Options

Options (Japanese: せってい Settings) are settings that the player can modify to change aspects of the game. They can be accessed by selecting the corresponding choice on the menu in the main series of the Pokémon games. The options differ throughout the various games.

In Generation IV, a Confirm option was also added. It was used to save the Options menu's settings. Pressing B does not save it; in Platinum, however, the player is prompted to confirm any adjustments made to the settings.

List of options

Text Speed

Text Speed is an option that has appeared in every main series game to date. This setting affects the speed in which the text of the game appears. Players can set the text speed to one of three choices: slow, medium, and fast, with medium being the default speed.

Battle Scene

Battle Scene is an option that has appeared in every main series game to date. This setting controls the appearance of battle animations, and can be set to on or off.

Battle Style

Battle Style is an option that has appeared in every main series game to date. This setting controls the shifting of Pokémon in-between one Trainer's Pokémon fainting. There are two choices: Shift allows the player to switch to a different Pokémon when the opposing Pokémon faints, while Set will have the next Pokémon immediately sent out. The setting is set to Shift by default, but in a Double or Triple Battle, the battle style will always be Set. Also, in Generation IV, if the battle style is on Set, if the player's Pokémon is knocked out against a wild Pokémon, they wil be forced to send out their next Pokémon and not be given the option to immediately run.

Sound

Sound is an option that has appeared in every main series game since Pokémon Yellow. This setting affects how sound is played through the speakers of the game console. The player can choose between Mono and Stereo. Mono sets the sound to one sound channel, so that the same sound comes out of both speakers, while Stereo sets the sound to use two sound channels, so that different sounds may come out of different speakers to give the illusion of sound coming from different directions.

Print

Print is an option that appears in Pokémon Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal. This setting controls the darkness of prints obtained through the Game Boy Printer. The players can set this option to normal, darker, darkest, lightest, or lighter.

Menu Account

Menu Account is an option that appears in Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal. This setting affects whether or not descriptions appear for the menu functions.

Button Mode

Button Mode is an option that appears from Generation III to Generation V, and affects button configuration. In Generation III, the player has a choice of normal, LR, and L=A. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the player has an additional choice of help, which brings up information about battles, such as type advantages and disadvantages. In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, the help and LR choices are replaced with a Start=X function, where the player can use the Start button instead of the X button to bring up the menu. This choice is removed in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, leaving just the normal and L=A functions.

Frame

Frame is an option that appears from Generation II to Generation IV, and affects the appearance of the border around boxes of text. In Generation II, there are only eight different schemes, but there are 10 in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and 20 in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald and all of Generation IV. Generation V games removed the frame option.

Kana/Kanji select

In the Japanese version of Black, White, Black 2, and White 2, a new option for displaying kana ( かな ) or kanji ( 漢字 ) characters was added. Generation V is the first generation to have kanji used along with the standard hiragana and katakana. If switched to kana, only hiragana and katakana will be displayed. If switched to kanji, kanji characters will also appear. Kana or kanji can be chosen when a new adventure is started but can be changed at anytime via the menu.

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.