Pokemon Black & White Versions (Nintendo DS)
Pokemon Black & White Versions (Nintendo DS)

 

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Pokemon Black
ポケットモンスター ブラック
Pokemon Black BoxPokemon White
ポケットモンスター ホワイト
Pokemon White Box Art
General information
 Platform  Nintendo DS
 Developed by  Game Freak
 Published by  Nintendo/TPC
 Players
 1-4
 Generation  Generation V
 New Pokemon  156
 New moves  92
 New abilities  41
 Predecessor(s)  Pokemon Platinum
 Direct Sequels  Black & White V2
 Release dates
  Australia  March 10th, 2011
  Europe  March 4th, 2011
  Japan  September 18th, 2010
  United States  March 6th, 2011
Quick menu: Story / Official Description / Gameplay & Features / Pokemon / The Unova Region / Team Plasma / Gym Leaders / Elite Four / Compatability with other titles / Videos / Trivia / Sales / Reviews / Media & Artwork

Pokemon Black title screenPokémon Black and White are the paired core series titles that kicked off Generation V. They were released on the Nintendo DS, first in Japan on September 18th, 2010, then in the U.S on March 6th, 2011 followed in Europe on March 4th, 2011 and finally released in Australia a few days after on March 10th, 2011.

The story for Pokémon Black & White takes place in the all new Unova region, the games boast an impressive 156 new Pokémon as well as 92 new moves and 41 new abilities. The games enjoy some minor enhancements (over the original DS release) when played on the DSi or 3DS.

Although Black & White have trading compatability with many previous Pokémon titles, no Pokémon from outside Sinnoh can be traded in until Team Plasma is defeated, and the storyline complete. The names of these newly-revealed-at-the-time Pokémon titles were announced on the official Pokémon Japanese website on the 9th of April 2010. Black & White remain the only paired main series titles to recieve direct sequels which came in the form of Pokémon Black Version 2 & Pokemon White Version 2 which would be the final released core series games of Generation V.

Plot / Story

The player is on their room with Cheren, their childhood friend who grew up with them on Nuvema Town. Professor Juniper left a present for them and Bianca, another close friend to the player who arrives later. The box has three Pokémon who they can choose from, after choosing Bianca requests a battle, afterwards Cheren heals their Pokémon and starts a battle against the player, gloating about it if he wins. The three go downstairs where the players’ mother will heal their Pokémon after their friends leave.

The player goes to Bianca’s house where they are arguing about her Pokémon Journey. Bianca leaves and follows her into Professor Junipers’ lab where Cheren is waiting; the Professor lets you change the nickname on your Pokémon and provides them all a Pokedex. After leaving, the player’s Mother gives them a map.
Cheren
And now, the player is ready to step into Unova, where Cheren and Bianca alongside with the player will beat the eight Gym Leaders, try to complete the Pokedex and get to the Pokémon League to defeat the Elite four and Champion. Or so they would if it wasn’t for Team Plasma who interferes on their Pokémon journey as they go. The player eventually finds N, the leader of the organization who thinks humans just hold Pokémon back.

Ghetsis, a founding member of the Seven Sages has a secret different goal than N, he is way different and more malevolent, they have to be defeated by the player, in order to save the bonds between Pokémon and their trainers.

The player beats all the Gym leaders and the Elite Four, after making it to the Champion room they are greeted by N, who defeated Alder, the current Champ Alder, he then summons his castle, to ambush and attach to the Pokémon League. The player then passes through the castle to find N and his legendary dragon, who claims to be a Hero. The LightStone or DarkStone depending on the version on the player is released and summons the other dragon hero, Reshiram or Zekrom, depending on the version, the player captures it and uses it to defeat N.

N is defeated and then Ghetsis interferes, revealing his intentions of making Team Plasma exist just for his own agenda, and how N’s idea of liberating the Pokémon was just a tool. In a rage, he battles the player to eliminate any witnesses of the truth. N reconsiders his actions and ideas after seeing how the player deals with Ghetsis.

