Pokémon Stadium

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A series of battle-focused console games in the Pokémon series. They are all compatible with the corresponding handheld games in the series, though they can be played in a limited capacity without those games. Current games in the series are:

  • Generation I (Nintendo 64)
    • Pokémon Stadium (Japan): The first game in the series, which was only compatible with 42 out of the then-151 Pokémon. The sequel was out in Japan only a few months after Red and Blue were released in the US, and after their release in Europe, so this game was skipped in those regions in favor of the more complete sequel. Fans tend to refer to this as "Pocket Monsters Stadium" when needing to distinguish it from the commonly known US release.
    • Pokémon Stadium: Called Pokémon Stadium 2 in Japan, it was fully compatible with the Game Boy games, including support for all the Pokémon. It included several tournament levels, a Gym Leader Castle to battle the Gym Leaders from Red, Blue, Green and Yellow, the Kids Club to play minigames, a Pokémon Lab to manage the Pokémon and items on your games, including trading and transferring Pokémon between games and keeping them on the N64 cartridge, and the Game Boy Tower to play the Game Boy games on the TV through the Transfer Pak.
  • Generation II (Nintendo 64)
    • Pokémon Stadium 2: Called Pokémon Stadium Gold/Silver in Japan, it was compatible with all of the first generation games as well as the second-generation games, Gold, Silver, and Crystal. It included most of the same features as the original Stadium, plus others such as an in-game Mystery Gift and a Trainers' School area where one could learn basic and advanced game concepts and even fight puzzle-style training battles.
  • Generation III (Nintendo GameCube)
    • This generation got the Pokémon Colosseum games instead of new Stadium games. While they did include some elements of the Stadium games, and included the ability to wage battles between Game Boy Advance versions of Pokémon on the TV, they had their own stories and included less of the utility and tournament functions of the Stadium games. (The utilities were put into Pokémon Box.)
  • Generation IV (Wii)
    • Pokémon Battle Revolution: A Wii game, compatible with Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver versions. Developed by Genius Sonority, the same team behind the Colosseum games. Not technically a Stadium game, but it counts here because of its return to the battle focus of those games- more so in fact, as it lacked the minigames and any sort of storage (which would end up in My Pokémon Ranch). Featured several different battle styles, Character Customization, and the ability to battle random opponents over the internet.
Tropes used in Pokémon Stadium include:
  • Announcer Chatter
  • Bald of Evil: The Gamblers in the first Stadium game. You know why evil.
  • Battle Tops: A mini-game in Pokémon Stadium 2 is a battle between four Hitmontop with the goal of knocking the others out of the ring.
  • The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: And how! Chance is strongly stacked in its favor and their Pokémon have nicknames with numbers in them, otherwise impossible until Gen. III.
    • A juggler in Sabrina's Gym in the first Stadium has his name highlighted in pink. As stated below, that means one of his Pokémon has an unobtainable move. Cheater!
    • In Stadium, Mewtwo has infinite PP when you fight him. Granted, you're fighting him six against one, so it's hardly fair to throw stones...
  • Com Mons: You're pretty much guaranteed to run into at least two or three trainers with a Wigglytuff, a Butterfree, or both per tournament in Battle Revolution.
  • Double Knockout: Averted! Destiny Bond fails in 1 on 1, while a trainer that uses a suicide move on their last Pokémon loses (even if they KO the foe's last Pokémon with it).
  • Easter Egg:
    • If you import your starting Pikachu from Yellow to the Stadium games, it has Ikue Otani's voice acting like in the Anime (and the Super Smash Bros. series), rather than using the standard cry.
    • In the first two Stadium games, a Pokémon with a certain pattern in its nickname (reversed syllables, one syllable followed or preceded by another word, etc.) changed the creature's color. It's pretty fun trying to figure out what patterns will cause what changes.
  • Flawless Victory: Completing a match without losing a Pokémon gives you a continue. Building them up the early matches is quite helpful.
  • Flying Seafood Special: Some water Pokémon summoned into battle fall into this, especially the fish-like ones, who float aboveground as if they were in an aquarium (except, of course, for Magikarp...).
  • Kabuki Sounds: Various ones used in the Sushi Go-Round and Clear-Cut Challenge minigames.
  • Large Ham: The Stadium 1/2 announcer, sometimes.
  • Luck-Based Mission: The "Challenge" Cup, which randomly generates your team (NOT your opponent's).
  • Never Say "Die": Averted actually.
  • No Export for You: The first Stadium (though it is an unfinished version of the first with some musical differences and a cool intro to battles, so it isn't a bad thing).
  • No Fair Cheating: The game highlights moves a Pokémon shouldn't learn in pink. This becomes most obvious in Generation 1, when trading from Generation 2, where Pokemon can learn moves they can't in earlier games, so it'll use the pink highlights even if the Pokemon is, in fact, completely legit. Fortunately, this doesn't actually affect your ability to battle.
  • Obvious Rule Patch: The games introduced the standard clauses that get used in any "competitive" environment (in game or VS battles) to this day. These include the Sleep clause (only one Pokémon a team can be asleep outside of the self-inflicted sleep with the Rest move) Freeze clause (same as Sleep clause but with frozen solid) and Uber clause (Mewtwo, Mew, Ho-oh, Lugia and Celebi are banned) and Double KO clause (see double KO). Without these, battles would get very boring.
  • Pstandard Psychic Pstance: Mewtwo does this when attacking.
  • Save Game Limits: While the Nintendo 64 games only have one save file that accommodates all your games, Battle Revolution has four save slots, each one synced to one DS game. Which means that if you own all five games in Generation IV, one will miss out on playing PBR.
  • Stock Footage:
    • Pay close enough attention to every game in the series and you'll notice that they only ever create new models for the new Pokémon. Even in the latest games, Gen I Pokémon still have the same animations as they did in Stadium 1.
    • Despite using the same models, Battle Revolution offered texture and special effects updates to the older Pokémon. Colosseum also replaced some "questionable" animations of some Pokémon, such as Flareon's butt-shaking taunt when idle and Nidoqueen's body-swaying taunt. Magnemite's and Magneton's fainting animation, where they go into a spasm then fall apart, was also modified.
  • Up to Eleven: One of the announcer's lines in Battle Revolution uses this exact phrase.
  • Versus Character Splash
  • Westminster Chimes: Used at the beginning of the "Clefairy Says" minigame in the first game, and for battles in Earl's Academy in the second.

The announcer has unique chatter for the following

  • Broken Record: One-shot a opponent's Pokémon at the beginning of a match, and you might get these three lines in succession:

"A mighty blow from the word 'Go'!"
"TAKEN DOWN ON THE WORD 'GO'!!"
"This is a wild one from the word 'Go'!"

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