Linear) Eterna Forest Eterna City Team Galactic Building (Improved in Platinum) Fuego Ironworks Grand Marsh (Sinnoh's Safari Zone) Lost Tower Mt. Coronet Old Chateau Ravaged Path Snowpoint Temple Solaceon Ruins Stark Mountain Team Galactic HQ Turnback Cave Victory Road Wayward Cave

[UPDATED] Generation Gadget (Poketch) The new gadget is called the Poketch. It has 22 "in-game apps", and you could get up to 25 apps with Nintendo events. [REMOVED] "Detailed" Town Map is back to be a Key Item. But you can have a less detailed version of your map in your Poketch. [REMOVED] Condition Check [REMOVED] Trainer's Eyes Apps Digital Clock Calculator MemoPad. You can use your stylus to do handwriting notes Step Counter. Literally counts every step you take Your Party. You can see the 6 Pokemon at your party. Just a quick way to look t the party, instead of going to the menu. Happiness Checker. Happiness has been since generation 2. Hold the touch screen where your Pokemon is to see its happiness, from 2 hearts and onward, the Pokemon can evolve. [UPDATED] Itemfinder. A different approach to use the ItemFinder, this one is very quick, as for one tap to the screen it will tell you if there's something secret along the way in a matrix screen. The best Itemfinder until now [NICE IMPROVEMENT] Berry Checker. You can see at the screen which area has mature berries to be harvested. No need to go and check personally. Day-care checker You can see the Pokemon you left there Current Levels Your Pokemon genders It will show if an Egg was produced It is a good feature, it is something that we lost in other generations, but it's something not relevant, considering that when people goes to the day-care, spends a lot of time there. But it was nice to just keep walking and just update the screen and see if there was an egg or not. THERE WAS NO NEED TO TALK TO THE NPC. Pokemon History Just displays the most recent 12 pokemon you got. Either: Captured Evolved Hatched Traded Counter. An in-game counter that you can use to count anything you want. Resets when changing to another app or turns off the game. Analog Watch. Yeah, just a watch, because the poketch is a watch. Marking Map Displays a basic map of Sinnoh. You can drag markings to place at certain spots. Useful for anything you would like to remember or "mark". You can see the roaming pokemon for the game. Cresselia Mesprit Legendary Birds [PLATINUM ONLY] Link Searcher Lists number of games particpating in Wireless communications. Union Room Underground Colosseum Moving causes communication to end Coin Toss. Literally just that Move Tester If you want to experiment type effectiveness, you can use this. Pick a type for your move and 2 types for the enemy pokemon. The app will tell you how effective your move will be. Calendar. Shows the day of your Nintendo DS system Dot Artist A matrix to draw. You can create pixel art here It has different pixel shades. 4 to be exact. The image is retained even if you leave the app or turn off the system Roulette You can draw on the roulette. Push the play button to spin the roulette The idea is that, since you there are drawings on the roulette, you can do something random with the drawings. This is up to the player's imagination Trainer Counter Lists the top three pokemon you encountered using the Poke Radar The top area will display the current chain for shiny hunting Kitchen Timer A timer that has an alarm when it reaches 0. Color changer. Yeah, just that, change your Poketch color 8 colors Matchup checker [EVENT ONLY for Diamond and Pearl] It checks for breeding compatibility. Stopwatch [Never distributed] Just a time counter. Alarm Clock [Never distributed] Rings an alarm given a certain time of the day.

Added Union Room Although it was introduced in FireRed and Leaf Green and then it was introduced in Emerald, these special versions are not considered for the actual normal versions of the game. [REMOVED] The need of extra hardware like the Link Cable. Trades and battles can now be done with Wireless communications

[UPDATED] New Evolution Methods Gender based evolutions Hold an specific item and then level up at a certain time of the day Area evolution. Attack based evolutions and level up. Just by knowing the attack the pokemon will evolve Having another Pokemon in the party

[UPDATED] Super Pokemon Contests A player's goal could be to collect all accesories for the contests Visual Competition Condition Section Dress-Up Section You have to get Accesory prizes Dance Competition Mimic rhythm Mini-game. Contestants must mimic the other Pokemon steps. Acting Competition An Upgrade of the second round for generation games where you have to use moves for the judges

[REMOVED] Pokeblocks Added Poke poffins This is the equivalent of Pokeblocks for the 4th generation.

Added the Poke Radar A key item used to find wild Pokemon in grass. There are Pokemon that only appear with this device, around ~44 Pokemon. It is used for Shiny Hunting, because it creates chains between Pokemon

Added the Underground You need an explorer kit to go to the underground An area beneath Sinnoh to explore and gather rare items in the game. Mining. Players can find a shiny orb at walls, when interacting with them they will play a mining minigame. Players must try to find items in this walls, if you mess up the wall will crumble and it the minigame will end, players must then find another shiny wall. Spheres Fossils Heart Scales Plates Evolution Stones Weather stones Sellable items Odd Keystone This is a unique item to find a Pokemon called Spiritomb. You have to talk to 32 players at the undeground (you can interact 32 times with the same player) Once 32 players are interacted you can find a Spiritomb at the Hallowed Tower at Route 209. Players can bury spheres they find at the mining minigame, it's like harvesting berries. These spheres are the currency of the underground Players can bury traps. This are pretty much traps that will alter player's movements. The main use is to sabotage players from getting your flag. Players can see shiny spots on the ground to identify their own traps. Vendors. They offer different items, some offer Goods Merchant (Items for secret bases) Traps Merchant Treasure Merchant (Buys your treasures and gives you spheres) [UPDATED] Secret bases are located in here. It was upgraded to even more accesories and you can even find use a PC to look for treasures, buried spheres and traps here. Players can take flags from other players and store them there. Gathering more flags will remove the boulders at player bases. Players can recover their flags in real-time, as it is quite a "capture the flag" mini-game in a Pokemon game. You can recover a flag by interacting with the player that has the flag When you get 50 Flags yu can remove all boulders When you get 50 flags you get a star on your trainer card

[REMOVED] Battle Frontier What? Removed? Yeah. Not present in Diamond And Pearl [ADDED] Battle Frontier [PLATINUM AND JOHTO REMAKES] What? Added? Once again, this can only mean a business stand point. The frontier is only availiable in the "Special versions".

