Pokémon Ga-Olé (Arcade)

Titles	Pokémon Ga-Olé ポケモンガオーレ (Pokemon Gaōre) 寶可夢加傲樂 (Taiwan) · 宝可梦加傲乐 (mainland China) · 포켓몬가오레 (South Korea)
Platform	Arcade: a dedicated cabinet with a 50-inch portrait screen, blue and orange disk slots and buttons, a Poké Ball lever, a Multi-Scanner, a Ga-Olé Pass reader and a built-in disk printer; online-connected
Developer	Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. and Marvelous
Publisher	Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. (Japan); overseas editions run with Marvelous and local distributors such as SEGA Taiwan
Music	Hideaki Takatori (theme songs, with lyrics by Aya Ikeda)
Players	1
Genre	Kids’ arcade battle-and-catch game with collectible disks
Business model	Pay per play: ¥100 a battle round and ¥100 a disk (up to ¥600 for a standard three-round game in Japan); optional ¥500 Ga-Olé Pass save card
Disks	1,294 numbered disks in 20 Japanese sets (1,238 standard, 56 secret), plus promotional P disks; separate lists overseas
Series	Japan: original, Dash, Ultra Legend and Grand Rush, five sets each · Taiwan: a launch edition, then the Legend, Rush and STAR series
Released	7 July 2016 (Japan) · 5 December 2020 (Taiwan) · 12 December 2020 (mainland China) · 2 August 2021 (South Korea) · 13 October 2021 (Hong Kong) · November 2021 (Singapore) · January 2022 (Malaysia)
Service ended	Japan: autumn 2020, venue by venue from September; the Asian editions carried on
Predecessor	Pokémon Tretta (see Pokémon arcade games)
Successor	Pokémon Mezastar (Japan, 17 September 2020)
Sales	No totals published; Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.’s biggest Pokémon kids’ arcade hit to 2020 · 50 million+ disks sold in Taiwan by March 2023

Overview · Quick Answers · Disks & Waves · Gameplay · Characters · Trainer and Battle · Pokémon · Key Dates · Glitches · Videos · Trivia · Legacy · Reception

Overview

Pokémon Ga-Olé is a children’s arcade game from Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. and Marvelous that switched on in game centres across Japan on 7 July 2016. Revealed at Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.’s summer business meeting in Tokyo on 13 April 2016, it was the third Pokémon machine from the partnership behind Pokémon Battrio and Pokémon Tretta, and it arrived with a genuinely new trick: every Pokémon a player catches is printed onto a fresh plastic disk inside the cabinet and dropped into their hand on the spot.

A game starts with a ¥100 coin. The tall cabinet pairs a 50-inch portrait screen with two disk slots, one blue and one orange, a matching pair of big buttons and a chunky Poké Ball lever. Each credit buys a 20-second, two-on-two battle against wild Pokémon: players slot in two of their own disks or borrow rental Pokémon, then hammer the buttons and stop roulettes to attack and defend. A weakened Pokémon can be caught in Get Time! with a thrust of the lever, and another ¥100 prints it as a disk. After each round a War Cry calls in stronger opponents, Legendary Pokémon among them, for up to three rounds.

The machine was refreshed every two to three months. Twenty sets in four series, the original run followed by Dash, Ultra Legend and Grand Rush, brought 1,294 numbered disks to Japanese arcades between July 2016 and June 2020, along with new mechanics borrowed from the main series as they appeared: Mega Evolution, Z-Moves in time for Sun and Moon, Ultra Beasts and, at the end, Double Rush Pokémon that know two moves. Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. later called it the biggest hit of any of its Pokémon kids’ arcade machines.

In Japan, Ga-Olé was wound down in the autumn of 2020 as Pokémon Mezastar took over, venue by venue rather than on a single closing day. By then a second life had already been lined up: localised machines opened in Taiwan and mainland China in December 2020, then in South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, and Taiwan’s edition carried on with Legend and Rush series of its own. It has never been released in Europe, the Americas or Oceania.

Quick Answers

The questions people ask most about Pokémon Ga-Olé, answered first and explained further down the page.

