Game mascot

The subject of this article has no official name. The name currently in use is a fan designator; see below for more information.

The mascot of a Pokémon game is the Pokémon that appears on the boxart—and often label—of that game.

Early on, the mascot of a game was not necessarily relevant plot-wise, and did not even have to be met to complete the game. Generation III (with the exception of the Generation I remakes) began the trend of the game mascot being mandatory to encounter in order to progress the plot, and more recent games even force the player to catch the mascot to continue. Game mascot Pokémon are often given increased catch rates and the ability to respawn if they are defeated in order to account for this. All core series games have Legendary Pokémon as mascots, except for games where the player starts in Kanto, which feature a starter Pokémon instead, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which lacks a game mascot on its boxart.

In general, only core series games have mascots, as most side series and spin-off games display multiple Pokémon on their box covers and so none of them qualify as mascots. The only current exceptions to this are Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Detective Pikachu, and Pokémon Sleep.

In most games, when pressing A or Start on the title screen, the game mascot's cry will be heard.

Core series

Generation I

	Original games		Upper game(s)
JP	Red Charizard	Green Venusaur	Blue Blastoise	Pikachu Pikachu
	Final form of a starter Pokémon			Only starter Pokémon
INT	Red Charizard	Blue Blastoise	Yellow Pikachu
	Final form of a starter Pokémon		Only starter Pokémon

Generation II

Original games		Upper game
Gold Ho-Oh	Silver Lugia	Crystal Suicune
Tower duo		Part of the Legendary beasts

Generation III

Original games				Upper game
Ruby Groudon		Sapphire Kyogre		Emerald Rayquaza
Super-ancient Pokémon
Remakes
FireRed Charizard			LeafGreen Venusaur
Final form of a starter Pokémon

Generation IV

Original games				Upper game
Diamond Dialga		Pearl Palkia		Platinum Giratina (Origin Forme)
Creation trio
Remakes
HeartGold Ho-Oh			SoulSilver Lugia
Tower duo

Generation V

Original games
Black Reshiram	White Zekrom
Two members of the Tao trio
Sequels
Black 2 Black Kyurem	White 2 White Kyurem
Formes of Kyurem, the third member of the Tao trio

Generation VI

Original games
X Xerneas	Y Yveltal
Two members of the aura trio
Remakes
Omega Ruby Primal Groudon	Alpha Sapphire Primal Kyogre
Primal forms of the rival members of the Super-ancient Pokémon

Generation VII

Original games		Upper games
Sun Solgaleo	Moon Lunala	Ultra Sun Dusk Mane Necrozma	Ultra Moon Dawn Wings Necrozma
Light trio
Remakes
Let's Go, Pikachu! Pikachu		Let's Go, Eevee! Eevee
Partner Pokémon

Generation VIII

Original games		Expansion Pass
Sword Zacian (Crowned Sword)	Shield Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)	The Isle of Armor Urshifu (Single Strike Style)	The Crown Tundra Calyrex
Heroes of Galar		The "secret armor" of the Master Dojo	King of Bountiful Harvests
Remakes
Brilliant Diamond Dialga		Shining Pearl Palkia
Two members of the Creation trio

Generation IX

Original games		The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero
Scarlet Koraidon	Violet Miraidon	The Teal Mask Ogerpon	The Indigo Disk Terapagos
Paradox Pokémon		TBD	TBD

Side series

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Shadow Lugia

Main Shadow Pokémon opponent

Spin-off games

Detective Pikachu

Detective Pikachu

Title character

Pokémon Sleep

Snorlax

Central character

Trivia

• Some of the game mascots have unique distinctions:
  • Suicune is the only member of a Legendary trio that is also a game mascot while its fellow members are not.
  • Xerneas is the only game mascot whose signature move is a status move.

See also

• Special Pokémon

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