תיאור

Pokémon are small creatures, which go through three or four stages of developments, known as evolutions, with each additional stage giving them more power, stamina or special abilities. Even the biggest Pokémon is quite small: the name is a portmanteau of Pocket Monster following the translation from the original Japanese when the original game was released in 1996.

Players take on the personas of trainers who are humans who travel the countryside, with their current Pokémon, looking for new Pokémon to battle, capture and train. As each Pokémon is trained, they evolve as mentioned above. Once the player has a good stable of Pokémon in their stable, they can begin to battle against other trainers’ Pokémon.

Pokémon are kept in a Poké Ball, a red, black and white device that contains the Pokémon until they are needed. This ball is small enough for a trainer to carry six of them on his or her belt, and each ball can carry one Pokémon.

Pokémon come in different types, loosely matching the elements of earth, air, water, and fire, and these all offer various advantages and disadvantages. For example, a fire Pokémon is endangered by a water Pokémon, so will have to fight harder to win such a battle. This means that players must carefully choose their Pokémon before sending them into battle to try and give them the best chance of success.