Can you still play Pokémon Ga-Olé in Japan?

No. Grand Rush set 5, the last Japanese set, arrived on 8 June 2020, and from early September 2020 the machines were taken out venue by venue, the last of them during the autumn. Pokémon Mezastar replaced it from 17 September 2020, and its first set even accepted Meteor Mark disks from Grand Rush set 5, but Mezastar has since left Japanese arcades too. More →

Where can you play Ga-Olé in 2026?

Only in Asia. Localised machines opened in Taiwan and mainland China in December 2020, South Korea in August 2021, Hong Kong in October 2021, Singapore in November 2021 and Malaysia in January 2022, and the official overseas website still sends players in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia to regional pages. Ga-Olé has never been released in Europe, the Americas or Oceania. More →

How much does a game of Ga-Olé cost?

In Japan a battle round costs ¥100, a second and third round ¥100 more each, and printing a caught Pokémon’s disk another ¥100, so Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. put the most a standard three-round game could cost at ¥600. Extra offers such as Evolution Chance! cost ¥100 on top, and the Ga-Olé Pass save card was ¥500. Abroad the price is set locally: NT$30 a credit in Taiwan and S$2 a play in Singapore. More →

How do you catch Pokémon in Ga-Olé?

Battle first: damaging a wild Pokémon fills its Get Gauge. When the round ends, Get Time! begins, and the ball on screen flicks between Poké Ball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball and Master Ball until you thrust the Poké Ball lever. A better ball and a fuller gauge improve the odds, and a successful catch can be printed as a disk for ¥100. More →

What do the stars on a Ga-Olé disk mean?

They show the Pokémon’s Grade: one red star for Grade 1, two blue for Grade 2, three yellow for Grade 3, four purple for Grade 4 and five multi-coloured stars for Grade 5. Hollow stars show room to grow, meaning the Pokémon can still evolve or move up a Grade through the Evolution Chance! and Grade Up Chance! offers. More →

Do Ga-Olé disks work with other Pokémon games?

Yes, in two ways. The QR code on every disk can be read by the QR Scanner in Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where it is worth 20 points instead of the usual 10. And disks from Grand Rush set 5, the final Japanese set, carry a Meteor Mark that let them be scanned on Pokémon Mezastar when it launched. More →

How many Ga-Olé disks are there?

The twenty Japanese sets hold 1,294 numbered disks: 1,238 standard disks and 56 secret ones, which include rare Shiny variants. Promotional disks from films, magazines, McDonald’s Happy Meals and events sit outside the sets with a P collection number, and the overseas editions have separate disk lists of their own. More →

Is there a sequel to Pokémon Ga-Olé?

Yes. Pokémon Mezastar took over in Japan on 17 September 2020, swapping disks for flat tags and adding two-player co-operative battles, and more than ten million tags were dispensed in its first month. Marvelous’s overseas Ga-Olé website now promotes Mezastar as well, while the Taiwanese edition of Ga-Olé carried on with new series of its own. More →

Ga-Olé disks and the waves

Disks are what Ga-Olé is all about. Each one is a rounded plastic tile that the cabinet prints the moment a Pokémon is caught, and reads back through its blue and orange slots in every game after that. Japan had twenty sets in four series between July 2016 and June 2020, each set refreshing the courses, the Legendary Pokémon and the disk designs every two to three months. When the Japanese run ended, Taiwan and the other Asian editions carried the game on with disks and series of their own.

• 20Japanese sets in four series, 2016–2020
• 1,294numbered disks in Japan
• 56of them secret disks
• 83disks in Dash set 2, the biggest set

Anatomy of a disk

What’s printed on a diskEvery disk measures 45 by 73 mm and is 3.6 mm thick. Its sticker shows the Pokémon with its types and its move (two moves for some Grand Rush headliners), its Grade stars and Energy rating, coloured bars for HP, Attack or Special Attack, Defence, Special Defence and Speed, a collection number, a Disk ID and the ball it was caught in. Two disks with the same Disk ID can’t be used in the same game.