After defeating Ghetsis and N, the player will return to their house to find none other than Looker, who will be disguised as the players Mother for a while. He explains that he needs the help of the player to defeat the seven sages of Team Plasma, hidden all over Unova. The Marvelous Bridge opens up and gives access to Black City/ White Forest, depending on the version, Undella Town and Lacunosa Town, and Giant Chasm where Kyurem can be battled and captured. The areas now have Pokémon that are native to the other regions.

From now on, there will be Pokémon Outbreaks on the routes of Unova, and a series of either Windstorms or Thunderstorms will happen on the routes, where a Roaming Tornadous on Black and Thundurus on white will appear, the player can capture them if wanted.

Lastly, in Undella Town, the player will find no other than Cynthia, Champion of the Sinnoh region, they will challenge the player and after being beat she will remark on how she shares the same qualities an abilities with another Young Trainer from Sinnoh.

Anime Season's which loosely tie in with Black & White (in terms of locations, NPCs such as gym leaders and Pokémon)
Pokemon Black & White Season 14 Logo Pokemon BW Rival Destinies Logo Pokemon Season 16 BW Adventures in Unova Logo Pokemon Season 16 BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond Logo

Official Description

A new world filled with never-before-seen Pokémon!
What are the true motives of Team Plasma and the mysterious N? What is the secret of the Legendary Pokémon? Adventure across the Unova region and discover all-new Pokémon!

Gameplay & Features

Pokémon Black and White stay true to the core series games, with the player's goal to catch all the Pokémon, beat the gym leaders and the elite four, and becoming the Pokémon champion. Although the gameplay is generally the same, theres a few new features that have been added and few others being changed or completely removed like how the Pokémon follow their trainers which was featured in the fourth generation games. The features are as follow:

  • Triple Battles: A new battle style added in Pokémon Black and White. Three Pokémon are used at once in battle but with rather restrictive rules. The Pokémon in far sides cannot attack each other and can only attack those in front of them and the Pokémon in middle. The Pokémon in middle, on the other hand, can attack everyone. Moves that target wide areas and Flying-Type moves break the rules, as they can hit even the farthest target. The player can shift their Pokémon or even change their locations, which takes a whole turn, for both actions.
  • Rotation Battles: Another battle type feature, which is similar to the Triple Battles but the Pokémon formation is different. Here, all the Pokémon are placed in a circular way.
  • Seasons and Weathers: The games implemented a new Seasons System, with the region changing in season on a monthly basis. The Seasons System is rather important as it highly affects the gameplay. In fact, the decorations and graphics of the region change each season, while some Pokémon and areas are only accessible in certain reasons. Along with the seasons, the game still features the weather system, which still affects the game, similarly to the previous generations.
  • C-Gear: It's an upgraded version of Pokétch. It's mainly used to link the player to internet, with quite interesting options, as the ability to trade Pokémon with other players, talk to them, battle them or even travel through Unova with them after using the Entralink.
  • Pokémon Dream World: This features allows the player to get some rare Pokémon which aren't present in the games, from the internet, along with various items. This feature is no longer available, since the 14th of January 2014.
  • New TM system and moves: A new TM system was implemented, with the TMs now having an infinite use possibility. 95 new TMs were also added, showcasing unique moves with varied animations.
  • Scenario triggered music: Unlike how the previous generations used mostly the same music themes for battles, Pokémon Black and White feature new music theme that will get triggered during certain events. For example, if the player meets a legendary Pokémon, it will trigger its own unique music. Some other soundtracks would depend on the battle situation. If the player's Pokémon HP is very low, a warning sound might be heard, and if the player is facing a Gym Leader and their last Pokémon is left, a specific music will play too.

Can I catch them all?

The games add 156 new Pokémon to the Pokémon world, while featuring a variety of others from the previous generations. Few of the Pokémon are exclusive to either of the versions, with Pokémon White having extra exclusives found in the White Forest which is an area featured in Pokémon White only. The games also showcases new Swarm Pokémon that can only be captured after reading their swarm announcement on tickets and heading to their locations. Like all previous games there are new legendaries and few in game tradable Pokémon.

