Pokemonas a franchise has grown up alongside me. I remember being restricted from watching thePokemonanime as a child, to the point where, when my elementary school rolled a TV in and let us watch an episode or two, I got legitimately scared I would develop seizures, so I kept my eyes shut. Fast-forward 2½ decades and I just spent an irresponsible amount of money onPokemonmedia.
So, you can see how longthatirrational fear lasted.
In any case, we’re in the midst ofPokemonfever these days, with the launch ofScarlet and Violet, as well as the two expansions for those titles. And, with what seems to be a collective desire amongst the fandom for Nintendo to bring the series’ older entries to the Nintendo Switch Online service, the want to experience — or re-experience — thePokemonfranchise has never been higher.
Here’s a breakdown of the chronological order you’re able to play the Pokemon series in. It should be noted that while the games seem to take place in the same continuity, they rarely intersect. So, theoretically, you are free to play them in any order so long as you understand this. It’s also important to note that it’d seem as if there are multiple timelines and/or universes in the story of Pokemon. I won’t be considering those in this list — what we’re more focused on is the order you should play the games to fully grasp all of that timey-wimey mumbo jumbo. Nintendo should stop retrofitting their older games into a timeline.
