Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

All Pokémon games in order: chronologically and by release date

By
Charizard and Venusaur.
Nintendo

Pokémon is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. With a history spanning nearly 30 years, there are a lot of Pokémon games that you can pick up and play — but where do you start? Unless you’re a Pokémon professor, it might be tough finding the right game to play.

Do you want to just play every game in the order that they were released? Or are you looking to play them in a (loose) chronological order? We’re here to help you out.

Recommended Videos

All Pokémon games in release order

The player rival of Pokemon Violet and Scarlet holds a Pokeball.
Nintendo

Here are all of the released mainline Pokémon and U.S. release dates. To simplify things, we’ve grouped same-generation expansions that came out in different years but were directly linked. We’re also including remakes here, as many are improved enough to be considered completely new games worth revisiting separately.

  • Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow (1998-1999)
  • Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal (2000-2001)
  • Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald (2003-2005)
  • Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (2004)
  • Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum (2007-2009)
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver (2010)
  • Pokémon Black and White (2011)
  • Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (2012)
  • Pokémon X and Y (2013)
  • Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (2014)
  • Pokémon Sun and Moon (2016)
  • Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon (2017)
  • Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! (2018)
  • Pokémon Sword and Shield (2019)
  • Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (2021)
  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus (2022)
  • Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (2022)
  • Pokémon Legends: Z-A (2025)

All Pokémon games in chronological order

pikachu
Nintendo

Pokémon games have never focused too much on a linear timeline. While the games reference each other, each game is in its own little world for the most part — some characters might reappear, some history lesson may be taught, but you don’t need to know exactly where you sit in the Pokémon universe.

Related

The Pokémon community loves batting around timeline theories, but there is once piece of evidence that suggests there is some sort of official timeline. In 2014 in a now-deleted tweet, one of Game Freak’s head writers laid out the basic timeline of the first six generations of Pokémon games. That’s what we’re going to base the timeline below on.

We’re not going to include remakes here, since they happen at the same time as the original entries in the series. And there aren’t a lot of timestamps in the Pokémon universe, so no in-game dates for these games (although we’ll try to provide context when possible).

  • Pokemon Legends: Arceus
  • Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow
  • Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald (According to the timeline mentioned above, the events of the first and third generations happen at the same time.)
  • Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal (These games take place three years after the events of Pokémon Red, Blue, Green and Yellow.)
  • Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum
  • Pokémon Black and White
  • Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (These games take place about two years after the previous entries.)
  • Pokémon X and Y (It’s believed that these games happen alongside Black 2 and White 2, although there are theories that they take place in a different universe of sorts because of Mega Evolution.)
  • Pokémon Sun and Moon (These games feature a few characters from Pokémon X and Y and Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow, but ages are never referenced directly.)
  • Pokémon Sword and Shield (This game has zero references to other Pokémon titles and is almost a soft reboot of the series. New technology suggests that it happens later than other games, although some believe it’s set in a different universe altogether.)
  • Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (These games also have an unclear place in the Pokémon timeline right now, although a lot of fans believe they happen simeltaneously with Pokémon Sword and Shield.)

That’s the Pokémon timeline as tight as it exists right now. You can certainly play the games in this order and get the feel that time and space is moving forward, even if all the plots don’t line up perfectly.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Sam Hill
Sam Hill
Gaming Guides Editor
Sam Hill is a journalist and the gaming guides editor at Digital Trends. He's also written tech guides for Input and has…
Where to find the Coin Case in Pokémon Infinite Fusion
Casino in Pokémon Infinite Fusion.

Every Pokémon trainer knows that when you reach Celadon City, there's one essential stop — the casino! By playing slots and blackjack, players can earn enough coin to trade for rare Pokémon and powerful TMs next door.

If you enter the casino immediately, you'll be sent away because you lack a Coin Case. No one in the casino will give you one and getting one isn't a part of any main quest, so you'll have to go hunting for it throughout the city. If you're thorough, you won't miss it. But we're here to save you a bit of time.
Where to find the Coin Case in Pokémon Infinite Fusion

Read more
GTA 6: release date window, trailer, gameplay, and more
Woman at a rooftop pool party.

Believe it or not, it has been over a decade since the last GTA game. While tons of people are still dumping hundreds of hours into GTA Online, everyone has been (not so) patiently waiting for Rockstar to finally confirm that a new entry is in the works. Despite many leaks and rumors, the team held strong until late 2023. Now that the game is finally confirmed, we have a lot more solid ground to cover in terms of what Grand Theft Auto 6 will offer. This is going to be the biggest game of the generation, if not all time, so let's hotwire a car and pull off a heist to get all the information about GTA 6 there is.
GTA 6 release date

GTA 6 is set to release sometime in fall 2025, according to reports. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive, confirmed the launch window in a May 2024 earnings call.

Read more
The best games you can beat in a day

Games have steadily become larger and larger as the generations go on. Thanks to the most advanced console and PC technology, developers are able to craft massive worlds and stories that would have been impossible in the past. While many of us enjoy sinking our teeth into a meaty 100-hour-long game from time to time, eventually fatigue will set in. That's where games on the other end of the spectrum come in. These games aren't afraid to tell a tight, compact story, or to explore a single gameplay concept, and then call it a day without stretching things out. They are no less impactful or memorable than their massive counterparts, and may even be superior in some player's eyes. Here are a few of the best games you can beat in a single day to cleanse your palate with some more experimental titles.

Minit

Read more