Printed on demandBattrio and Tretta machines were stocked with ready-made pieces. Ga-Olé’s cabinet holds blank disks instead and prints the caught Pokémon’s artwork onto one before dispensing it, a system Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. billed as an industry first. It keeps stock simple and means any Pokémon in the set can come out of any machine, although the odd misprint, with missing colours or patchy artwork, does slip through (more on that under Glitches below).

Balls, secret disks and promotionsThe ball printed on a disk records how it was caught: a Poké Ball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball or Master Ball from Get Time!, a Quick Ball from Get Now or Last Chance!, or a Beast Ball for an Ultra Beast. Secret disks, marked with a star, are the rare finds of each set, such as the Shiny Gengar and Shiny Gardevoir of Set 1. Promotional disks numbered P came from films, magazines and events, among them purple Trophy disks for event entrants.

Grades and stars

A disk’s stars show its Grade, from 1 to 5, and the colour changes at every step:

Grade	Stars	Examples
Grade 1	One red star	Unevolved Pokémon such as Riolu (01-045)
Grade 2	Two blue stars	Lucario (01-046), Riolu’s evolution
Grade 3	Three yellow stars	Lucario (01-047), after a Grade Up
Grade 4	Four purple stars	Lucario (01-048), which can Mega Evolve; the special Zeraora disk from the final course
Grade 5	Five multi-coloured stars	Most Legendary headliners, from Volcanion and Zygarde to Lugia and Arceus

Hollow stars show room to grow. A Grade 1 Riolu disk carries hollow stars alongside its single red one because its line can climb all the way to Grade 4: Evolution Chance! turns it into a Grade 2 Lucario, Grade Up Chance! lifts Lucario to Grades 3 and 4, and the Grade 4 Lucario can Mega Evolve in battle.

The waves: every Japanese set

Japan’s twenty sets came in four series of five, each series launched in the first week of July with a new theme song and, after the first, a headline mechanic of its own. A new set usually arrived every two to three months, opening with two or three courses and switching on more over the following weeks:

Original series (2016–2017)Five sets and 231 disks between July 2016 and April 2017. Zygarde, Xerneas, Yveltal and the Mythical Volcanion launched the game, Set 2 added Trainer and Battle mode, and Set 3 in December 2016 brought Z-Moves, the Pokémon Z-Ring link and evolution offers straight after a capture, in step with Pokémon Sun and Moon.

Dash series (2017–2018)From 6 July 2017 the button-mashing Dash System replaced the timing-based Cheer Balloon. Dash set 1 also introduced Get Combo bonuses for owning linked evolution disks, a free random disk after two battles without a catch, the Fighting Spirit Drink item and drops of Gold Fragments and Gold Sand. The series held 358 disks over five sets, and Dash set 2 alone had 83, the most of any Japanese set.

Ultra Legend series (2018–2019)From 5 July 2018 the Ultra Legend sets used a new UL numbering and disk layout. Lugia, Ho-Oh, Latias, Latios and the Cosmog line led the first set, which also brought in Ultra Beasts and the Beast Balls used to catch them, and Meltan and Melmetal arrived in set 4. The five sets held 353 disks.

Grand Rush series (2019–2020)The last Japanese series began on 4 July 2019 with Double Rush Pokémon that know two moves and can fire both in one turn, and Rush Combo partners that attack in tandem. Grand Rush set 5, held back by COVID-19 restrictions until 8 June 2020, closed the run with Mega Mewtwo X and Y, Primal Kyogre and Groudon, Black and White Kyurem and Arceus. The series held 352 disks.

Overseas editions

Ga-Olé’s second life began just as its first was ending. The Asian editions did not simply reuse the Japanese sets: each started afresh with region-specific disks, in the local language and at local prices. Singapore’s machines, for example, cannot read Japanese, Korean, Hong Kong or Taiwanese disks, and Singapore disks do not work with Japanese products. Taiwan, where SEGA Taiwan distributes the machines, has gone furthest, with series of its own. The launches and series so far:

By the time of the Rush 5 STAR series, Taiwanese machines also had two attacks of their own: Double Charge, in which a Pokémon uses two different moves in one attack after a roulette and a round of button-mashing, and Charge Combo, in which two specific disks attack together. Both echo the Double Rush and Rush Combo of Japan’s last series.