 Pokémon exclusive to Pokémon Black
13Weedle 14Kakuna 15Beedrill 198Murkrow
228Houndour 229Houndoom 285Shroomish 286Breloom
311Plusle 430Honchkrow 574Gothita 575Gothorita
576Gothitelle 629Vullaby 630Mandibuzz (Incarnate Forme) 641Tornadus
643Reshiram      

 Pokémon exclusive to Pokémon White
10Caterpie 11Metapod 12Butterfree 46Paras
47Parasect 200Misdreavus 261Poochyena 262Mightyena
312Minun 429Mismagius 577Solosis 578Duosis
579Reuniclus 627Rufflet 628Braviary 642Thundurus (Incarnate Forme)
644Zekrom      

 Pokémon found in the White Forest
16Pidgey 29Nidoran (female) 32Nidoran (male) 43Oddish
63Abra 66Machop 69Bellsprout 81Magnemite
92Gastly 111Rhyhorn 137Porygon 175Togepi
179Mareep 187Hoppip 194Wooper 239Elekid
240Magby 265Wurmple 270Lotad 273Seedot
280Ralts 283Surskit 287Slakoth 293Whismur
298Azurill 304Aron 328Trapinch 341Corphish
371Bagon 396Starly 403Shinx 406Budew
440Happiny      

 Swarm Pokémon and their locations
Pokémon Location Pokémon Location
311Plusle Route 6 (Pokémon Black) 360Wynaut Route 2
312Minun Route 6 (Pokémon White) 235Smeargle Route 5
236Tyrogue Route 10 353Shuppet Route 13
56Mankey Route 15 285Shroomish Route 11 (Pokémon Black)
102Exeggcute Route 18 46Paras Route 11 (Pokémon White)
83Farfetch'd Route 1 84Doduo Route 12
453Croagunk Route 8 161Sentret Route 7
204Pineco Route 16 449Hippopotas Route 4
193Yanma Route 14 313Volbeat Route 3 (Pokémon Black)
228Houndour Route 9 (Pokémon Black) 314Illumise Route 3 (Pokémon White)
261Poochyena Route 9 (Pokémon White)    

 Legendary Pokémon and their locations
Pokémon Location Pokémon Location
643Reshiram Dragonspiral Tower 646Kyurem Giant Chasm
644Zekrom Dragonspiral Tower 494Victini Liberty Island
645Landorus Abundant Shrine 638Cobalion Mistralton Cave
641Tornadus Roaming the whole region 640Virizion Pinwheel Forest
642Thundurus Roaming the whole region 639Terrakion Victory Road

 Tradable Pokémon
Pokémon received with trade Pokémon traded for it Games Area of trade
446Munchlax 573Cincinno Both Undella Town
479Rotom 132Ditto Both Route 15
548Petilil 546Cottonnee Black Nacrene City
546Cottonee 548Petilil White Nacrene City
587Minipete 525Boldore Both Route 7
550 red stripedBasculin
(with red eyes and stripes)
572Minccino Black Driftveil CIty
550 blue stripedBasculin
(with blue eyes and stripes)
572Minccino White Driftveil City

The Unova Region

Pokémon Black and White take place in a new region called Unova. This region is way from the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh, and is drastically different from them too. Unova is composed of rural areas, factory towns and urban areas that look much like New York City, with their tall buildings and modern city style.

Similarly to the other regions, Unova has its own myths and tales. Legends say, that Unova was a place of never ending conflicts and wars. One day two twin brothers, known as the twin heroes showed up and ended the conflict with a overwhelmingly powerful dragon. Yet, the two brothers too, didn't see eye to eye much, one of them believed ideals are most important, thus being called the Hero of Ideals, and the other thought Truth is much more important and thus he too, was labeled the Hero of Truth. The dragon couldn't understand the conflict and didn't know which brother it would side with. It ended up splitting into two different dragons, which are Reshiram that sided with the Hero of Truth and Zekrom that sided with the Hero of Ideals. Ironically the brothers re-entered the region into conflicts and devastated it, as their mighty dragons fought endlessly.


A map of the Unova region.


Castelia City, bearing definite resemblance to New York City, or certainly how many might imagine it.


