Timelines can be rather controversial in any franchise, but when they're applied to one of Nintendo's more storied franchises they can lead to some feisty disagreements. The Legend of Zelda is the famous example, dividing fans to this day despite an official version being available in Hyrule Historia; when you take into account split dimensions and alternate realities, the potential for confusion is clear.
It seems that Pokémon is heading that way, with 3DS entries X & Y and Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire seemingly contributing to the confusion. Tumblr user AzzyFox has had a go at making sense of the possibilities for a 'mon timeline and, well, look at it.

We certainly recommend visiting the Tumblr page to look at a magnified version, which should prove handy to those of you keen on the details. Maybe worrying about these details is a mistake...
[source azzyfox.tumblr.com, via kotaku.com]
Comments 51
Luckily, none of that knowledge is really needed to pick up a Pokemon game.
Nope. There's no timeline to be found in the Pokémon series. It was never planned in any way to begin with, just like the Zelda "timeline" that also doesn't work.
I pointed this out as soon as Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were announced as remakes. I assumed X & Y took place a couple years after Black 2 & White 2, but ORAS is in the same generation as X & Y and Ruby & Sapphire take place the same time as FireRed & LeafGreen 3rd generation. ORAS started the mess up.
@Kaze_Memaryu There actually is a timeline. Toshinobu Mitsumiya, a major member of Game Freak, posted the timeline on twitter back in May. It can be found through a pretty brief search.
This seems like a really sloppy categorization for the "Dimensions" of the different Pokemon games. From what I gather, the biggest difference between the dimensions is the technology, which is a really poor way to distinguish entire planes of reality from each-other when technology has always shown to improve upon itself.
This seems so off. The original games and remakes should be seperated, so that it would be reasonable to fit in with their respective timelines and the events coincidentally linking together to make it more elucidated for us to know.
This isn't really a timeline as such. A timeline is, "Gold and Silver takes place three years after Red and Blue." and so on.
Btw, a timeline image looks like this:

@Kaze_Memaryu Except there is.
I was never aware that anyone thought there were multiple timelines. It always just seems like different regions at different points in time.
@TheLobster
That's pretty much the official timeline set by Gamefreak.
Gen I and III occur at the same time.
3 years later are Gen II and IV
An uncomfirmed amount of time after that is Blacka and White
And two years later is B2W2 and X and Y.
Yeah I mean it's obvious there is a set timeline and I never thought anybody didn't know this one (or could Google it). I never heard of multiple timelines or people arguing it like Zelda because it's pretty concrete.
nice I like it.
It's an interesting theory, but I prefer to stand by the KISS principle (Keep it simple, stupid).
The main dimension's timeline goes like this: R/B/G/FR/LG, G/S/C/HG/SS, R/S/E/OR/AS/Colo, XD, D/P/Pl, B/W, B2/W2, X/Y/(Z?). Whenever new lands, mechanics, and features are added to the remakes and new generations, the previous games are then automatically retconned to have included those things all along, with the exception of a few things that may still be undiscovered in certain regions like perhaps Mega Evolution. The Ranger games also fit into this dimension, although I don't keep up with them.
Other dimensions include the Mystery Dungeon dimension (where Pokémon build their own towns and freely communicate with each other, and humans are legendary creatures that either live in far-off lands or come from a different dimension, possibly the main series dimension), the Poképark dimension (which may or may not be the same as the Mystery Dungeon dimension), the Rumble dimension (where all Pokémon are living wind-up toys), the Smash Bros. dimension (where a select few Pokémon exist as living trophies in a mega-crossover world as seen in the Subspace Emissary), the TCG dimension (where trainers battle and enter tournaments with Pokémon cards instead of actual Pokémon), and the animé dimension (whose timeline runs parallel to the main series dimension but with notable differences and includes the animé itself, Pokémon Puzzle League, perhaps Snap, and possibly the huge wildcard of Yellow Version which might also just be another part of the main series dimension).
How is this news? One crackpot Pokemon fan has a theory. Big whoop.
Why would there ever need to be alternate timelines? With the exception of Gen I and Gen II, there's little to no crossover between the eras. And even brining up the remakes in this is ridiculous. They're REMAKES.
Generally it's accepted that Gen I is chronologically followed by Gen II (they make it apparent). Most believe Gen III happens the same time as Gen I, but in a different part of the world. Gen IV is believed to happen during Gen II, as evidenced by a Gen II gym leader visiting Sinnoh. Gen V and Gen VI happen during undisclosed time periods.
@Melkac @machomuu ∑(;°Д°) I was not aware of that at all! Sorry!
@TheLobster Interesting... I wonder what he bases it on.