Gameplay

A game of Get by Battle, the main mode, runs the same way in every set:

1. Pay and pick: a ¥100 coin opens the Pokémon Center, where you choose a mode and then a course.
2. Battle: two of your disks, or two rental Pokémon, take on two wild Pokémon for 20 seconds.
3. Catch: in Get Time!, thrust the Poké Ball lever, then pay ¥100 to have the catch printed as a disk.
4. Call and continue: a War Cry summons two stronger Pokémon, and another ¥100 takes you into the next round, up to three in all.
5. Finish: a Last Chance! throw, offers to evolve or Grade Up a catch, and the score screen.

Modes and courses

How a battle works

Two on two, twenty secondsEach round is a 20-second, two-on-two battle. The opponents are introduced with their Grade and Energy, then the player slots two disks into the blue and orange slots or takes rental Pokémon. An Attack Gauge across the screen shows each Pokémon’s icon racing to the far end at a pace set by its Speed, with lower-Grade Pokémon starting further along. Up to four Pokémon can be used in the first round, so a fainted one can be replaced twice, and the round ends when time runs out, when both wild Pokémon’s Get Gauges are full or when the player’s Pokémon are all spent.

Cheer Balloon and the Dash SystemIn the five original sets, players pressed a button as a swelling Cheer Balloon reached full size: a Perfect or Miracle timing gave a big boost, while pressing too early stalled the icon. The Dash series replaced this in July 2017 with the Dash System, in which players pick a Pokémon with the Poké Ball lever and then mash the buttons in a steady rhythm to send its icon shooting along the gauge.

Roulettes and Kaeri-Uchi Chance!When an icon reaches the end of the gauge, its Pokémon attacks. The attacker stops an Attack Roulette worth 5 to 50 with the blue or orange button, while the defender spins a Defense Roulette with two fail spaces plus Defense Up and Evade Up spaces, which turn pink and more generous when HP is low. If an enemy icon is level with one that has just arrived, Kaeri-Uchi Chance! (a counter-attack chance) starts a tug of war on the Poké Ball lever, and the winner strikes. Damage is the boosted Attack value minus the target’s Defence, adjusted for type matchups.

Fighting Spirit and the War CryFighting Spirit starts each game at 50% and climbs as players hammer the buttons during attack animations, through pink, blue, yellow, purple and white bands up to 999%. It carries across all three rounds, and frantic mashing in the Disk Get Bonus! after a disk is printed adds more. After Get Time!, one of the player’s Pokémon lets out a War Cry (otakebi) that calls two new wild Pokémon: the louder the cry, the stronger they are, all the way up to Legendary Pokémon. Paying ¥100 to continue raises the team limit by one and partly heals the player’s Pokémon.

Catching and printing

Evolution, Mega Evolution, Z-Moves and Double Rush

Evolution, Grade Up and Mega EvolutionAfter a session, Evolution Chance! offers to print an evolved form of a caught Pokémon for ¥100, in the same ball, and Grade Up Chance! does the same for a fully evolved Pokémon by raising its Grade; from Set 3 both offers could also appear straight after a capture. A Mega-capable Pokémon can trigger Mega Evolution Chance! before its first attack, and pressing both buttons as two symbols meet keeps it Mega Evolved for the rest of the game.

Z-Moves and the Pokémon Z-RingSet 3, released on 8 December 2016, brought in the Z-Moves of the Alola games. Eligible Pokémon show a Z-Crystal icon that charges in three stages, and at MAX a Z-Move Chance begins; each Z-Move can be used once per game. Owners of the separately sold Pokémon Z-Ring or Z-Power Ring toy, modelled on the Z-Ring of Sun and Moon, could insert a Z-Crystal and scan it at the Multi-Scanner to unleash the move for certain, while everyone else had to win a roulette. Moving the Poké Ball lever in the direction shown, then mashing the buttons, powers the move up further.