Team Plasma

Team Plasma GruntsIt's the evil organization of Unova, that unlike, the previous villainous groups we've encountered, doesn't seek to rule to world. In fact, Team Plasma has a rather unique goal, of liberating the Pokémon from their trainers, as they believe Pokémon and humans are equal and Pokémon shouldn't kept enslaved in Poké balls. To free the Pokémon, Team Plasma members would pursue trainers to let go of their Pokémon or even go as far as stealing them from their trainers. Ghestis, Team Plasma's boss and mastermind, doesn't follow any noble cause though. He is using the organization's ideals, to rule Unova by becoming the only one left possessing Pokémon. Team Plasma got inevitably defeated but was revived later on by Ghestis' foster son, N. Unlike his father, N does truly care about the Pokémon and wishes to create a separate world for them, far from humanity's grasp.

Gym Leaders

Introducing the Gym Leaders of the Unova Region. Like most Pokémon games there are eight gyms that you'll need to collect badges from in order to qualify for the Pokémon League and the chance to take on the Elite Four.  Interestingly despite being 8 gyms, there are 11 gym leaders in Pokémon Black & White. Take a read of Cilan, Chili and Cress' profile and Iris/Draydens profile and you'll see why.

Also be sure to check out our Gym Leader Strategy Guide for Pokémon Black & White for more information on the movesets of the gym leaders Pokémon and the best counters.
 CilanChili
Cress
Striaton Gym: Cilan, Chili and Cress.
Cilan, Chili and Cress are all possible matchups in the first gym challenge of the Unova region. Which one of the three you will face will depend upon the starter Pokémon the player chooses.

If Oshawott is selected the player will face Cilan, a specialist of the grass type.
If the player selected Snivy, the grass type then you will face Chili who will attempt to press home the advantage of his fire type Pokémon.
Chose Tepig for your starter? Then you will face Cress, a water type specialist.

Cilan uses a Lillipup (Level 12) normal type and a Pansage (Level 14) grass type.
Chili uses a Lillipup (Level 12) normal type and a Pansear (Level 14) fire type.
Cress uses a Lillipup (Level 12) normal type and a Panpour (Level 14) water type.

The three trainers are known collectively as "Triple Trouble!".

A victory over any of these three trainers will award the Trio Badge along with TM83 (Work Up).

Cilan: "Welcome to the Striaton City Pokémon Gym."
Chili: "I'm Chili! I light things up with Fire-type Pokémon!"
Cress: "I'm a Water-type specialist, and my name is Cress. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Cilan: "And my name is Cilan. I like Grass-type Pokémon."

Cilan: "Um, you see... As for why the three of us, um, are all here is, well, er..."
Chili: "Oh,enough! Listen up! The three of us will decide whom you'll battle! It'll be based on the type of the first Pokémon you chose!"
Cress: "That is indeed the case. And the partner you first chose was type, it seems."

 Lenora Nacrene Gym: Lenora
Lenora specialises in normal type Pokémon and is known in her local area as "An Archeologist with Backbone" oweing to her love of archaeology and strength in battle; when shes not digging up fossils or battling at her gym Lenora is managing the Nacrene Museum of which she is the director.

Lenora's Pokémon are both normal type, they are Herdier (Level 18) and Watchog (Level 20). If you can defeat Lenora she will reward you with The Basic Badge and TM67 (Retaliate).

"Welcome! The director of the Nacrene Museum and the Nacrene Gym's Leader is me! Lenora! Well then, challenger, I'm going to research how you battle with the Pokémon you've so lovingly raised!"

Burgh Castelia Gym: Burgh
Burgh is a bug type specialist and keen artist. He is said to hail from Nacrene City, he returns home to Nacrene whenever he suffers with bouts of "artists block". Some people know Burgh as the "Premier Insect Artist".

Burgh's team is made up of a Whirlipede (Level 21) a poison/bug type, Dwebble (Level 21) a bug/rock type and Leavanny (Level 23) a bug/grass type.

If you are powerful enough to burn out Burgh's Bugs he'll award you the Insect Badge and TM76 (Struggle Bug).