I think they will remake the other generations so that all the games will be up to date with the official time like......so gen 4 remake....please
Definitely the silliest timeline I've ever seen. Takes every generation as its own complete universe and treats Red/Blue/etc. as alternate dimensions from each other. There is a real timeline, and it's nothing like this.
ORAS SPOILER: Hey guys, it's confirmed in the Delta Episode that ORAS and X and Y have their own dimension, and every other game is in a separate one, where the war never happened and mega evolution doesn't exist. Some of you need to learn to enjoy the plot and immerse yourself instead of rushing.
We can always get Dialga to clean up the timelines if they don't make sense!
Why can't Nintendo just be simple with these kinds of things? xD
What's next, a Mario timeline? lol
As pointed out there already existed a timeline.
There is no timeline for pokemon. Each RPG is a story about a different player in a different region, with different adventures, and different.. everything. While the legend of zelda DOES have a timeline, which is primarly based on "If this happened, then these games occur", pokemon does not have anything like that as there are no prequels, sequals, or heck parral universes intended.
It's pretty much just new fresh installments each time, it's for the sake of entertainment and just that. They do throw in some canon connections, I believe BW2 takes place a few years after BW or something like that but it's minor at best.
I just like the theory that team rocket is actually good. Not that I actually believe it, but it's really interesting. This thing is just confusing.
http://imgur.com/r/FanTheories/WVaAmah
@MegaBeedrill
I think you missed the above posts, there is a timeline. They're not as detailed as Zelda, but they have prequels and sequels. After all, what do you think G/S and B2/W2 are?
Its basically-
FR/LG/B=OR/AS>HG/SS=D/P>B/W>B2/W2=X/Y
Many of them happen simultaneously, and they do reference each other, such as the beginning of D/P being a search for a red gyarados in the lake.
Um... should Heart Gold and Soul Silver be with gold and silver since they are remakes and still within the same timeline of that game? They take play two years after Kanto.... Same kind of thing with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
The other thing, there is no set years between generations except for Kanto and Johto which is two years. all the other regions are different people and if there is a time line, it is set within that region.
This is way to overly detailed and is a HUGE stretch.
According to the Delta Episode in ORAS, it's clear that XY and ORAS take place in another dimension than The other games,i believe that the version difference is for gameplay purposes and the time line is
War did happen=XY and ORAS taking place around the same time
War did not happen=R/B/Y/G/FR/LG=G/S/C/HG/SS=RSE=
DPPT=BW=BW2...
@BlatantlyHeroic ORAS SPOILERS: Wasn't that just a theory by Zinnia, and not a confirmation that it is that way? It was probably just a nod to the original versions, where Y/X hadn't released yet.
@TheLobster If FRLG takes place during ORAS, why need the timemachine to trade?
@Tobias95 I think it was because some moves didn't exist in RBY era, so Pokemon had to be made compatible. That's the real world explanation and in game you're probably not using a time machine.
Lets take franchises that have barely any story in them (seriously, if you think Zelda or Pokemon have rich stories you really need to expand those horizons a bit more) and use the same formula again and again, then pretend that they actually have a meaningful or existing timeline!
I understand fan devotion, but try playing to the strengths of the franchise you enjoy.
'The' Pokémon Timeline. Yep, that official twitter made timeline... -_- I wonder if they'll ever make an official one, doubt it.
Sounds like a job for........A POKEMON HISTORIA!
Well, the 20th anniversary is only about a year to go.
@Tsurii897 Oh yeah, I remember that guy. But I couldn't really link him to anything specific in the previous games, so I considered it a throwaway reference. And I do know that BW2 is 2 years after BW, which is why I love these games (the idea of direct sequels was awesome to me).
Maybe it's because I skipped all remakes and Gen I that I never noticed this stuff.
@Xilef ORAS SPOILERS: Nope, she says the Draconids have been aware of that world's existence for a long time. The scientists in the space center don't want to believe it, as they're ignorant and stubborn unless they have absolute proof. Heck, they probably wouldn't believe in the existence of Mewtwo until it destroyed their houses and families.
@Zombie_Barioth That is not a timeline if only two or 4 games in the main series are sequels (1 not counting versions). Every game has to be linked somehow or another, and that is not the case. Heck, the idea of certain legendaries being recaught justifies a nonexsistant timeline on it's own. Again, each region pretty much does it's own, noncanon thing. ORAS especially since we know for a fact in GBA primals and megas were nonexsistant to the player, the aqua/magma leaders, everyone.. while you can bring up "Oh, they just didn't make them yet" the point still remains that if ORAS is appost to be real deal in a timeline then mega evolution was a thing far before DPP, which it definitly was not. Johto is in a similar boat, we know for a fact the legendaries found there are not really johto.. what are the odds that kyogre is asleep in hoenn and is awake in johto? Slim to none at all.. just thrown in there for the game ignoring it's true origin.