Double Rush and Rush ComboThe Grand Rush series, from July 2019, gave its star Pokémon two moves. Pokémon marked with the Double Rush icon can trigger Double Rush Chance! on reaching the end of the gauge: if the roulette lands on a Double Rush space, the blue button fills the first move’s meter and the orange button the second, and filling both unleashes the two moves back to back. Rush Combo links fixed partners, such as the final forms of the Kanto starters, Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon, or Nidoking and Nidoqueen, who strike one after another when both their roulettes land.

Prices, the Ga-Olé Pass and tickets

PricesGa-Olé is strictly pay as you play. In Japan a battle round costs ¥100 and so does each disk printed, and Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. put the ceiling for a standard three-round session at ¥600; extra Get Now rounds and the post-game Evolution, Grade Up and Last Chance! offers each cost a further ¥100. Abroad the price is set locally: NT$30 a credit in Taiwan and S$2 a play in Singapore.

The Ga-Olé Pass, Medals and Support PokémonThe Ga-Olé Pass is an IC save card, sold for ¥500 with 400 saves. It stores a boy or girl avatar and a nickname, high scores and a roster of Support Pokémon, which can cancel an enemy attack with a Surprise Attack or step in when the player’s team is spent. Caught Pokémon earn Ga-Olé Medals, spent 30 at a time in Item Chance! on capsules, drinks and scopes, and from Set 2 registered members also earned Member Points, 50 for every ¥100 spent, which could be exchanged for tickets and promotional disks.

Ga-Olé TicketsGa-Olé Tickets came with CoroCoro Comic, Pokémon Fan, the official strategy guides, McDonald’s Happy Meals and member rewards. Scanning a ticket’s QR code at the Multi-Scanner unlocks a special course, but only for the credit in which it is scanned, so each one is a one-game treat.

Links with other games

Characters

Ga-Olé has no story to speak of, so its cast is small: the player’s own Trainer on screen, and the hosts who took the game on stage around Japan.

• The player: Ga-Olé Pass holders choose a boy or a girl as their on-screen Trainer, along with a nickname, when they first register the pass, and that choice can’t be changed later. The avatar stands in for the player through battles and on the results screens.
• Ga-Olé Leaders Kazuki and Ren: the real-life hosts who compered Ga-Olé’s stage shows and competitions around the country.
• Ga-Olé Navi Girl Emily: joined them in 2017 and also hosted tournaments for players.
• The Trainers and Battle Leaders: the computer opponents of Trainer and Battle mode havea section of their ownjust below.

Trainer and Battle opponents

Trainer and Battle arrived with Set 2 in September 2016. Instead of wild Pokémon, it pits the player against a ladder of computer Trainers in four-Pokémon battles, rated from one star to five. Beating the four regular Trainers unlocks the set’s Battle Leader, and anyone who takes the Leader on can pay ¥100 to print one of the Legendary prize disks, in a special WINNER edition for those who win. The line-up changed with the sets; here are three of them.

Ultra Legend set 1

Opened on 16 August 2018, six weeks after the set itself: Performer Kento (★), Uniform Girl Yūko (★★), Silent Boy Keita (★★★) and Conductor Shin (★★★★), then Battle Leader Emako (★★★★★).

Ultra Legend set 1: Performer Kento

★ · First of five · From 16 August 2018

Rank: The easiest of the five

The first rung of the ladder: beat Kento and the three regular Trainers after him to unlock Battle Leader Emako.

Ultra Legend set 1: Battle Leader Emako

★★★★★ · Battle Leader · Unlocked by beating the other four

Prize: A Latias or Latios disk for ¥100, in a WINNER edition for victors

Emako came back for Grand Rush set 5 as one of its five Battle Leaders, this time with a team that can all use Z-Moves.

Grand Rush set 1

Opened on 8 August 2019, a month after the set launched: Gardener Nonoko (★; Donphan, Ninetales, Tyranitar and Gyarados), Traveler Leo (★★; Politoed, Emboar, Slowking and Nidoking), Mischievous Girl Kumiko (★★★) and Elite Employee Masanari (★★★★; Volcarona, Togekiss, Vanilluxe and Flygon), then Battle Leader Yarma (★★★★★).