"Ah hah! You're the one who fought Team Plasma in Pinwheel Forest... If I remember, your name is... ! Come to challenge the Gym, I suppose? Aww. Sorry, but could you wait a bit? I was informed that Team Plasma has shown up! In fact... Come with me! I'm going to the dock at Prime Pier!"

Elesa Nimbasa Gym: Elesa
Elesa is a specialist in Electric type Pokémon, she's also a model, she is known as "The Shining Beauty". Once the player reaches Elesas gym they must pass a series of puzzles involving rollcoasters, the tracks for which have to be set in the correct way to reach her.

Elesa's team is composed of an 2x Emogla's (Level 25) both with the same movesets & electric/flying types and a Zebstrika (Level 27) which is a pure electric type.

Defeat Elesa and she will yield the Bolt Badge and TM72 (Volt Switch).

"Did the fantastic speed leave you dizzy? My beloved Pokémon will be the next one to make your head spin!"
Clay
Driftveil Gym: Clay
Clay specialises in Ground-type Pokémon, he's also a big player in the Mining Business, he's known to some as "The Underground Boss".

Clay's team is made up of: A Krokorok (Level 29) ground/dark type, a Palpitoad (Level 29) a water/ground type and Excadrill (Level 31) a ground/steel type.

You'll be rewarded with the Quake Badge if you can defeat the underground boss. A short time later you'll bump into him again on Route 6 where his Krokorok will remove the Galvantula web that's blocking the way, it's at this point that Clay will give the player TM78 (Bulldoze).

"Well.. Think it's about time fer myself what it is about yer skills that makes a Gym Leader like Elesa take such a shine to ya."

 Skyla Mistralton Gym: Skyla
Skyla is fanatical about Flight, and more specifically about Flying-type Pokémon, she owns her own airport and it's said that her grandfather was a legendary pilot. Because of these things, some know Skyla as "The Highflying Girl".

Skyla flies alongside her team which is made up of: Swoobat (Level 33) a psychic/flying type, Unfezant (Level 33) a normal/flying type and Swanna (Level 35) a water/flying type.

Clip Skyla's wings and defeat her formidable team to be awarded the Jet Badge and TM62 (Acrobatics).

"Hee-hee! I've been waiting for you. Did you enjoy flying with the help of the Mistralton Gym cannons? They're my pride and joy! This time, let's try something else!"
Brycen
Icirrus Gym: Brycen
Brycen is a specialist in Ice-type Pokémon and host to the pentultimate gym challenge of the Unova region. Known to some simply as "The Ice Mask".

At his command Brycen has a trio of pure ice types: Vanilllish (Level 37), Cryogonal (Level 37) and Beartic (Level 39).

Melt away Brycen's icy exterior in order to recieve the Freeze Badge and TM79 (Frost Breath).

"You appear ready to face a Gym Leader. Then... Bring it!"
DraydenDrayden
IrisIris
Opelucid Gym: Drayden or Iris
Depending on which version of the game the player is playing in will depend upon who the final gym based challenge of the game will come from. Those playing Pokémon White version will face Iris "The Girl Who Knows the Hearts of Dragons", if they are playing Pokémon Black version they will face Drayden "The Spartan Mayor".

Regardless of whether you face Drayden or Iris they will command the following Dragon type Pokémon: Fraxure (Level 41), Druddigon (Level 41) and Haxorus (Level 43).

Drayden's intro: "Welcome. Thank you for coming. I am Opelucid Pokémon Gym's Leader, Drayden. As the mayor, I've given everything to developing the city. As a Trainer, I've simply been pursuing greater strength. But what I'm searching for now is a young Trainer who can show me a bright future. Perhaps you can show me that future, the way Iris has?"

Iris's intro: "Hi! I'm Iris, the amazing strong Gym Leader! Tell me... What Pokémon are you using? How will you fight? Ooh, I'm super curious, so let's just get started!"

Elite Four

Want to take on the Champion of the Pokémon League? You've first got to prove yourself against The Elite Four of Unova, a powerful group of trainers each with their own specialism. Should you have the grit to get past the Elite Four you'll get take on The Pokémon League Champion... and perhaps even take the crown for yourself.

