Over thirty years, Pokémon has grown from a pair of Game Boy cartridges into one of the most enduring entertainment franchises in the world. In 1996 the world was introduced to the fictional creatures Pokémon, waiting to be discovered, trained, and traded through exploration and competition. The adventure of traversing the Kanto region brought with it the possibility of connecting with other players and sharing experiences. This was achieved through the Game Boy link cable that connected two Game Boys together and was as important to the franchise’s identity as any creature design, turning a solitary adventure into a social one. 

Pokémon became a global phenomenon by reaching beyond the games almost immediately. The animated series, which aired in Japan in 1997 and reached North America in 1998, turned Ash Ketchum and Pikachu into household names. The Pokémon Trading Card Game, launched the same year, let fans collect and battle without a console, while movies, manga, toys, and apparel carried the brand into classrooms and store aisles worldwide. This transmedia expansion made Pokémon feel inescapable in the late 1990s, and remains the model the franchise still follows today. 

The games kept expanding alongside that media presence. Home consoles brought 3D battles and darker stories. Spin-offs let players become Pokémon themselves, fight in real time, or live alongside Pikachu as a companion. Accessories like the Transfer Pak and Pokéwalker blurred the line between handheld game and physical object, carrying Pokémon into the real world. Anniversary releases, from HeartGold and SoulSilver to Sun and Moon, gave long-time fans a way to revisit the past while welcoming new trainers. 

What ties this all together is not any single game, television show, or card set, but the consistency of an adventure game driven by exploration, collection, and connection, repeated across generations of people, consoles, and places. This exhibit traces that evolution to show how one idea from 1996 became a defining part of friendships and popular culture worldwide. 

Please enjoy our exhibit celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of Pokémon Red and Green on the Nintendo Game Boy in Japan, featuring a curated selection of games from our Syd Bolton Collection. Special thanks to the Library team and UTM faculty in preparing and promoting this exhibit: Anuradha Akers, Mary Atkinson, Chloe Beardmore, Nga Foster, Donna Liu, Christopher ‘Cal’ Long, Michael Nixon, Dany Savard, and the many staff and students who worked on the preservation and access of our archives and special collections over the years. Credit to Victoria Fard for sharing their Pokécard artwork for the exhibit’s promotional material. 

Camila Rodriguez Tinoco, Haocheng Mao, Hannah Chafe, and Chris J. Young 
July 2026 
Mississauga, Canada 

1. Pokémon Red / Blue / Yellow. Nintendo Game Boy versions, Nintendo, 1998–1999.

Pokémon Red and Blue released for the Nintendo Game Boy in North America in 1998, with Pokémon Yellow following in 1999. These games belong to the late Game Boy era, when handheld gaming was becoming a major part of popular culture. Players chose a starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle, and used the Pokédex to catalogue the one hundred fifty-one creatures of the Kanto region while working toward becoming League Champion. A defining feature was the Game Boy link cable, which let players trade and battle with friends, making Pokémon a social game as much as a single-player adventure. Yellow built on that success by strengthening ties to the anime, giving the player a Pikachu companion for the journey. Its 1998 release also coincided with the launch of the Pokémon Trading Card Game in North America, extending the same world of collecting and battling into a card game. 

These North American editions of Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow came with a “Pokémon Trainer’s Guide” that introduced players to the backstory, the map, the world of Pokémon, and the purpose of the game to defeat the 8 Pokémon leaders and complete your Pokédex. The Trainer’s Guides identified a possible 150 Pokémon to collect with a secret Pokémon, Mew, added to the game just before release to bring the total to 151. When players collect all 151 Pokémon, they could print a “Pokédex Diploma” using the Game Boy Printer hardware and compatible thermal receipt paper. 

