Pokemon's Leaked Series Schedule Explained

Chronology of events throughout Pokemon series is complicated – much, much more complicated than many fans new to the franchise would think. Various minor inconsistencies, widespread misinformation among fans, and the fact that for Pokemon All series are factors into this complexity, but in one of the only times in franchise history, fans recently got to see an official and pretty in-depth breakdown of the series' timeline… or part of it, at the very least.

This information stems from the infamous “terralick” that occurred earlier this month. This monumental data leak comes after an anonymous hacker gained access to Game Freak's internal vaults earlier this year and has since left the internet awash with never-before-seen developments Pokemon content over the past few decades. Along with the personal information of more than 2,600 employees and contractors, almost anything was leaked online: concept art, source code, story details, reviews of early builds of the game, and even some details of unreleased games.

How these leaks define part of the Pokemon timeline

The data obtained from these leaks is one rabbit hole, but the order of events is several Pokemon continuities and timelines are quite different. Leaked information regarding the main series Pokemon The timeline, as shared on Twitter by @CentroLeaks, shows that the Gen 1 and Gen 3 games take place in the same year, around the same time. As fans know, Gen 2 takes place three years later, although the events of the Gen 4 games take place here around the same time – Game Freak stated that they take place “slightly later” than the Gen 2 games. The first of the Gen 5 games, Black and white pokemonthey are then stated to take place 10 years after the events of the Gen 4 games.

The Gen 4 games are pretty transparent about what they take place at the same time as
Pokemon Gold and Silver
when they start with the player watching a newscast about the red Gyarados in the Lake of Fury.

This isn't the first time fans have been tipped off about the Pokemon timeline

First of all, most of this information is not technically new. A lot has been invested Pokemon Theorists and fans have long thought that these games are taking place simultaneously, largely thanks to a long-deleted tweet by Toshinobu Matsumiya, a Game Freak writer who worked on the series since Gen 1. Originally posted in May 2014, this tweet seemed to confirm that Generations 1 and 3 happen at the same time, and Generations 2 and 4 also happen at the same time later in the timeline. It was further stated on Twitter that after the events of Mr Black and white pokemoncontinuation Pokemon black 2 and white 2 also happened around the same time Pokemon X and Y.

Fans should keep in mind that leaked content is rarely Canon content

However, unlike this tweet, the information gleaned from the recent leaks actually adds a bit more context Pokemon clarifying the number of years between the events of Genes 4 and 5. Many may even consider Matsumiya's tweet from a decade ago to retrospectively confirm the information from the timeline that was recently leaked, as it is first and foremost important for fans to understand that almost everything has been leaked Pokemon the documents represent content that was under active development at the time. This means that the canonicity of absolutely every piece of leaked content should be taken with a large grain of salt, as many designs and story details ended up changing between development and release.

Since the games themselves hardly give any details about the series' timeline, it's very possible that this information could be quickly reworked in the future. But as far as fans know today, this is the most specific and complete timeline layout in the main series games – bar none Pokemon remakes, spin-offs, manga, or the main anime series, all of which take place either in different durations or, in some cases, in different timelines within the same continuity.

The chronology of Pokemon remains a mystery after the 6th generation

Of course, the elephant in the room is that this information doesn't account for games past Gen 6. Yet Pokemon X and Y were included in Matsumia's timeline tweet, only loose theories are available to help fans pin Gens 7, 8, and 9 on the timeline. All that is known about these games is that they happen one after the other – something that is only clear thanks to very niche pieces of information in these games that refer to the events of previous entries in Pokemon series.