Fore more information on the Elite Four including their mons movesets and the best strategy for beating them check out our guide.
 Elite Four Shauntal: Master of Ghosts Elite Four #1 - Shauntal
Shauntal is a master of ghosts and the first member of the Elite Four of Unova. She is known to enjoy writing books when she's not battling alongside her ghost Pokémon. Shauntal, like many of the other female Gym Leaders and elite four members likes to visit Cynthia at her Villa during the Spring and Summer months.

Her team is made up of Cofagrigus (Level 48) a pure ghost type, Jellicent (Level 48) a water/ghost type, Golurk (Level 48) a ground/ghost type and Chandelure (Level 50) a ghost/fire type.

"'Eyes brimming with dark flame, this man rejected everything other than himself in order to bring about one singular justice...' That's part of a novel I'm writing. I was inspired by the challenger who was just here, and somehow I got a little sad... Excuse me. You're a challenger, right? I'm the Elite Four's Ghost-type Pokémon user, Shauntal, and I shall be your opponent."

Elite Four Grimsley: Master of Dark types Elite Four #2 - Grimsley
The son of a once proud family that was wrought to ruin, Grimsley was known to like gambling a little too much (perhaps relating to the ruin of his once proud family?). It is said that Grimsley put everything he could into the training of himself and his own Pokémon in order to stay free of gambling's temptations. Now a powerful member of the Elite Four and specialist in Dark type Pokémon.

Grimsley's Team includes: Scrafty (Level 48) a dark/fighting type, Krookodile (Level 48) a dark/ground type, Liepard (Level 48) a pure dark type, Bisharp (Level 50) a dark/steel type.

"Man oh man... What is going on today? Challengers coming one right after another. Well, no matter. I am Grimsley of the Elite Four, and I will fulfill my duty to be your opponent."

Elite Four #3: Caitlin Elite Four #3: Caitlin
Caitlin is the third member of the Elite Four of Unova and a master in psychic type Pokémon. This isn't the first time we've seen Caitlin, she was the head of the Battle Frontier's Battle Castle from Platinum & Heartgold, SoulSilver. Caitlin possesses a good level of psychic powers herself, which presumably assist in her mastery of her team of Psychic Pokémon. Caitlin travelled to Unova with the sole purpose of developing her skills further and becoming an even more powerful trainer than she already was.

Her team is made up of: Reuniclus (Level 48) a pure psychic type, Musharna (Level 48) another pure psychic type, Sigilyph (Level 48) a psychic/flying type and Gothitelle (Level 50) a pure psychic type.

"Who are you? How impudent you are to disturb my sleep. Hmf... You appear to possess a combination of strength and kindness. Very well. Make your best effort not to bore me with a yawn-inducing battle. Clear?"

 Elite Four #4: Marshal Elite Four #4: Marshal
Marshal is a fighting type Master and the final and strongest member of the Unova Elite Four; he thinks of himself as the apprentice of Alder; the Champion.

His Pokémon are all pure fighting types: Throh (Level 48), Sawk (Level 48), Conkeldurr (Level 48) and Mienshao (Level 50)

"Greetings, challenger. My name is Marshal. In order to master the art of fighting, I'm training under my mentor, Alder. My mentor sees your potential as a Trainer and is taking an interest in you. It is my intention to test you--to take you to the limits of your strength. Kiai!"

Alder, the Champion of Unova Alder: The Champion
Alder is the nomadic Champion of the Unova region, and resembles a native American Indian a little in his appearance and dress. It is said that he began to wonder Unova after his original starter Pokémon died of illness; Alder wandered the lands in despair at being unable to save his beloved first companion. Alder is already known the player at the time of this battle, as he has been a recourring character throughout the game and it's story prior to this challenge. For the first time in the series however the player cannot engage the Champion in battle after the first defeat of the Elite Four, as Alder has already been defeated by N. The player must first face down N as both put their beliefs on the line to decide the fate of Unova, only after N is defeated will the player be able to take on Alder.