Team Galactic Once again we there's a team here. Cyrus goals are to remake the Universe. Which is an insane thing to do, compared to Team rocket, and it's a big step from covering earth with land or oceans like Magma/Aqua. The trio of this game plays a role in the lore of the game in order to create an Item called "the red chain". The red chain is used to control Palkia/Dialga. I don't have an easy way to recon for how many encounters you have in the game, it's around 10 or more encounters. Platinum has more encounters than Diamond and Pearl and it expands the story, this time you can enter the Distortion World, you will get help from the Champion Cynthia, you have to make sure that Space and Time won't be destroyed.

[UPDATED] Trainer Rematches The Vs. Seeker is a Key Item you can use to have rematches with other trainers. This item was introduced in Generation 3 in FireRed and LeafGreen, we are not covering deeply remakes, so as a "real" generation game, this is the first time you can use it. It can be used with any trainer that challenges you along the game. Additionally you can have daily battles at the Seven Stars Restaurant and Jublife. You can also battle maids at the Pokemon Mansion

Your Rival Barry is your rival, he is strong but still friendly. It's a good rival

Added Gym leader rematches [PLATINUM AND REMAKES ONLY] A missing feature in Diamond and Pearl, but it has been brought back in Platinum and the Johto Remakes. In Platinum you battle them at the "Battleground" The Johto remakes make a better way of fighting gym leaders by using a "facility" called the "Fighting Dojo"

[UPDATED] Game corner While present in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, in the Johto remakes, and only for the NON-Japanese games, the Game Corner was replaced with "non-gambling" game called the "Voltorb Flip". This is one feature a feature created in order to not introduce gambling to kids.

Added Multiplayer Avatars You can select which NPC Trainer you want to be. E.g. You can select a Bug Catcher or a Rich Boy

[UPDATED] Pokemon events Non-exclusive Pokemon Events Drifloon Spiritomb Rotom Uxie Mesprit Azelf Dialga [DIAMOND ONLY] Palkia [PEARL ONLY] Heatran Regigigas Need of the previous generation trio. The regis to encounter this Pokemon. You will permanently lose the trio Pokemon from your third generation games after transfering them. Giratina Cresselia Exclusive Mystery Gift Events The bad thing is that there are Pokemon events that are limited to exclusive Mystery-Gifts (Eg. Darkrai, Shaymin) And for the worse part, there was an Event for Arceus, but it was never distributed officially, you can watch a Youtube video about it, if you wanna see how it was supposed to work. Pokemon List Darkrai Shaymin Arceus

Post game [REMOVED] No more trick house Enjoy the Underground multiplayer features You could get all in-game accesories You could get all the Goods from Mr. E Goods. Defeat Charon at Stark Mountain

[IMPORTANT] Heart Gold and Soul Silver Remakes Observations Use of Pokewalker an extra hardware included. Pokemon that change form can change at certain locations in the game. Deoxys Rotom Giratina Shaymin The Pokeathlon [NEVER SEEN AGAIN IN OTHER GAMES] Somewhat an equivalent of the Pokemon Contests. [LOT OF WORK] Perfomance stats are used. EVERY POKEMON HAS SPECIFIC STATS FOR THE GAME, 493 REVIEWED POKEMON FOR THIS. Speed Power Skill Stamina Jump The goal is to get all the medals These are more fun because they use the Following Pokemon sprites to play here. These minigames are more skill based, they can be kinda compared to the minigames in Pokemon Stadium 1 and 2, if you want to dig a bit more there, but remember we are not talking about those games here, only the core games.



Generation V

Nintendo DS: 2010

Pokemon Black/White and Pokemon Black/White 2. This is the first time we get two versions of the "special" versions. The good thing about this 2 new versions is that this is a sequel to the first games, meaning that they are considered different games, you even play with different protagonists. This is a good step forward, the bad thing is that they are still releasing 2 different upgraded versions of a previous game, most people would just prefer to get only one game with all the features combined, this can be called an Ethical problem.

[UPDATED] Pokedex [RECORD] 156 New Pokemon! The largest amount of new pokemon in a new generation. Unova Pokedex: The 156 New Pokemon are in the regional dex! I personally think this is a great idea, as it gives the new pokemon their time to shine. Use of a Scrollbar to move the Pokemon list in the fully functional Pokedex. Usability has improved over the previous generation National Dex is present and you can switch between the 2 Pokedexes with 1 button [UPDATED] Area You can now see how you can find a Pokemon to catch it Walking Grass Surfing Fishing [REMOVED] You can't search Pokemon by Day-Night cycle. View different Forms You can see the Pokemon and their different forms in the Pokedex if you see them. Gender forms Special forms (Like Deoxys) Shiny Forms, this is brand new. You can now select shiny forms in to display in your pokedex. [REMOVED] Height Comparison [REMOVED] Weight Comparison [UPDATED] Search Mode All gen 4 features seem to be here. [UPDATE] Name search can now be used with one letter, instead of three. (Search for A, instead of ABC)

Added Shiny Charm [SEQUELS ONLY] Increases chances to find Shiny Pokemon

Added Oval Charm [SEQUELS ONLY] Increases chances to generate an egg at the day care.

[REMOVED] Poke Ball Seals

Dungeons ~ Total: 26 (That's quite a lot! And that's not even all the areas in the games) Abyssal Ruins Castelia Sewers Celestial Tower Challenger's Cave Chargestone Cave Clay Tunnel Dragonspiral Tower Dream Yard Giant Chasm Lostlorn Forest Mistralton Cave Moor of Icirrus N's Castle Nature Preserve Pinwheel Forest Plasma Frigate Reversal Mountain Relic Castle Relic Passage Seaside Cave Strange House Twist Mountain Underground Ruins Victory Road Victory Road BW2 Wellspring Cave

There are 3 trios in this game.

New Game Version differences Areas Black City ~ Exclusive to Black White Forest ~ Exclusive to White Cosmetic changes Opelucid City (Huge difference) Mistralton City (Just a single asset) Gym leaders Drayden is black only Iris is white only N Battle He will have the other legendary mascot in his party.