2. Pokémon Stadium. Nintendo 64 version, Nintendo (1999)

Pokémon Stadium released in North America in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, bundled with the Transfer Pak, a peripheral that became the game’s defining feature. The Transfer Pak plugged into the back of the Nintendo 64 controller and allowed players to insert their Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow Game Boy cartridges directly into the console, transferring their trained Pokémon into Stadium’s battles. This was the first time players could use the specific Pokémon from their own save files in a home console game, seeing creatures they had caught and trained on a small handheld screen rendered in three dimensions on a television. Players without a Game Boy cartridge could still compete using pre-built Rental Pokémon, and the game’s Cup structure offered battles suited to different team levels. The Transfer Pak set a precedent for connectivity between Nintendo’s handheld and home console systems that the company would return to throughout the following decade. 

This North American edition of Pokémon Stadium includes the N64 cartridge, Transfer Pak, instruction booklet, and the oversized N64 packaging to include all these materials. Maintaining the social connection of the original Game Boy games, players connected 4 N64 controllers with Transfer Paks and Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow cartridges. Where only previously 2 players could trade and battle with the Game Boy Link cable, now 4 players could share this experience, all within a 3D environment.  

3. Pokémon Channel. Nintendo GameCube version, Nintendo (2003)

Pokémon Channel released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003, developed as a successor to Hey You, Pikachu!, the Nintendo 64 game that used a microphone peripheral for players to speak commands to Pikachu directly. Channel continued that focus on companionship over battling. The game belongs to the early GameCube era, when Nintendo was exploring softer, companionship-driven spinoffs alongside its core titles. Rather than catching or training Pokémon, the player’s goal was to spend time with Pikachu in a shared living space, watching television programs broadcasted by Professor Oak and reporting back on which shows are worth keeping on the network. As the player bonds with Pikachu over time, new channels, areas, and accessories gradually became available. 

This North American edition of Pokémon Channel includes the GameCube disc, instruction booklet, disc case, and 3 e-Reader cards. The e-Reader was a Game Boy Advance cartridge that, when inserted into the handheld, allowed players to swipe physical cards through a built-in scanner to load additional content. In Pokémon Channel, players could connect their Game Boy Advance to the GameCube using a link cable, scan compatible Pokémon Trading Card Game cards through the e-Reader, and unlock bonus content within the game. 

4. Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. Nintendo GameCube versions, Nintendo (2003–2005)

Pokémon Colosseum was released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003, followed by Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness in 2005. These games belong to the sixth-generation console era, when Nintendo was experimenting with 3D worlds and home console versions of handheld titles. Unlike the main series, Colosseum and XD focused less on catching wild Pokémon and more on rescuing Shadow Pokémon, creatures whose hearts had been closed by criminal organizations, through battling and purifying them. The games take place in the Orre region, a desert-like setting with a darker tone than most Pokémon adventures. In Colosseum, the protagonist Wes begins the game by leaving the criminal organization Team Snagem, blowing up their base, and stealing their portable Snag Machine, setting the stage for the player to “snag” Shadow Pokémon from other trainers and purify them. 

These North American editions of Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness for the Nintendo GameCube includes the GameCube disc, instruction booklet, and disc case. The instruction booklet outlines how a dedicated link cable connecting the Game Boy Advance to the GameCube allowed players to transfer purified Pokémon from the console games directly into their Game Boy Advance copies of Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed or LeafGreen. 

5. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team / Blue Rescue Team. Nintendo Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions, Nintendo (2006)

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team released for the Game Boy Advance in 2005, with Blue Rescue Team arriving on the Nintendo DS the same year. Later DS entries, including Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky, continued the series through the Nintendo DS era. These games depart from the main titles by making the player a Pokémon rather than a human trainer, determined at the start through personality questions. Gameplay takes place in randomly generated dungeons, where players move across grid-based maps, collect items, battle wild Pokémon, and recruit defeated foes to expand their rescue team. Recruited Pokémon live in Friend Areas back at base, reinforcing the series’ sense of community. The DS entries expanded the story and emotional depth of the series, with the Explorers games becoming especially known for their dramatic plot. 

These North American editions of the Mystery Dungeon series on Game Boy Advance and DS include the cartridges, instruction booklets, and cartridge cases. The instruction booklets describe the Wonder Mail system, a feature that generated a short alphanumeric password when a player was knocked out in a dungeon. This code could then be shared with a friend so they could enter the code into their own game and attempt a rescue mission on the defeated player’s behalf. Successfully completing a rescue earned both players in-game rewards, including items and rescue points that contributed to their team’s overall rank. 