Grand Rush set 1: Mischievous Girl Kumiko

★★★ · Third of five · From 8 August 2019

Team: Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Pikachu

Kumiko pairs Pikachu with the final forms of the Kanto starters, who can link up in a Rush Combo, the partner attack that arrived with the Grand Rush series.

Grand Rush set 1: Battle Leader Yarma

★★★★★ · Battle Leader · Unlocked by beating the other four

Team: Pidgeot, Scizor, Reshiram, Zekrom

Yarma’s Unova Legendaries double as his prize: a Reshiram or Zekrom promotional disk for ¥100, in a WINNER edition for anyone who beats him.

Grand Rush set 5

The last Japanese line-up was made up entirely of Battle Leaders: Tanze, Takade, Racto and a returning Emako, whose team could now all use Z-Moves, and then Karimi (★★★★★).

Grand Rush set 5: Battle Leader Racto

Mega Evolution team · Final Japanese line-up · One of five Battle Leaders

Team: Every member can Mega Evolve

Racto is the Mega Evolution specialist of the last set, which had Mega Mewtwo X and Y among its headliners.

Grand Rush set 5: Battle Leader Karimi

★★★★★ · Final opponent · Unlocked by beating Tanze, Takade, Racto and Emako

Prize: A Xerneas or Yveltal promotional disk for ¥100, in a WINNER edition for victors

The last Trainer and Battle opponent of the Japanese run. His prize disks bring things full circle: Xerneas and Yveltal had headlined the very first set back in 2016.

Pokémon

Ga-Olé’s disks span every generation from Kanto to Galar. The launch set’s 63 disks were built around the Kalos Legendaries Zygarde, Xerneas and Yveltal and the Mythical Volcanion; later sets added Alola Pokémon, Ultra Beasts, Meltan and Melmetal and, by the final set, the fully evolved Galar starters. Many of the 1,294 Japanese disks show the same species at different Grades or in Mega, Primal and other alternate forms, so the number of different Pokémon is far smaller. Most Pokémon know a single move, but Grand Rush headliners such as Mewtwo, Arceus and the Kyurem forms know two.

Notable Pokémon

• ZygardeLaunch headliner
• VolcanionMythical, Set 1
• XerneasSet 1; Karimi’s prize
• LucarioGrades 2 to 4
• PikachuOutbreak-chu!! event
• Magearna2016 film disk
• Zeraora2018 film disk
• MewtwoMega X and Y
• LugiaUltra Legend headliner
• NihilegoFirst Ultra Beast
• ArceusGrand Rush set 5
• MelmetalUltra Legend set 4

• Zygarde – The Legendary star of the launch set, with a Zygarde Course of its own; it returned in all three Formes in Ultra Legend set 1 and again in Grand Rush set 5.
• Volcanion – A Mythical Grade 5 disk with a launch course in Set 1, tied to the 2016 film, which also gave away a promotional Volcanion disk.
• Xerneas – Its course and Yveltal’s opened on 4 August 2016. In Grand Rush set 5 the pair can Rush Combo, and they are the prize for facing Karimi.
• Lucario – The textbook example of Grades, rising from Grade 2 to Grade 4 and able to Mega Evolve; Pokémon Tretta players could also unlock it as a Support Pokémon.
• Pikachu – Star of the Pikachu Outbreak-chu!! event from 7 to 21 August 2016, with secret disks in Set 1 and a place among the Tretta link rewards.
• Magearna – A promotional disk for Japanese audiences of Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel from 16 July 2016.
• Zeraora – Given to up to three million Japanese cinema-goers with The Power of Us in 2018, and the subject of a special Grade 4 disk in the final course of the Japanese run.
• Mewtwo – Led Grand Rush set 1’s Mewtwo Strikes Back Course and returned in the final set able to Mega Evolve into Mega Mewtwo X and Y.
• Lugia – The Grade 5 headliner of Ultra Legend set 1, with a Z-Move course of its own, and back with Ho-Oh in Grand Rush set 1.
• Nihilego – The first Ultra Beast in the game, appearing in Ultra Legend set 1 until 8 August 2018; when it reached Get Time!, Beast Ball Chance! added Beast Balls to the roulette.
• Arceus – A Grade 5 Double Rush disk with its own course in Grand Rush set 5, the last Japanese set.
• Melmetal – Joined Meltan in Ultra Legend set 4, and both were reissued with the Grand Rush layout in Grand Rush set 1.