[UPDATED] Bag The bag was changed again, I personally think that Gen 4 had better categorization with the 8 Pockets. [REMOVED] Poke Balls Pocket [REMOVED] Mail [REMOVED] Battle Items Pocket The new Pockets are like this Items Medicine TM/HM [IMPORTANT] TMs have infinite uses starting from this generation. Berries Key Items Free Space (Black and White 2 Only) Good idea!!. Players can place any item they want on this free pocket!

"New" Pokeballs Still no ways to get apricorn balls [REMOVED] Park Ball [EQUIVALENT] Added Dream Ball. A New Pokeball with 100% catchrate that can only be used to catch Pokemon from the Dream World. Basically, no new relevant pokeballs, as the Dream Ball is just a gimmick for Dream World.

[UPDATED] PC Storage System Total Boxes: 24 Total Capacity: 720 Added the Battle Box Place 6 Pokemon in this box, as way to have a quick access for battle features in the various game modes.

[UPDATED] New Evolution Methods Trade 2 specific pokemon for an evolution (Karrablast and Shelmet) With Pokemon contests removed and the Condition Feebas can't evolve with the original method, you have to use a "Prism Scale" and trade Feebas to get a Milotic. You can always transfer one from previous generations Location Based evolutions New locations where they can evolve

[UPDATED] Pokemon battles and capture Pokemon sprites are now FULLY ANIMATED instead of intro animations only present in special version [Crystal,Emerald,Platinum] Added Triiple Battles Added Rotation Battles Attack combinations Pledge attacks can be combined and have different effects. (These seem to be the origin of Terrains moves) Wonder Launcher (PvP only) Use of items for Player versus Player battles. You earn this items along the battle, these are not linked with your bag You can have Double Wild battles (while this was introduced in generation IV, you had to be with another NPC trainer to do so. This is the real deal) You can only catch one of the Pokemon in these double encounters, defeat the one you don't want. Shaky Encounters. You will find shaking things in the wild areas, these can have rare Pokemon. Critical Capture. Imagine a critical hit, but when you use your Pokeball. You increase the chance of a critical capture when you have more Pokemon caught in your Pokedex

[REMOVED] Secret Bases ["EQUIVALENT"] Dream World [NOT IN GAME] Sadly this is a huge letdown for this games, as now you require another software to A "new" equivalent but not really. Since you could customize/decorate your "Dream World" Home. Players would send their Pokemon to the dream world (which is not even in game, it's a website. )

[UPDATED] Breeding New Abilities, Hidden Abilities only obtainable at the Dream World. Hidden abilities can be passed down only if the Pokemon with the ability is female

[UPDATED] Move tutors [REMOVED] "Cool" tutors are removed in the game. This is, the ones that appear in "special versions". Why does this keep happening? Added "Cool" tutors again. Where? Obviously only for the special versions, at least they are sequels here and just a third version with a few more things. Added tutors for Pledge moves Added a tutor for Keldeo, this move will help to change form Added a tutor for Meloetta, this move will help to change form

[UPDATE] Breeding Holding an everstone guarantees passing a Pokemon's nature Abilities have more chances to pass down to baby Pokemon coming from the Mother Incubating items at the Join Avenue [Black and White 2]

Added New Forms. Basculin has 2 forms. They have different abilities Darmanitan has 2 forms. Changes in battle Deerling has 4 forms. Changes with the game season Sawsbuck has 4 forms (like Deerling). Meloetta. Changes with an attack New gender forms Only 3 Pokemon have gender forms here. At least these are more notorious. Unfezant Frillish Jellicent BW2 Exclusive forms Tornadus - Therian Forme Thundurus - Therian Forme Landorus - Therian Forme Black Kyurem White Kyurem Keldeo

[UPDATED] Pokemon Events For this generation there are even more Pokemon events and I added more sections for them. Althought this section is incomplete. Victini Limited, you need a Liberty Pass Reshiram Zekrom Zorua Zoroark along with the chosen Gen 2 Legendary Beast Keldeo Meloetta Genesect Interactable Pokemon Cobalion Terrakion Virizion Landorus Kyurem Volcarona (Not a legendary and it's awesome to have this in the game) Musharna (Not a legendary as well, but interesting because the Dream World its important for this game's lore) Shiny Haxorus Roaming Pokemon Tornadus Thundurus

Season Mechanics Each season lasts a real life month. Many areas in the game will have a cosmetic change. Weather can change in specific areas due to another season happening Wild Pokemon will change in different area due to a new season. Some areas will have access to other areas depending on the season. E.g Snow appears in Winter and it will let you walk to a new area. Background music will change with different seasons! Seasons affect how the game changes between Morning, Day, Evening, Night. Imagine like how days and nights are longer depending on the seasons in real life. Certain events with some NPCs change depending on the season

[REMOVED] Pokemon Contests ["EQUIVALENT"] Pokemon Musical. [REMOVED] Use of battle mechanics. I assume this is because EVERY move has to be reviewed and give it a special effect. Sadly, it was something people enjoyed and it makes it feel as an inferior version of the Contests. Overall this game-mode feels somewhat empty, it can feel like like an idle-game, since it plays automatically, auto-battlers were not the trending stuff back in this time. 4 Categories Cool Cute Elegant Quirky The total of moves is 559. A lot of stuff to review Props are very similar to what they were in Contests Sections Dress-up (Like the 4th generation) Dancing Players can't interact here at all, aside of what props were given to the Pokemon participating Review / Results Rewards After the performance ends, the player can reach the audience outside reception to receive props. Better results mean more props received from the audience. Obtain all 100 props to upgrade the trainer card.

Added PokeStar [Black and White 2 Only] Players do "small objectives" during battles in order to get the best endings. Movies have different endings Create around 12 different series of movies Use of rental pokemon Use of your own pokemon (unlocked later) Create movies and rank up to Rank EX (Rank 1-5 and then Rank Ex) I think this was an awesome feature of the game, it uses the core battle mechanics to try and do something different. There are movies that YOU DON'T BATTLE POKEMON, you battle a different kind of enemy.

Important characters battles. You get a rematch every day. You can fight Cynthia who is at Undella town. Game Freak Morimoto

Battle Competition

[THE BEST SO FAR] Team Plasma This is probably the best story in a Pokemon game. Team Plasma is up to something, they will be in the story during the whole game, as well as a very interesting character called "N". Team objective is to liberate Pokemon. They are a morally grey team, as it makes sense to think that you are improsining and "slaving" Pokemon when you capture them. This is the most challenging team yet, even if the objective has less impact in the Pokemon world, like Cyrus.