He commands a bug-heavy but balanced team of six Pokémon: Accelgor (Level 75) bug type, Bouffalant (Level 75) a normal type, Druddigon (Level 75) a dragon type, Vanilluxe (Level 75) an ice type, Escavalier (Level 75) a bug/steel type and Volcarona (Level 77) a bug/fire type.

"I beg you! Separating people from Pokémon... Do anything but that!"


Compatability with other titles

Pokémon Black and Pokémon White both have variable connectivity options, as they can be linked to their sequels Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, along with the fourth generation games including Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver. The games can also connect to the internet and thus Pokémon Dream World, which helps acquiring many Pokémon from the Entree Forest. Linking the games to their sequels allows the transfer of Pokémon to and from them, while linking them to the fourth generation games changes the transfer into a one way one, as the Pokémon can only be transferred from the fourth to the fifth generation and not the other way around.

Videos

Check out these Pokémon Black & White videos featuring English & Japanese TV Commercials, the official trailer and the intro video for Black.

The Official Trailer

An extended Japanese TV Commercial for Black & White

English TV Commercials for Pokemon Black & White

The Intro Video for Pokémon Black

Trivia

  • Massive amounts of thought were put into the development of the story and the characters in Pokemon Black and White (moreso than normal). It took Game Freak over 1 and a half years just to get those elements of the game to a standard they were happy with.
  • For the first time in the series the non-English European titles were translated directly from Japanese rather than going Japanese > English > French, German, Italian etc.
  • The Japanese versions of Black & White can show English text in the credits if the character mode is chosen as kanji.
  • For the first time in core series Pokemon titles its a requirement that each games mascot Legendary is captured in order to progress with the storyline. This means when you encounter Reshiram (Pokemon Black) or Zekrom (Pokemon White) you have to capture them, not defeat them otherwise you'll just have to keep trying until you do.
  • Each game has a mascot whose colouring matches that of their sister games version. ie Reshiram is white in colour, but is the mascot for Black. Whereas Zekrom is black in colour, but is the mascot for White.
  • As yet, Black & White are the only core series Pokemon games which have direct sequels, in the form of Black & White version 2.
  • The font used in the dialogue text of the Japanese releases of Black & White is the same one that was used in pre-release promotional materials for the Japanese releases of Diamond & Pearl.
  • These were the only core series titles to come out in Europe before the U.S (Europe got it two days sooner than the U.S). Pokemon Dash and PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure from the spin off series'  also hit Europe first.
  • The slogan for the games used in TV Ads etc was "Start from a New Beginning".
  • Black & White are the only core series titles to date whereby the region's champion isn't the final pre-credits boss battle.
  • There were some special hidden abilities planned for certain Pokémon that ended up being unused in the final release version. This includes Lightning Rod for Zapdos, Contrary for the Snivy evolution chain and Shadow Tag for Chandelure.
  • Game Freak has an ingame branch in one of the buildings in Castelia City. Go to Floor 22 to explore their offices. Floor 22 is the same floor number as Game Freak's real life offices in the Carrot Tower in Tokyo.
  • In the early development stages of the core series of Pokémon titles there were ideas and sketches flying about with regards to having two rivals instead of one; these ideas were bought to life for the first time in Pokemon Black & White.
  • Genesect has a very similar origin to that of Mewtwo. They were both genetically engineered by a sinister team and deliberately enhanced to become more powerful. Team Rocket were responsible for Mewtwo's creation in Gen I where Team Plasma created Genesect in B&W.
  • An unused item called the God Stone exists within the games code. It's like a grey version of the Light Stone/Dark Stone sprite and is described in the games code as "A phantom stone." - It's not known what this items intended use may have been.
  • In the Pokemon White Pokedex entry for Darumaka it states: "people used to keep themselves warm by putting its droppings in their clothes." Nice!
  • Way back in Pokemon Red/Blue if you speak to an NPC called Picnicker Carol on route 10 she'll speak of a chunky pink Pokemon with a floral pattern. This describes Munna, who only now appears for the first time in the B&W games, several gens later.
  • Michael Jackson song "Black or White" was played alongside TV updates about Pokemon Black & White versions in Japan on their TV Tokyo network on numerous occasions.