6. Pokémon HeartGold / SoulSilver. Nintendo DS versions, Nintendo (2010)

Pokémon HeartGold released in 2010 for the Nintendo DS, alongside Pokémon SoulSilver, as remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver to commemorate the original games’ tenth anniversary. These games belong to the Nintendo DS era, when Nintendo was revisiting earlier Game Boy Color titles with updated graphics and touch-screen features while preserving their original feel. HeartGold recreates the world and structure of the original Johto adventure, letting any Pokémon walk alongside the player, and adds the Pokéathlon, a set of touch-screen minigame competitions.  

These North American editions of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver include the Nintendo DS cartridges, instruction booklets, cartridge case in a card sleeve, and the Pokéwalker. The Pokéwalker was a pedometer accessory roughly the size of a Tamagotchi that let players transfer a single Pokémon out of the game and earn in-game rewards by walking with it in real life. The Pokéwalker is significant for linking physical activity directly to a player's progress, extending the journey beyond the screen. 

7. Pokémon Sun / Moon. Nintendo 3DS versions, Nintendo (2016)

Pokémon Sun and Moon released in 2016, as the first titles of the seventh generation, timed to celebrate the franchise’s twentieth anniversary. The games belong to the late 3DS era, when Nintendo was refining its handheld formula ahead of a console transition. Sun and Moon introduced regional Pokémon variants, a new battle mechanic called Z-Moves, eighty-one new species, and Ultra Beasts, alongside a QR Scanner that used the 3DS camera to register Pokémon from scanned codes and locate rare species through its Island Scan function. These QR codes could be generated in game once a Pokémon was registered in a player’s Pokédex and shared with a friend, or found in various merchandising, promotional materials, websites, and social media for players to scan with their 3DS. 

This North American edition of the Dual Pack includes the game packages for Pokémon Sun and Moon with their Nintendo 3DS cartridges, instruction booklets, plastic cases inside a card sleeve, and three Partner Pokémon figures of the starter Pokémon Litten, Rowlet, and Popplio. Each figure came with a QR code that when scanned using the game’s QR Scanner, registered that starter in the player’s Pokédex and revealed where it could be found in the Alola region, connecting the physical collectible directly to an in-game feature. 

8. Pokkén Tournament. Nintendo Wii U version, Nintendo (2016)

Pokkén Tournament was first released in Japanese arcades in 2015, followed by a Wii U release in 2016 and an expanded Nintendo Switch version, Pokkén Tournament DX, in 2017. The game belongs to the late Wii U and early Switch era, when Nintendo was bringing more competitive, visually polished experiences to home consoles. Developed with Bandai Namco, the studio behind the Tekken series, Pokkén Tournament departs from traditional turn-based Pokémon battles by letting players directly control Pokémon in real time. Fighters such as Pikachu, Lucario, and Charizard used fast attacks, combinations, blocks, counters, and special moves, built around a phase shift system that switched battles between a 3D field phase and a 2D duel phase. 

This North American Edition of the Wii U version includes the Wii U game disc, instruction booklet, and a Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card. First printings of the Wii U copies included a Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card that temporarily unlocked the character for use before it was earned through normal gameplay. The game also supported the full range of Nintendo amiibo figures and cards, including Pokémon amiibos such as Charizard and Pikachu, which could each be scanned once per day to receive a random bonus of in-game currency, avatar costume items, or exclusive titles. 

Select Bibliography

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Bulbapedia. “Main Page.” Bulbapedia, the Community-Driven Pokémon Encyclopedia. Accessed 26 June 2026. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page 

Donovan, Tristan. Replay: The History of Video Games. Yellow Ant, 2010. 

Retro Gamer. The Story of Pokémon: The Complete History of the Most Successful Franchise in the World. Future Publishing Ltd., 2024. 

Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon and Beyond. Crown Publishing Group, 2001. 

The Strong. A History of Video Games in 64 Objects. Dey St., 2018. 

Tobin, Joseph (editor). Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon. Duke University Press, 2004.