Pokémon X and Y

Lore & Background

Pokémon X and Y were announced in January 2013 by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata through a Nintendo Direct, and released worldwide in October 2013. The games follow a young Pokémon Trainer who travels through the Kalos Region, a star-shaped area inspired by Metropolitan France and Europe, featuring landmarks such as Prism Tower (based on the Eiffel Tower) and the Lumiose Art Museum (based on the Louvre). The player befriends four trainers, meets Professor Augustine Sycamore, and receives a starter Pokémon from Chespin, Fennekin, or Froakie. The story involves the villainous Team Flare, whose true goal is the annihilation of humanity to restore the world to a pristine state. The player also learns about Mega Evolution from Sycamore and encounters the imposing man Lysandre.

Reader's Guide

Pokémon X and Y are significant as the first main-series Pokémon games to feature fully polygonal 3D graphics, replacing the sprites used in previous generations. They introduced 72 new Pokémon species, the Fairy-type (the first new type since Pokémon Gold and Silver), and Mega Evolution, a temporary evolution during battle using Mega Stones. The games also added character customization, allowing players to choose gender, skin tone, and hair color, and later acquire outfits and accessories. New battle features included Sky Battles and Horde Encounters, while Pokémon-Amie and Super Training enhanced player-Pokémon interaction and stat building. The Player Search System (PSS), Wonder Trade, and the Holo Caster improved online connectivity. Pokémon Bank, a paid cloud storage service, allowed players to store and transfer Pokémon from previous games. Commercially, X and Y sold four million copies worldwide in their first weekend, beating the record of Pokémon Black and White, and became the second best-selling games on the Nintendo 3DS with 16.76 million copies sold as of September 2024. A sequel, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, set five years after X and Y, was released for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 16, 2025.

Did You Know?

• Pokémon X and Y were the first Pokémon games to have a simultaneous global release.
• The games introduced the Fairy-type, the first new type added since Pokémon Gold and Silver.
• Mega Evolution allows fully evolved Pokémon to temporarily evolve further during battle using Mega Stones.
• Pokémon Bank, a cloud storage service for the games, will shut down on 26 February 2027.