Now everybody needs to stop saying there is an offical timeline and realize that each new installment is as uncanon to one another as pokepark. Unless somebody links something that an offical website says then they need to stop believing what they read.
Wish I had the free time to over analyze stuff like this.
@ikki5 Well, R/B/Y and G/S/C's remakes overide them, can't connect to I and II generations, and Sinnoh and Honenn didn't exist. Your character in Sinnoh starts their adventure by the time the Red Gyrados incident occurred in Hg Ss (a non skip television broadcast in the beginning points this out). I believe it is mentioned throughout Black & White 2 that a few years passed since Black & White and even before BW, the last Team Rocket grunt you fight in Hg Ss who stole a Power Plant part moved to Unova, settled down with a wife and had a child. This child talks more fluently than the father so I can only say it had been 5-8 years from Hg Ss to BW. Hope this hopes.
The Zelda Time-line I'm fine with. This however....oh no
@MegaBeedrill
So you're saying that a timeline made public by the series Scenario Designer, literally the guy that decides what happens and when, is wrong?
I don't much like the Official Zelda timeline, but it was made public by the creators and you can't argue with it being official and, you know, existing.
@Vanya Except he didn't make a such thing.. hence why we're discussing a random tumblr user's hypothesis.
Funny how the official timeline only uses time unlike this theory that is actually very similar to mine saying that while they happened at the same time, they occurred in other dimensions.
this is all just conjecture and reading too much into things IMO. Half of what is stated is the game simply reflecting the technology of the handheld systems at the time, the other is simply attributing different features/mechanics to a different world, it's a nice theory, but I don't buy it myself
@MegaBeedrill
I never said that makes them a timeline, I was responding to your claim that there were no such thing in Pokemon. The Pokemon timeline works exactly as you describe the Zelda one, theres a particular order in which they take place. Its not as detailed as the Hyrule Historia, but the Zelda games themselves don't really go into detail any more than Pokemon does.
http://i.imgur.com/pvba5Ur.png
Matsumiya did make an official timeline. As official as Game Freak cares to make anyway. The difference between Zelda and Pokemon is most games take place at or around the same time. Most of the events are supposed to take place simultaneously.
As for D/P, notice how they tend to retcon the new version into being canon? Thats the only reason Mega evolution doesn't exist there.
@Geonjaha
Wow. They dont have a story? So all that dialogue I read in X&Y, ORAS and most every Zelda game didnt tell a story? I didnt feel for the people or felt rewarded for defeating Team Whoever? It was all a lie.
If you go with that logic lets take Peach from Mario and just have it a dood running amd jumping. Play on its strengths right? Lets take all the story outta Final Fantasy (any will do) and see how its strengths do without the story.
Im dyin to know what games you consider to have rich stories. Cause i havent found many as rich and colorful as some of these games.
Nintendo games doesn't have to make sense in a timeline. Zelda doesn't have a timeline. Period. Even if Eiji Aonuma says there is one, it makes no f* sense, everything lacks reasonable connections, so you better enjoy them separately. Same for regular Mario and Pokémon games.
@Zombie_Barioth
@rushiosan
There is a timeline when the creators of their respective games say there is. Period. They are fictional worlds and neither they nor their timelines need to make perfect sense to YOU for them to actually exist. And mistakes can be made. That's what retcons are for.
Like I mentioned before, I don't like the timeline set forth in Hyrule Historia, but it is, in fact, official and endorsed by Miyamoto. And the Pokemon timeline is no less official or real when given by the SCENARIO PLANNER for that series.
If you don't like then, tough.
Yeah, no, even if someone mentioned a timeline at some point it was never really thought out well or used as meaningful connective tissue between the different pairs of games. Whenever a new feature gets introduced it's treated as news within the game like 'pokemon eggs, whaaa?' or 'hey, there's a fairy type now... deal with it!!!'.
It's pointless to consider, just like the Zelda timeline.
@Vanya
Thats actually the point I've been trying to make all along. Personally I don't really mind either way, I sorta like Pokemon's timeline, reminds me of the mange. Thats how I imagine it anyway.
I'm not the one who has trouble accepting that a timeline exists.
Then we're on the same page.
Hahaha, I like this timeline.
ORAS intentionally provide multiply hints to the players that the stories happen in a totally different dimension than original RS, I just thought it should already be a commonsense until I saw there are still so many comments that strongly against it.
It's still too early to say how many dimensions are there, but it's clearly that there are different dimensions and new stories and further titles will based on this theory. It's not a big matter if the players aware of that or not, but it's highly likely that the script writers will create new games based on it to convince at least themselves and players that treat the story seriously.
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