Double Rush and Rush Combo stars

Some of the Pokémon behind Grand Rush’s two big mechanics, Double Rush headliners and fixed Rush Combo partners:

• KyogreDouble Rush course
• GroudonDouble Rush course
• KyuremBlack and White, Double Rush
• VenusaurRush Combo
• CharizardRush Combo
• BlastoiseRush Combo
• VaporeonRush Combo
• JolteonRush Combo
• FlareonRush Combo
• NidoqueenRush Combo
• NidokingRush Combo
• YveltalRush Combo, set 5
• RillaboomRush Combo, set 5
• CinderaceRush Combo, set 5
• InteleonRush Combo, set 5

Events & key dates

The main dates of the Japanese run, from the reveal to the handover to Mezastar. Every set is in the waves table above, and the overseas launches have a table of their own:

Glitches, exploits and oddities

Printing every disk inside the cabinet is clever, but it isn’t foolproof:

Printing errors

Because each disk is printed at the moment of capture, a machine occasionally turns out a faulty one, with artwork that is only partly printed, a missing colour layer or similar defects. Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.’s customer service replaces a defective disk by post, but plenty of collectors keep their misprints, which are prized as rarities. A cabinet also stops working until staff restock it when it runs out of blank disks or printing supplies.

Videos & media

Ga-Olé’s theme songs did a lot of its promotion in Japan. Three official music videos and two live performances:

The official music video for “Dash! Pokémon Ga-Olé!”, the Dash series theme, from the Japanese Pokémon channel.

The Dash theme sung live on stage at the International Tokyo Toy Show.

“Ultra Legend! Pokémon Ga-Olé!”, the theme of the Ultra Legend series.

The music video for “Grand Rush! Pokémon Ga-Olé!”, the theme of the last Japanese series.

The Grand Rush theme performed live at the International Tokyo Toy Show 2019.

Trivia & facts

• 

  The launch catchphrase was “Gaō to Otakebi! Yobidase Densetsu!”, roughly “Roar and war cry! Summon the legends!”. Gaō is the Japanese sound of a roar, and it is also where the game’s name begins.

• At 45 by 73 mm, a Ga-Olé disk is roughly twice the size of a piece from Pokémon Tretta, the machine it replaced in Japanese arcades.
• Scanning a Ga-Olé disk with the QR Scanner in Pokémon Sun and Moon or Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is worth 20 points, double the 10 points of an ordinary QR code.
• Grand Rush set 5 was due on 23 April 2020 but slipped to 8 June because of Japan’s COVID-19 restrictions. Its courses had been meant to close on 1 July, and instead ran on until the machines began to be retired that September.
• One last surprise was saved for Mezastar: a special Grade 4 Zeraora disk numbered GR5-XXX, from the final Japanese course, let out a War Cry when scanned on Pokémon Mezastar, calling two extra opponents to join the boss.
• The December 2020 launch in mainland China was the first time any Pokémon arcade machine had been released there.
• The cabinet stands 1,822 mm tall, weighs 155 kg and has a footprint of 724 by 855 mm, with its 50-inch screen turned on its side to portrait.
• The first Ultra Beasts took turns: Nihilego appeared in Ultra Legend set 1 until 8 August 2018 and Buzzwole after that, and either one brought Beast Balls into the Get Time! roulette.

• 

  A full Ga-Olé Pass holds 400 saves, but the promotional trial passes handed out to new players held just 50.

