It might be a surprise to hear - or remember - that Nintendo released handheld Pokémon titles that weren't on its well-known console series at all.
The Pokémon franchise has released so many games across almost thirty years that there will almost certainly be installments that its oldest fans aren't likely to have touched since they were children. There are plenty of reasons this might happen - a player might simply bond more to a particular generation than another, impacting which games they revisit until previously overlooked gens see remakes later in their lives. But they might not have seen other installments in a while because they were brief experiments that Pokémon hasn't quite repeated or niche titles that they might not have taken the time to know next to the series' popular mainline RPGs.
The Nintendo Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, and DS saw a number of titles that wouldn't be unfair to place in the latter category in particular. All three handhelds saw efforts to bring the Pokémon collectable trading card game to a console format. Pokémon Pinball and its Ruby and Sapphire sequel were pinball games where players filled their Pokédexes by triggering catching minigames. The fan-favorite Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and Pokémon Ranger series were more conventional adventures, but ones that respectively cast players as a monster and a member of the titular trainer class, not a trainer. Then again, the original Mystery Dungeon received a remake as recently as 2020, so none of the series seem off the table for a return.
Related: Other Pokémon Spin-Offs That Need Revivals Like Pokémon Snap
But it might be a surprise to some that Nintendo released handheld Pokémon titles that weren't major console or handheld releases, and that those are the ones that fans are least likely to have touched since their childhoods. Alongside trading cards, arcade games, and what modern gamers would now consider standard consoles like the Switch, Nintendo created early Pokémon games in the form of LCD screen game devices, which were popular in the 90s and early 2000s in forms ranging from virtual pets to edutainment toys to games akin to early retro titles. While some such games and toys can be expensive or otherwise difficult to find today, they may evoke nostalgia in the mind of a long-term Pokémon fan hearing their names.
There've been a few iterations of Poké Ball and Pokédex-based electronic toys released by Hasbro. The latter mostly functioned as a Pokémon player might expect them to - as devices that display images of the series' magical creatures while providing their information, giving kids a more visceral experience of using a Pokédex like their favorite Pokémon anime characters. Poké Ball toys, meanwhile, harbored simple Pokémon-catching minigames. One generation connected its versions of each type of toy: the owner of a Cyber Pokédex, which also had catching functions complete with battling and trading mechanics, could connect it to a Cyber Poké Ball to use its Pokémon.
Another Hasbro-made Pokémon handheld game was the Pokémon Electronic Hand-Held Yahtzee game, based on the company's release of Pokémon Yahtzee Jr. Like the board game, the handheld device ran a Pokémon-themed version of a simplified Yahtzee. Unlike the board game, the device's take on the game allowed for only one player.
Possibly the most notable but obscure of Pokémon's old LCD devices, at least in the west, is the Pokémon mini (as it's officially capitalized), released in 2001. The mini was similar to a tiny Gameboy, running games via cartridges, while also including shake detection and the ability to detect other mini devices wirelessly for multiplayer purposes. Cartridges for the mini mostly contained minigame compilations, covering simplified versions of pinball, rhythm games, and card games.
Related: Pokémon X & Y Need Remakes Before Black & White
The unique themed Nintendo console didn't sell well in the States, which resultantly never saw half of its final repertoire - such low numbers in much of the world likely contributing to its rarity and high price tag today, with pre-owned minis commonly commanding triple digits on eBay. But mini owners in Japan and Europe received a Pokémon-themed version of Tetris before the device's run ended, and those in the former country received titles like miniature racing games and virtual pet simulators.
The Tamagotchi-like Pokémon Pikachu is typically the more familiar of Pokémon's old LCD handhelds. It was released in 1998, the same year as Pokemon Yellow Version, and provides a real Pikachu companion to its owner like the mainline title. The device doubled as a pedometer. Steps - or shakes, for those staying inside or otherwise unable to take their Pikachu out and about - earned its owner a currency called Watts, which they could use to play and bond with their Electric-type friend.
Pokémon Pikachu was simple as far as virtual pet devices of the time went. Unlike a Tamagotchi, its owner wouldn't have to worry about keeping their Pikachu fed, for example. But it provided entertainment nonetheless with the variety of animations it could display when a player took a break from upping their step count to check in on their Pokémon pal, based on friendship stat level and time of day. A player might catch their Pikachu taking a bath or getting into bed if they checked on it at night, for example, or playing music out of joy on receiving a particularly generous gift of Watts.
While the Pokémon series hasn't released anything quite like either the mini or Pokémon Pikachu as a standalone since 2001, it has paid tribute to them. In 2003's Pokémon Channel, a spiritual sequel to the console pet simulator Hey You, Pikachu!, the player character owns a Pokémon mini. Interacting with it in the player and their Pikachu's home allows them to play simple remakes of games like the mini's pinball.
Related: Every Pokémon Original Soundtrack, Ranked
And those who played HeartGold and SoulSilver but never owned a Pokémon Pikachu may be more familiar with the device than they think. The Pokewalker is a small pedometer that came with new copies of the reimagined Pokémon Gold and Silver games on their release. Its owner can transfer a Pokémon onto it from either game and train it by walking with it. Taking steps on the Pokewalker also accumulates currency that a Pokémon trainer can use to find wild Pokémon and items, and this currency is called - as in Pokémon Pikachu - Watts.
Perhaps systems like the mini and Pokémon Pikachu will inspire more Easter eggs and bonus features for other titles in the future, or perhaps Nintendo will go further than usual in porting games, finding out ways to add these often lost old games to Nintendo Switch Online. Whether or not fans will ever see them again, however, it's an enjoyable exercise to reminisce about old games for both the purposes of imagining possibilities through past patterns and for the purposes of reflecting on the course the Pokémon series has taken in its development.
Next: Pokémon That Need To Star In Their Own Spin-Offs
Nigel Valentine is a gaming features writer with Screen Rant whose past experience covers assorted freelance writing roles as well as quality assurance testing of virtual reality games, and he's glad to marry two of his main fields and passions in his work for SR. Video games have been a fixture in his life ever since his childhood days of watching his gamer mother play titles ranging from Mario 64 to Resident Evil - and while his tastes are broad, Nintendo and horror titles remain personal favorites of his to this day. Niche, obscure, and oft-forgotten titles also hold a special place in his mind - ask him any day about Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Chibi-Robo, Magic Pengel, or Space Channel 5 and not only will he talk, chances are that he'll instantly want to be your best friend. Nigel Valentine is based out of the California Bay Area, he is a cat dad, and his interests outside of gaming include music, art and art history, and general horror media.