You get 2 Rivals here at the very beginning of the game. One is clumsy, the other one is more objective. Yet they are your friends. With these 2 you can see why usually people prefer more competitive rivals.

[UPDATED] Pokemon Center Pokemarts are now located INSIDE the Pokemon Centers. [REMOVED] Pokemart buildings The Wireless and Internet NPCs are now located upstairs from the Pokemon center, these are located in the SAME ROOM, remember that previously they were located in different in-game rooms. [REMOVED] Global Terminal building. The Global Terminal features are now accessible upstairs in Pokemon Center [IMPORTANT] Added a new online feature Random Matchup. Get matched with a random player to have a Pokemon Battle. Get matched in Free Mode ("Casual Mode") Get matched in Rating Mode ("Ranked Mode"). This mode is connected with the Global Battle Union You can view your "Player Rating" using the Vs. Recorder Key Item We won't list here all the rules of the online battling as it can be a complete topic of analisis. The important thing here is that players online can have an emergent PvP gameplay with random matches.

[REMOVED] Trainer rematches with any trainer of in-game areas. You can just do daily battles at the "Big Stadium" and the "Small Cout" You can rematch "Pokemon Breeders" Trainers on sight. You can rematch certain trainers at the "Royal Unova" Boat, daily. You can rematch trainers on the "Big Dome" and "Little Dome". Battles depend on the time and season Baseball Soccer American Football Tennis Basketball

[INTERESTING] The Unity Tower When you make a trade over the internet it will register the region (I assume this game keeps track of the Countries now). Each Pokemon with a new country will be listed at the Unity Tower

[REMOVED] Gym Leader Rematches INCREDIBLE DISSAPOINTING. You might be getting tired of seeing this. Indeed, Black and White removed Gym Leader rematches after doing an AWESOME job with the rematches in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

[INCREDIBLE FEATURE] Pokemon World Tournament ~ PWT (Sequels Only ~ BW2) Did you ever wanted to have content from all regions, all games? This is such an incredible feature, here you can battle characters from all regions. This is pretty much an equivalent of the Battle Frontier for this special versions While Gym Leader rematches were removed, this event marked a high bar of what we wanted to expect fo You can enter as many times as you want. Formats present Singles Doubles Triples Rotation Normal Tournaments Rental. Like the Battle Factory Mix. Using the mechanic of switching pokemon from the Battle Factory. Download Tournaments By using the Nintendo DS Servers, you could download special tournaments, 11 tournaments, although 6 were only for Japan. Special Tournaments Unova Leaders Kanto Leaders Johto Leaders Hoenn Leaders Sinnoh Leaders World Leaders (All gym leaders can show here) Champions Tournament Rental Master Mix Master Type Expert (You can only use Pokemon of specific types)

Black Tower and White Treehollow [SEQUELS ONLY] Exclusivity Black Tower is Black 2 Only White Treehollow is White 2 Only But here's another thing, a new feature was introduced and player can get the ability to switch the 2 areas. That's right, you can go to the White Treehollow you need the opposite version game to give you a special key. You get this with the Unova Link Feature Considered a battle facility, like the Battle Frontier Conquer 10 different areas to defeat the boss at Area 10 You can get evolution items depending on the day you play this

Battle Institute A "Mini Battle Tower" where you will fight 5 trainers and you will get a score and a certificate based on how well you do. Elite Rank / 6 Stars is the Max

Generation Gadget (C-Gear) [REMOVED] Most of the Poketch Apps While it's sad that many small features from the the Poketch were removed, it also makes sense that this is when people is starting to get smartphones. Many Poketch apps are already on our phones, our computer or a website. Here's a list of things that your phone has: Any Clock Calculator Memopad Counter Coin Toss Move Tester (You could just go to a website, or you can learn the effectiveness of attacks, most veteran players know this because battling teaches this.) Calendar DotArtist (You can have a better App for drawings) Roulette Kitchen Timer Color Changer StopWatch Alarm Clock This are the apps that are only useful within the game, since they need the game data. Your Party (Not really neccesary to have) Happiness Checker Useful, since there was no need to go and ask an NPC if your Pokemon were happy. [UPDATED] ItemFinder. Useful, and its back as a KeyItem in this genration!, first generation Itemfinders were awful compared to Gen 4 and 5 Berry Checker. Since there's no berry harvesting, this pretty much had to dissapear. This was very useful Day-care checker Useful, but not really neccesary. Remember, people grinding for eggs are always close to the daycare. Pokemon History Debatable. Probably the most useful feature would be Pokemon that you traded, since those Pokemon left your game. Marking Map Not just Pokemon has this feature, many games have the ability to put markers on your map. Overall is useful, it helps for in-game tracking for stuff. Pokemon doesn't have much tracking needed, but people can always find its use. [UPGRADED] Link Searcher This was upgraded to a feature in the C-Gear in this generation. Trainer Counter. Useless. Pokeradar was removed in this generation... Matchup Checker This thing wasn't even released officially. But, a lot of people who are hardcore breeders know matchup compatibilities, if not, people would just check a website. When you turn on the C-Gear On it will search for local wireless and infrared communications. Black and White cartridges have Infrared. Like the Poketch, the C-Gear will be always on your touch screen. You can the tiles to select the 3 communication options Change Tile Icon Change Tile positions Communications Infrared ~ IR Wireless Online Create Surveys Check Results You get rewards depending on the question, like Pokeballs, Medicine, Vitamins, Treasures. Personally I don't think this feature is needed in future games, as this is something people can talk. These rewards are stuff you can buy in game (except for treasures). Taglog Displays people playing around. An improved feature to the Poketch App of the Link Searcher Communications [HUGE IMPACT UPDATE] Infrared ~ IR. You can use the C-Gear to instantly battle or trade with someone using infrared. The downside its that it uses infrared instead of the native wireless DS Communications. No need to go to the Pokemon center! You can be in any area of the game and battle or trade wirelessly. Battle Trade Friend Code Exchange Feeling Check Interact via touch screen to see how "compatible" you are with another player. You will be "scored", you can recieve a Heart Sweet tem or two depending on the score. You can do this once a day with a person Wireless Communications Entralink (This is how you transport to the entralink) Xtransceiver Allows you to have a video call (if your DS has a camera) or just a simple call with the DS Mic. 4 players can join the call While it's a good feature and probably something that helped them understand and improve their communications knowledge, this is not a feature that it's not missed for the same reasons as why the Poketch can be deprecated because we have smartphones. Black and White 2 Only Mini-games Balloon Catch Balloon Smash Check happiness values with Bianca Check EVs with Bianca Type Compatibility (Like that Poketch app in Gen 4) Calling your rival will tell you locations of where you could find legendary Pokemon. Makes a resemblance on when in generation 2, people will call you on where to find Rare pokemon The Dropped Item QUEST An optional quest to get different Pokemon with hidden abilities The Pokemon you can get DEPEND ON YOUR PLAYER'S GENDER Online Game Sync Defined as "The process of synchronizing the player's save file with the Pokémon Global Link". Well, if we wanna talk about this feature we need to also define what the "Pokemon Global Link is" First, you will upload "save data" to the Global Link and then send a Pokemon to the Dream world. You have to create an separate online account to use the global link. When Game Freak talks about stuff that could be complicated for kids, like the Battle Frontier, it makes me wonder why would you put extra "walls" to access more content in the game. Yeah, kids can use many devices and understand websites, but still this is an extra step, a new wall to let players reach "new content". ​Pokemon Global Link (A Website) This has been one of the hardest sections to write in this document. Because the Global Link has been changing and removing features according to when new generation games show up. For example, no one can access the Dream World as of today. Defined as an "internet multiplayer feature in the Generation V, VI, and VII core series games". Login to your account, that way you will use the features Dream World In this generation yoou could go to the "Dream World", here you would get Pokemon with special abilities that can't be obtained in the cartridges. What an awful thing when thinking in long term. Obtain items in the Dream World. You could get berries here, because remember...? Harvesting is was totally removed from this game. You could play mini-games. They removed the in-game mini-games in order to put them in a limited time website. You could "explore the Island of Dreams" Global Battle Union Records statistics on how well you have performed using the Random Matchup feature. There are seaons and you get ranks depending how well you've done it. Profile See your profile from the games, but online Customize Change Skins for: The Pokedex The C-Gear Musical Shows According to Bulbapedia: "These customizations could be set in the game after using the Game Sync feature to wake up a Pokémon from Dream World. ". Which makes me wonder if new players get Pokemon Black, how are they going go customize their Game Sync? Long term speaking, the Global Link seems to do more harm instead of helping. A feature as simple as to pick a skin has been locked. I would appreciate if someone has more information regarding if customization has been locked for new players. Also, many skins are also Time-Limited, they were only distributed at specific dates. E-Z Mail Send and receive mails using preconstructed letters, you just have to fill blanks.

Hidden grottos [Black and White 2 Only] Chances of finding change when you take 256 steps in the game. Small areas where you can find Pokemon with Hidden Abilities. Abilities that pretty much were only possible to get at the Dream World

[REMOVED] Safari Zone

[REMOVED] Pal Park [EQUIVALENT] PokeTransfer The HUGE let down is that you require 2 Nintendo DS systems. So, if you have only one at home, then you have to get help from other person with a DS. You transfer from 6 to 6 Pokemon. Restrictions Pokemon can't hold items They can't know a HM You can't send eggs. You can't transfer a special Pichu limited to only HeartGold and SoulSilver. Relocator Transfer event Pokemon from HeartGold and SoulSilver to activate events in Black and White. Catch Zorua and Zoroak

[REMOVED] Berry Harvesting. Yup, they removed this. The berry pots were a great idea, remember?

[REMOVED] The Underground [REMOVED] Secret Bases/My Room [EQUIVALENT] The Entralink You can't explore the entralink if you are alone, contrary to the Underground where you could do activities alone. Up to 3 players can connect here Entra Forest. This is where you can catch the Pokemon you found at the Dream World. You will be given Dream Balls to catch them, 100% catch rate. Pass Powers At the center of entralink, you can register Pass powers that will give you more rewards for the various Pokemon Mechanics. You can register a Power in your C-Gear to use it multiple times along your adventures You purchase powers using pass Orbs. You obtain Pass Orbs completing missions. List of mechanics in pass powers: Increase probability of Hidden Grotto regeneration Increase chance of encountering Wild Pokemon (Sweet Scent seems better than this...) Decrease chance of encountering Wild Pokemon (We already have Repels since Generation I, not really neccesary) Eggs can hatch up to 2x faster (Incredibly useful for breeder players) Increase Pokemon happiness (Useful for Pokemon that require happiness evoluton) Pokemarts can have up to 50% discount (If you can have discounts on repels, why would you use the decrease chances of encountering Pokemon? What was the idea behind this design?) Restores HP of the lead Pokemon up to 200HP (Why would you use this power when you have medicine items?) Restore PP of the leading Pokemon (Usually PP restoring items were limited in-game. This one is most useful so you don't go back to the Pokemon center and combine with a potion) Increase Exp. Points from a battle up to 2x Decrease Exp. Points from a battle up to 0.5x (You might think this is not useful, but can work when doing EV training) Increase Prize Money from battles up to 3x (And as far as I know, you can stack it with Amulet Coin) Increase chances of catching Pokemon Missions When people join the Entralink, they can do missions to help other players. The objective is to interact between the 2 players, pretty much a tag game. There is also an item hiding mission. When you complete 6 missions, the other players will be the one that will be needing help for missions. Completing missions give you Pass Orbs. Support Missions Your mission is to give another player an enhanced version of a Pass Power. You can give them one of these powers Exp. Points from a battle is doubled Prize Money from battles is tripled Eggs hatch faster Happiness increase faster Pokemart discounts for 50% off HP can be fully restored Increase chances of catching Pokemon [Upgrade] Funfest Missions [Black and White 2 Only] The sequels "enhanced" the original Entralink missions by adding the Funfest Missions. There's more variety of missions, rather than just tag games. Find Berries Find lost items Find NPCs The "Enjoy shopping" mission, players can talk to a Clerk in the Pokemart to have a 50% discount Find a specific number of Pokemon Defeat Trainers (Only Blackbelts or Ace Trainers) They can be activated ANYWHERE in the region. You can do them ALONE Instead of a Max of 3 players, you can do this with other 100. Rewards are still Pass orbs Only limited kinds of berries can be found here. Harvesting is still missing.

[REMOVED] Battle Frontier Indeed. The Battle frontier has been removed from the game. This was a huge thing for post-game, so now post-game has been reduced.

[REMOVED] Battle Tower [EQUIVALENT] Battle Subway Just another name for the battle tower. Added the "Super" formats Unlocked after obtained the National Dex and having a 21 win streak. Super format has different trainers than the normal train. Super format use Pokemon from all 5 generations. Bosses are Ingo and Emmet

[UPDATED] Trainer Card Defeat Ghetsis and Team Plasma Complete the National Dex, excluding the Mythical Pokemon Collect all 100 Pokemon Musical Props Obtain all 33 Entralink pass powers Defeat Ingo and Emmet on the Super Single and Super Double Battle Subway

Join Avenue [Black and White 2 Only] A building that will level up and will get special items in the various shops While it's a nice addition to the game, even upgrading this facility is a big of a chore, you will level this up by interacting with other players, sharing some similarities of the Flags at the Underground (Gen 4). You can't really level up this facility playing just by yourself, so, its a bit of a downside, players need options. Shop types Beauty Salon Increase Pokemon happiness like in previous generations Cafe Items that increase Pokemon stats Items that increas e Pokemon levels Dojo Increase Pokemon levels Increase Pokemon stats (EVs) Florist Sells sets of various berries (remember, there's no harvesting here) Raffle Shop [EQUIVALENT] Lottery ID from previous games Market Closest thing to a Pokemart, althou its debatable "better" Nursery Items that help hatching eggs Antique Shop Random selection of items Pokeballs Still No Apricorn balls, that were missed since generation 2 (or 4 as remakes) Evolution Stones You can only purchase 1 item of each kind every 24 hours Some NPCs are fans and they give you items Customization Change avenue name Change your title Change your phrase Max Avenue Level is Level 100

[UPDATED] Experience Experience calculation has been changed for the first time after 4 generations. Your Pokemon level, the enemy Pokemon level is taking into consideration with this new changes.

[SURPRISING FEATURE] Medals / Achievements [Black and White 2 Only] Something we knew from Nintendo games during the 360 and PS3 era, was the fact that Nintendo didn't have built-in achievements, as it was somewhat drifting away from their game philosophy, yet Pokemon Black and White 2 added this feature. There aree 200 Medals available in the game This improves the completion sense This can help with the post-game content Helps progress tracking Medal types Special Medals Adventure Medals Battle Medals Entertainment Medal Challenge Medal

Unova Link [IMPORTANT] Key Link Special "keys" to activate different features in the game. Capacity of changing the game's difficulty. Capacity to change the version exclusive areas, to the one of the other version. (Black City to White Forest and vice versa) Change the Regi Pokemon areas. The 2 different version can give the opposite key to catch the Regi that is not featured in the game. I believe this is an interesting feature. An important observation that Pokemon veterans know, it's the fact that legendary pokemon are limited to 1 per save-file. These keys enable players to make their own save file to get their own legendary pokemon. You enable this Pokemon by trading keys with other game-versions. Imagine that you could get in your version the other mascot of the game, and not just stick with your own mascot, with this idea, player's would have to work their way out in order to obtain these keys. Memory Link Connect with the first games, Black and White 1. This allowed continuity to make much sense between this generation Flashbacks, you get the opportunity to know how some characters that appeared in the first game conveyed to what they are doing at the sequels. Capacity to catch N's pokemon from the previous game, since N released his Pokemon, as this was his treat Pokemon, something truly unique in this generation. Personally, N was an amazing character. Get all your props from your previous game. Another thing never seen. Instantly carrying over progress from a previous game. Get your items from Loblly's Mention of your Black and White 1 trainer with their name. Certificates and Throphies can be seen in this game too. If you complete everything in this game as well, you can see your throphies from BOTH GAMES. Battle with Bianca Her initial Pokemon changes depending on the one you chose IN THE FIRST GAME. Battle with Cheren Same as Bianca [UNETHICAL] Nintendo 3DS Link Allows you to bring items and Pokemon from the "Pokemon Dream Radar". I don't appreciate this feature at all. They knew that at some point the Dream World website would be deprecated, the "Pokemon Dream Radar" is an external PAID APP for the 3DS. I think this was a very unethical move from Game Freak. This makes Pokemon with Hidden abilities blocked behind a paywall of 3 dollars. 3 New Forms for existing Pokemon blocked behind a paywall f 3 dollars. The Unova Link is probably one of the features that also helped raise the expecations bar for the games. Who knows, this could probably be called the Golden Era of Pokemon from Generation 1-5. There's so much content in the fourth and fifth generation.



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Generation VI

Nintendo 3DS: 2013

This is the first full fledged 3D graphic game. As expected for 3DS games, they were to implement depth 3D. Sadly these games only used hardware 3D in specific places. 3D was present in Pokemon Battles

Sadly these games were notorious to have frame-drops. Even turning on the 3D mode would hurt frames.

Added the Fairy type. Remember: Last time types were added was back in Gen 2 Like Second generation, Pokemon were reworked with this new type. (Eg. Jigglypuff is now Fairy Type ) Total Types: 18

[UPDATED] Player movement. After 5 generations, players can now move in 8 different directions, when walking and running. Added Roller Blades You can perform tricks but you need to unlock them from NPCs 5 tricks in the game. [IMPORTANT] Roller blading tricks can also open new areas, as with new tricks you can reach new places. When using rollerblades and the bike, has the 360 movement freedom.

[UPDATED] Pokedex Added 72 New Pokemon The Regional Pokedex has been split into three Central Kalos Pokedex: 153 Coastal Kalos Pokedex: 153 Mountain Kalos Pokedex: 151 [REMOVED] Pokemon's footprint There's a button that change the Pokemon mode between Central, Coastal, Mountain, National. Unlock the National Dex after getting in the Hall of Fames Another UI revamp, the touch screen is used to move in the Pokedex. Top Screen is always showing the Pokemon data. [UPDATED] The Weight Comparison While you can't compare height with the player, you can compare the weight with any other Pokemon you want. [UPDATED] Search Mode Added a new "Shape" filter, which works like the "form" filter in previous games. Height comparison is missing in X/Y OR/AS [REMAKES] [REMOVED] Weight Comparison Top Screen arranges Pokemon with their Pokemon Icons. Height comparison is back, the way it was on the original game. Compares size with the player trainer. Search Mode Added Appeareance filter Filter Mega Evolution Pokemon Filter Shiny Forms (You can officially list Pokemon in Shiny Forms) Added Encounters filter Has been caught Not yet caught (Official in-game to list what you are missing)

Added Trainer Clothes and Hair customization This marks the start of a new era, where players can have different trainers and not be a clone of the original male and female trainers.

[UPDATED] Shiny Pokemon chance has changed to 1/4096, chances have been doubled. Shinies are less rare now. Added Chain fishing. You can fish and get Shiny Pokemon

[REMOVED] Exclusive version areas (Black City/White Forest)

[REMOVED] Pass Powers [EQUIVALENT] O-Powers

Dungeons ~ Total: 14 (Here's another reason why this becomes Silver Age of Pokemon. We got even less Dungeons than the previous generation, although is slightly understandable with the whole transition from 2D to 3D. ) Connecting Cave Frost Cavern Glittering Cave Kalos Power Plant Lost Hotel Lysandre Labs Parfum Palace Poké Ball Factory Pokémon Village Reflection Cave Santalune Forest Team Flare Secret HQ Terminus Cave Victory Road

Added Photo-spots Take a photo of your trainer at specific locations. (12 locations) You can Change brightness Change focus Zoom In Zoom Out

[UPDATED] Vs. Recorder You can store up to 100 videos. [IMPORTANT] Mock battles You can re-play a simulation of the battles you saved. Used particulary to create simulations and train yourself to the teams you fought against.

[UPDATED] Bag Reverted to the Black and White slots [REMOVED] Free Space bag Until now, the 4th generation has the best bag. But the free space bag was also a great feature because every player could add whatever they want, and yet it was removed for "REASONS".

Poke Radar is back, after it was removed from Gen 5. There are decoy patches, these will also help and tell you that you will break the chain here. There's a possibility for the music to change after a pokemon battle, this music means that there's a high chance to find a shiny Pokemon.

Pokeballs [UNOBTAINABLE] Dream Ball. No more ways get to ge these balls, they are still stored in the game's data when you transfer old Pokemon. Pokemon no longer cares about the dream world, considering how the Global Link removed the dream world as well. Apricorn balls are still missing since Johto [UPDATED] PC Storage System Total Boxes: 31 Total Capacity: 930

[UPDATED] Evolution Methods Have a Pokemon of an specific type in your party. Rotate upside down your 3DS Have bonding using Pokemon Amie Level up during rain

[UPDATED] Pokemon Events Snorlax Lapras Xernas [X ONLY] Yveltal [Y ONLY] Zygarde Mewtwo One Legendary Bird Roams

[UPDATED] Pokemon Battles [IMPORTANT] Added The Mega-Evolutions Total of 50 mega-evolutions (with Primal Reversion) with the remakes Need of a special item that has to be held in order to enable mega-evolution/primal-reversion. Only one mega-evolution is allowed for each player. Primal Reversion is different. If for some reason you KO Groudon or Kyogre and you manage to revive them, they will go back You can have a Mega-evolved Pokemon and the Primal Reverted Pokemon AT THE SAME TIME. Added Horde Encounters. Encounter 5 Pokemon at once. Useful for EV training Useful to generate more Pokemon and get a chance for a Shiny one. Inverse Battles Fire beats grass? I don't think so, Grass beats Fire. This is a game move that inverts type effectiveness, flipping game mechanics introduced in generation 1. This is only for Single Player Sky Battles Battles where you can only use Flying Type Pokemon or Pokemon with Levitate Single Player Only For the first time since Gold and Silver with a change like the Special Split. 29 Pokemon have been rebalanced in their base stats. [REMOVED] Wild Double Encounters

[REMOVED] Dream World

[REMOVED] Join Avenue

[REMOVED] Pokemon World Tournament

New Forms Mega-evolutions ~ Total: 50 28 New Megas in X/Y 20 New Megas in OR/AS 2 Pokemon Primal reversion Gender differences Meowstic Different designs. Different move Pyroar Different Design I think we can see here how it's probably an issue for their development streamline to keep adding more gender differences. Generation 4 introduced a lot of differences and only 2 new Pokemon got them. At least they are very notorious changes. Vivillon. 18 skins (plus 2 exclusive event patterns... for a total of 20). Somewhat similar to Shellos. In the fantasy, this could have been a Regional Form, since the Patterns are geographical based in our world, not the pokemon world. If this took place in the Pokemon world it could have a pattern per region and even universes. Same stats, different pattern, I will consider this skins, much harder skins, not just a recolor, but to keep consistency, skins. Flabébé. 5 Skins. It depends on which Flower patch you find the Pokemon. Red, Yellow, Orange, Blue or White, like Arceus, and Genesect. It's just a recolor, not a redesign. You can't change the form. Floette. 5 Skins. Evolve Flabébé. Florges. 5 Skins. Evolve Floette. Furfrou. 5 Cosmetic Redesign Forms. They are very different visually, and stats stay the same. But this was more work from the creative team, as this is not a recolor or a harder tweak like Vivillon. Aegislash. 2 "Forms". It's not 100% a form, it's called stance, gotta keep consistency. The idea here would be to think how the Pokemon would look when attacking or defending. This is similar on when you create a character and you have to know how does it look when its happy, sad, angry, etc. Stances changes its stats, and it will not be considered a real form. Special case: Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist. "4 Forms each". Not really forms, but more like different sizes. If the size is different, the stats will change. Nothing to do here from the artistic point of view. Code-wise you just change the scale of the model. Xernas. "2 Cosmetic Forms". These are fantasy forms. When in battle Xernas has a "Active Mode" Skin, and when it's outside battle is in "Neutral Mode" Skin. Hoopa. 2 Forms. Using a Prison Bottle it will change its form, identical to Shaymin. Design changes, stats changes and even types changes.

