All Pokemon Games – Full List of Generations 1-9

The Pokemon franchise has been around for over 2 decades now. Every main Nintendo handheld has games from the series available. There’s even a trend of making a new region for the newest set of Pokemon games. Then, using the new technology shown off in this new game, a remake of a previous region, or Generation of Pokemon. Sprinkled in are various other spinoff titles that sometimes carry their own isolated plot.

Generation 1 – Where Pokemon Games Started

The original 151 Pokemon of the Kanto region are found in the first iteration of the games. Pokemon Red, Blue and Green for the Gameboy – there’s some real nostalgia on these games now. The starter Pokemon are some of the most popular: Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur.

You could also choose Pokemon Yellow in this set. After the anime, Pokemon Yellow is a remake of the game, where you get Pikachu as a starter.

Pokemon Stadium was also one of the first Pokemon console games. It featured party games and a 3D battle sim and spawned another popular game format.

Generation 2: Johto

Pokemon Gold and Silver released 1999 for Gameboy Color. The third game in the series, Crystal, released in 2000.

In  these games, your starters are Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile. Due to being able to visit a powered up Kanto after completing the Johto region, the Pokedex runs from #001 Bulbasaur to #251 Celebi.

Gen 3: The first one to not “Catch em all”

The phrase “Gotta Catch ’em all” is synonymous with early Pokemon branding. But Gen 3 is where they stopped putting it on box art. Designed as new jumping on point for new players, Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and later, Emerald continued the Crystal trend and swell the National Pokedex to a whopping 386. Starting with #252 Treeko, ending with Deoxys.

Remaking The First Pokemon Games

With the wholesale improvements of the Gameboy Advance, developers Gamefreak remade the original Red and Green. Despite Red and Blue being the first western releases, Red and Green were the first Japanese games. Fire Red and Leaf Green re-treads Kanto in Generation 3’s engine. It also includes the ability to trade with Gen 3 games.

Full Fledged Spinoffs

Additionally, the Gamecube featured full Pokemon games with a standalone story and sequel. Pokemon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness XD.

Gen 4: Sinnoh

The Nintendo DS introduced Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and eventually Platinum in 2006 and 2008, introducing 107 new Pokemon.

The Wii got its console battle sim entry: Battle Revolution in 2008. With the new games and remakes of Gen 2 – Heart Gold and Soul Silver, the National Dex reached 493.

Gen 5 – Same system, new engine

Still on the Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black and White takes us to Unova, a generation based on New York. It featured real-time seasonal cycle using the DS Clock. It bolstered 3D spectacle set pieces and cutscenes, as well as a much more mature story and the first true sequels of the mainline games – Black 2 and White 2. National Dex: #494 Victini to #649 Genesect.

Pokemon X&Y on 3DS

Gen 6 marked the first games on the 3DS. Pokemon X&Y were the first games using the circle pad for non 4-directional movement. Making sparing use of the 3D slider, the games made accessibility changes to make competitive ready Pokemon easier to make.

The anime completed the letter trio of XYZ but the games never got an entry. Temporary Mega Evolutions also debuted in this region. Functionally similar Primal forms were introduced with Hoenn remakes Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. National Dex: #650 Chespin to #721 Volcanion.

Z Moves in Generation 7

Ditching Megas for high power Z moves, 3DS titles Sun/Moon and sequels Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon took us to the Hawaii inspired Alola. This was the first region to introduce regional forms of older Pokemon.

Fans were finally able to try out unique battles rather than Gym Battles for story progression. The National Dex added #722 Rowlet to #809 Melmetal.

Gen 8 Moved Pokemon Games to Nintendo Switch

The first Switch Pokemon games were Pokemon Yellow remakes based on the booming Pokemon GO. The first mainline games Sword and Shield launched in 2019, introducing new Galar regional forms and Dynamax. 2 waves of DLC followed in 2020.

Gen 8 was the first to abandon the National Dex but added Pokemon #810 Grookey to #905 Enamorus.

Generation 9 are Open World Pokemon Games

The most recent Pokemon generation! Pokemon Legends Arceus was a prequel, isolated from trades until Pokemon HOME reintroduced them.

Next up, Pokemon Scarlet/Violet were the first mainline games to adopt the new open world style. Although incredibly buggy at launch, it has slowly been tuned in addition to DLC releases. Diamond/Pearl remakes were 1:1 remade in Unity instead of Generation 9. The latest VGC format introduced Pokemon HOME. All 1010 Pokemon are here!