Why does Pokemon Have 2 Different Versions of Each Game?

The very first Pokemon games were released in 1998 as Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue (or Pocket Monster Red and Pocket Monster Green in Japan in 1996, if you wanna get technical). Since then, every single mainline Pokemon game, as well as certain spinoffs, has maintained the tradition of dual-version releases, plus a third enhanced version later on in some generations. It’s become such a mainstay element of the franchise, no one really questions it anymore, but how did this tradition get started? Why does Pokemon have 2 different versions of each game?

Why does Pokemon Have 2 Different Versions of Each Game?

The obvious answer to this question is “mad dollars, yo.” There’s a kernel of truth to that. Pokemon is, after all, the most profitable franchise on the face of the planet, and releasing two versions of the mainline games can feed into that. Major Pokefans and collectors want to ensure they experience absolutely everything the new games have to offer, as well as ensure they have both games on prominent display in their collections. Most players don’t buy both versions, but that powerful FOMO is enough to ensure that a statistically significant number does. After all, different versions have different Pokemon, and on occasion, different Gym Leaders or evil teams to battle. If you don’t play both, you’re missing out.

Related: All New Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

However, cash prizes aren’t the only reason Pokemon games come in two versions. The actual reason began all the way back with the very first games. For those of you who are too young to remember, games weren’t always internet-enabled. In the earliest days of Pokemon, if you wanted to trade Pokemon with a friend, you needed to be physically next to each other, Game Boys connected via a Link Cable. This was a trick Nintendo and The Pokemon Company employed to encourage kids to get out of the house and meet with like-minded Pokemon Trainers. Speaking as someone who was there for it, the magnetic novelty of Link Cable trading was absolutely intoxicating, to the point that even the potential of it was enough to get you up and out the door.

We All Live in a Pokemon World

While modern Pokemon games no longer need physical connections thanks to the internet, the community aspect still remains to a certain degree. Even if you’re not meeting them in person, you can interact with all kinds of people by trading Pokemon. I used to chat with lots of folks on Reddit when everyone was sharing codes for Safari Zones. Don’t even get me started on the massive, often in-person-meeting community of Pokemon GO players.

So while the dual-version thing isn’t really explicitly necessary anymore, it’s a long-standing tradition in a game series that has brought a lot of us closer together, even when it was just my sister and I pummeling each other with our respective Blastoises.