Pokemon Events

[REMOVED] Seasons

[REMOVED] Pokemon Musical

[REMOVED] PokeStar

[REMOVED] Medals/Achievements They are only available at the Pokemon Global Link website. And by the time you are reading this article, they are not present.

[REMOVED] Difficulty Options (from the Unova Link)

[REMOVED] C-Gear [EQUIVALENT] Player Search System ~ PSS The evolution of the C-Gear. This device has a social screen where it lists all your: Friends (Static) Acquaintances (Static list that are not your friends) People you have interacted with in the various social features. Passersby (Dynamic, changes constantly) Random people that is connected in the game either Online or Local [IMPORTANT] Generation V removed the need to go to the Pokemon Center to do local wireless activities, like trading and battling. Now, Generation 6 COMPLETELY removed the need for the Pokemon center as the threshold for these activities. Access the Battle Spot Random Matchup Online Competition Inclusion of Penalties for disconnection Wonder Trade Send a Pokemon and receive a Random Pokemon from another trainer. Global Trade Station Since the Pokemon Center no longer is the threshold for these features, you can find the GTS in the PSS. Access the Game Sync from here, just like Gen 5. Shout Out Broadcast a small message your friends and local players Holocaster Provides news from the Global Link Uses AR to superimpose an image so players feel like they are seeing a holograph. Trainer PR Videos A customized 10 second video that player create. Your profile You can set An Profile Image You can select an Icon You can select an Image from the 3DS photos A personal message Questions How do you spend your free time? What's your nature? What's your favorite Pokemon type? What do you like about Pokemon? How do you like to battle? What is your favorite color? Other stats Activity History Location Like Battle Wins Total Like Trades Play time

[UPDATED] Breeding Mothers now pass the Pokeball they were caught Fathers have a small chance of inheriting Hidden Abilities Destiny Knot now inherits 5 IVs instead of just 1

[UPDATED] Experience Mechanics Exp Share is now a Key Item, it not a Hold Item anymore. Exp Share can be turned on or off. Exp Share awards experience to all Pokemon in your party. Pokemon that participated will get 100% of the Exp. Pokemon that didn't participate will get 50% of the Exp. If your Pokemon has high affection it get extra Exp. If a Pokemon reaches its Evolution level (Eg. Charmeleon is level 36), that Pokemon will get more experience until you evolve it. Catching Pokemon now awards experience

Added Rideable Pokemon You can ride Non Player Pokemon at certain areas. Some of them are used to open the path to new areas. Gogoat Rhyhorn Skiiddo Mamoswine Lapras

Transfer Pokemon from Generation 5 to 6 Overall it's a good thing, sadly this requires an internet connection You have to download a 3DS App called "PokeTransporter". It's also called an "extension" for Pokemon Bank NO LONGER NEED OF USING 2 NINTENDO SYSTEMS. What this App does is that takes your first Generation V Storage Box and it will transfer the Pokemon from that Box over to Pokemon Bank. Then, at Pokemon Bank you transfer your Pokemon to the Sixth Generation [IMPORTANT] Pokemon Bank is a subscription based App. We have to be aware that it's highly possible that Pokemon Bank will be probably cease support at some point, and this will make impossible to send Pokemon from generations 3-5 to 6.

Pokemon-Amie Probably the "closest" but not quite equivalent of Contests or the Musical You can pretty much ignore this feature during your whole playthrought. Pet Pokemon Feed Poke Puffs to Pokemon Participate in contests raises affection in the Gen 3 remakes, which is why I call this thing the closest thing to the contests. New stats that are not hard-linked to battles. Values from 0-5 Affection (DIFFERENT FROM HAPPINESS) Fullness Enjoyment Pokemon retain affection even if sent to Pokemon Bank or another version. Making Faces Minigame Walking decreases a bit fullness, but increases enjoyment The Pokemon Amie Space A somewhat equivalent of "My Room"/Secret Bases You can decorate (new customization feature) the space. Set up to 30 decorations Change the wallpaper At the same time, you might be asking "What is relevant about affection?", does affection benefit in something other than a new "ghost" stat? Here's what it can do Pokemon can gain 1.2x more experience Pokemon can use survive KO hits, think of they automatically use "Endure" because they love you Pokemon can avoid attacks, even moves that have 100% accuracy. Because the game can get even easier now. Remove themselves status conditions at the end of the turn Higher chance for critical hits Different battle dialogues Pokemon from Friends, Acquaintances and Passerby can visit the player's Pokemon. They can "Start" a discussion between pokemon. TWhen 3 Pokemon have a discussion they can leave a gift. Gifts can be Poke Puffs Interior Items Wallpapers This mode has more internal "backend" rules but that's not what we are listing and discussing here.

Poke Puffs These are not equivalents to Pokeblocks or Puffins. Remember that the condition stats were removed. Increase Fullness and Affection. Obtained from: Playing minigames Gifts from Visitor pokemon 5 different levels Basic Frosted Fancy Deluxe Supreme (These are obtained in in-game events) As a cool detail, "Cocoon" Pokemon can't eat Poke Puffs.

[REMOVED] Team Plasma Added Team Flare According to bulbapedia: "Their goal is to create a "beautiful and better" world while making money, eliminating everyone who does not follow their standards." "Lysandre reveals Team Flare's plans of using the "ultimate weapon", a machine built by the king of Kalos 3,000 years ago that can eliminate all life. To achieve this, Lysandre plans to use XerneasX/YveltalY to activate the machine in Lysandre Labs in Lumiose City. "

Post-game There's a 5 chapter post-game story.

Move Tutors [REMOVED] Cool tutors. For now we can see the trend that only the "Special/Upgraded" versions of each generation will get the better move tutors.

Added Friend Safari Once again, the safari zone is not present in the games. A Zone where you can encounter different Pokemon based on your friends. Each player is assigned with a set of Pokemon that can show at other player's games. Pokemon can have Hidden abilities here There are 54 Pools of Pokemon. Each Player gets assigned a Pool and IT CAN'T NEVER BE CHANGED. If you have more friends, you have more Pools available.

Added Super Training Minigames to increase Pokemon's EVs You can also 