Legacy

What came after

• Final Japanese set – 8 June 2020. Grand Rush set 5, held back from 23 April 2020 by COVID-19 restrictions; its disks carry a Meteor Mark for Mezastar
• End of the Japanese service – Autumn 2020. Machines were withdrawn venue by venue from early September 2020, after a run of four years and two months
• Pokémon Mezastar – 17 September 2020. The successor swapped disks for tags, and more than ten million were dispensed in its first month
• Taiwan and mainland China – December 2020. Taiwan opened on 5 December and mainland China on 12 December, the first editions outside Japan
• South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore – August to November 2021. South Korea on 2 August, Hong Kong on 13 October and Singapore in November 2021
• Malaysia – January 2022. An English edition, the last new market so far
• Legend series in Taiwan – March 2022. Taiwan’s second series
• Rush series in Taiwan – 23 March 2023. Launched with an event in Taipei; the Rush 5 STAR series followed in March 2024
• Mezastar’s Asian edition – 1 April 2025. The successor began opening in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, with Taiwan and mainland China a day later, in many of the markets Ga-Olé had served

Where to play it today

In Japan, Ga-Olé is finished: the final set arrived in June 2020 and the machines were withdrawn venue by venue from September 2020 as Pokémon Mezastar took over. Mezastar’s first set accepted Meteor Mark disks from Grand Rush set 5, but that is history now too, as Mezastar itself made way for Pokémon Frienda in July 2024. Outside Japan the localised editions have carried on. Marvelous’s official overseas website still points players in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia to their regional pages, where machines take local money and print region-specific disks, and a November 2024 guide still counted about 48 places to play in Singapore alone. Mainland China, where Ga-Olé opened in December 2020, is no longer among the regions listed, and Mezastar’s own Asian edition has been opening in many of the same countries since April 2025, so it is worth checking with a local arcade before making a special trip. Ga-Olé has never been sold in Europe, the Americas or Oceania, and there has never been a home or mobile version.

How it was made

Ga-Olé came from the partnership behind Pokémon Battrio and Pokémon Tretta: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S., which also built and distributed the cabinets, and Marvelous. It was unveiled on 13 April 2016 at Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.’s Summer Business Meeting in Tokyo, where the company’s president, Hiroyuki Usami, said he wanted to make it a major hit together with Pokémon (“ポケモンと協力して、『ポケモンガオーレ』を大ヒットさせたい”). Marvelous, for its part, admitted to feeling the pressure of following Battrio and Tretta, and pitched the machine to operators on its low stock risk.

That low risk came from the centrepiece, which Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. billed as an industry first for children’s machines: rather than dispensing pre-made pieces, the cabinet prints each caught Pokémon onto a blank disk inside the machine, so it could offer more than 50 kinds of disk from the very first day, all from an online-connected cabinet built around a 50-inch portrait monitor.

Ga-Olé beyond the arcade

Popularity & reception

Plays and players

Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. has never published play counts or disk totals for the Japanese run, but in October 2020 it described Ga-Olé as the biggest hit of any of its Pokémon kids’ arcade machines, after four years and two months in Japanese arcades. It took Ga-Olé roughly 800 days to pass 100 million plays, a mark its successor Mezastar reached in 451. Abroad, ahead of the Rush series launch in March 2023, the Taiwanese edition was reported to have sold more than 50 million disks, with machines at more than 700 partner locations and over 100,000 players.

• 50m+disks sold in Taiwan by March 2023
• 700+partner locations in Taiwan
• 100,000+players in Taiwan
• 4 yearsin Japanese arcades, 2016–2020

What players and the press said

As a children’s arcade machine, Ga-Olé was never reviewed in the usual sense, and it has no Metacritic or Famitsu scores. Coverage of the April 2016 reveal concentrated on the on-demand disk printer, which lets any cabinet produce whichever Pokémon a player catches instead of drawing on pre-made stock, and on the outsized 50-inch portrait screen. Abroad, local guides took to it too: Singapore’s Little Day Out called the game “best known for its innovative fusion of physical and digital gameplay”.

Ga-Olé’s reputation rests on its long run rather than on reviews. It kept Japanese arcades busy for more than four years before Pokémon Mezastar took its place, and abroad it became a fixture of Pokémon events across Asia, with Singapore staging Ga-Olé championships and dedicated play stations. Even its faults found fans: collectors prize the misprinted disks that the cabinet’s printer occasionally turns out.

Further reading

More Pokémon arcade games on the site: