Pokémon Black & White

Pokémon BLACK AND WHITE

Pokémon Black Version (Japanese: ポケットモンスター ブラック Pocket Monsters Black) and Pokémon White Version (Japanese: ポケットモンスター ホワイト Pocket Monsters White) are Nintendo DS games that are the first core series Pokémon games of Generation V. The games were released in Japan on September 18th, 2010, in Europe on March 4th, 2011, in North America on March 6th, 2011, and in Australia on March 10th, 2011. They take place in the Unova region. These games are enhanced on the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS families.

Pokémon Black and White follow the trends set by previous games in the series. Unlike previous games, Pokémon introduced prior to Generation V cannot be obtained before completing the main story by defeating Team Plasma. The games' names were revealed on the official Japanese Pokémon website on April 9th, 2010, and scans from the subsequent issue of the magazine leaked the following day, April 10th.

Pokémon Black and White were followed in 2012 by two sequels, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, which are set two years after the events of Black and White. Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 are the second and final paired versions of Generation V.

The graphics have been improved from Diamond and Pearl. The dialog boxes of previous games have been changed to speech balloons that appear over other characters' heads, allowing more than one character to speak at once. Japanese players can have kanji appear on screen, rather than only hiragana and katakana.

During battles, the sprites of the Pokémon are fully animated and the camera changes position to highlight specific parts of the battle. In addition to continuing the day and night cycle introduced in Gold and Silver, Black and White introduces a seasonal cycle, with the seasons advancing every month rather than being linked to the calendar. Outside areas appear differently depending on the season, such as changing of leaves in autumn or snow on the ground in winter. Certain areas are only accessible during certain seasons, and different Pokémon can be found in the wild in winter where others are encountered in the other seasons. The Pokémon Deerling and Sawsbuck change their physical appearance to match the seasons.

There are two new battle mechanics: Triple Battles and Rotation Battles. In Triple Battles, both teams must send out three Pokémon in a row at once; Some moves only allow Pokémon on the left or right side to attack the opponent's Pokémon on the same side or in the center. Changing position takes up one turn. In Rotation Battles, each side sends out three Pokémon at once, but they are arranged in a circle that can be rotated at will. Black has more Rotation Battles than Triple Battles, and the opposite is true in White. Another introduction is Combination Moves: a starter Pokémon can be taught one of three moves, and using them together in Double or Triple battles produces more powerful attacks. In the wild, walking through darker-colored tall grass can trigger Double Battles against wild Pokémon rather than only Single Battles with lighter-colored grass.

Occasionally, the player can find rustling patches of grass and rippling water, where they can encounter either a rare Pokémon, a Pokémon more common in the opposite game version, or the highest evolutionary form of a Pokémon whose lower forms can normally be found in the area. This is the only way to capture Pokémon such as Audino, Emolga, and Alomomola. Also, dust clouds in caves and the shadows of flying Pokémon on certain bridges can be entered to either find a rare item or encounter Drilbur, Excadrill, Ducklett, or Swanna, none of which can be found in the wild otherwise. Occasionally, when throwing a Poké Ball, the capture rate is highly increased, triggered by a random event. There are also new side-games and sidequests: the player can compete in Pokémon Musicals, a side-game similar to the Pokémon Contests of previous games; the Battle Subway, similar to the Battle Towers and Battle Frontiers of previous games; and on the Royal Unova, a cruise ship that the player can ride and fight Trainers aboard to win otherwise rare items.