Sales Figures

Pokémon Black and White sold 15.64 million copies, netting 759 million USD in sales. Falling short of the previous generations Diamond and Pearl by around 2 million. Despite 15.64 million sales being far from a small number, this figure makes Black & White the least popular (in terms of copies sold) of the primary paired games that start a generation (vs Ruby Sapphire, Gold Silver, Diamond Pearl and so on).Ghetsis of Team Plasma

In spite of not quite living up to the sales of it's primary-game paired predecessors, Pokémon Black and White started strongly, securing 1.08 million pre-orders in Japan alone, this figure was measured a month prior to the release of the titles and made it the first Nintendo DS title to break the 1 million pre-order mark in this time, even then the momentum was explosive in Japan with a further 2.6 million sales in the first 2 days, making it the fastest selling newly launched videogame in the region. Stats recorded on November 3rd showed that over 4.3 million copies of the games had sold in Japan and a couple of months on in January 2011 Black & White became the fastest Nintendo DS games to sell 5 million copies in the region.

Pokémon Black & White also enjoyed success with their UK launches, securing both top spots in the UK Videogame charts; White in 1st and Black in 2nd. White achieved the accolade of becoming the second fastest game for the DS, narrowly missing out on knocking Professor Layton and Pandora's box from the top spot. White interestingly sold 13,000 more copies than Black. The amount of copies sold achieved the games the record of Nintendo's third most succesful UK launch of games, with Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii holding the top spots. They also hold the UK record for the most opening weekend sales of any Pokémon games.

In the first day on sale in the USA, over 1.08 million copies were sold, even beating off the previous gen's very successful Diamond and Pearl who sold 780,000 copies on their first day. In March 2011 the NPD Group calculated that Nintendo had sold 1.3 million copies of White, with Black just behind at 1.1 million copies - both games claiming the top 2 spots in the US Videogame charts for the month of March. In the 2010-2011 financial year Pokémon Black and White had been the biggest financial earners for Nintendo behind only popular Wii titles; Wii Sports and Wii Sports resort.


Review Scores

With Pokémania showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, Pokémon Black & White versions were even better recieved than Platinum, Diamond & Pearl before them, and approximately matched the scores of the very succesful HeartGold and SoulSilver versions. Lets check out what the major review sites gave:-
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  • The aggregate score on GameRankings is 85.77% over 45 reviews, just about pipping Diamond, Pearl and Platinum to the post.
  • Metacritic gave Black & White an even clearer lead over their predecessor titles with a score of 87/100 over 63 critics. 62 of said critics recieved the games very positively, one had mixed opinions and NONE had anything particularly negative to say. The votes of 322 Metacritic users have B&W holding a strong 8.1/10 score.
  • Nintendo Power Magazine awarded a very strong score of 9/10, matching the titles before it.
  • Jack Devries from IGN gave Black & White versions 9 out of 10 and quoting "If you have never played Pokemon, get off your ass and get Pokemon Black/White. Aside from a weaker lineup of monsters (largely an aesthetic complaint), this is the best Pokemon has to offer on every level". This surpassed the score that predecessor title Platinum had recieved of 8/10.
  • The one source who didn't rate Black & White above Platinum, Diamond and Pearl however was GameSpot, their reviewer Mark Walton scoring B&W 7.5/10 (a narrow victory for Platinum which GS had given 8/10 to previously). He commented "If you've never seen the appeal of the series, then the lack of innovation in Pokemon Black will do little to change your mind. Fans, however, should snap it up straight away."

Media & Artwork

Official Artwork Gallery from Pokemon Black & White - A gallery featuring many of the Pokemon and chraracters from the game
Official Artwork Gallery from Pokemon Black & White - A gallery featuring characters, items and supporting artwork
Box Art from Pokemon Black including numerous regional variations + editions
Box Art from Pokemon White including numerous regional variations + editions
Screenshots from Pokemon Black
Screenshots from Pokemon White

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Other Articles

Pokemon Black & White: Gym Leaders & Strategies to Beat Them
Pokemon Black & White: Elite Four Strategy Guide
Finding Feebas: A Guide to Catching and Training Feebas

 

 

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