The Pokémon series is well known for releasing its mainline games in pairs and, previously, there would often be a third game (or a new pair of games) released that changed things up a bit.

We've seen:

• Pokémon Yellow

• Pokémon Crystal

• Pokémon Emerald

• Pokémon Platinum

• Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

• Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Let us know which was your favorite generational follow-up title and why!

Personally, I really enjoyed Pokémon Crystal and Pokémon B2/W2. Crystal added amazing animated sprites which really made the game feel more alive. I think it was also an important step forward to add the option to play as a female protagonist. B2/W2 I enjoyed just for another romp through Unova, this time with some Pokémon from past games available before the endgame, and the many narrative changes it made.

I have the best memories of White 2. I preordered it from GameStop and got a Keldeo poster as a preorder bonus that is sadly lost to time. I have a vivid memory of getting home with the game for the first time and sitting on my floor to play instead of my bed for some reason because I was so excited. Played the crap out of that file, my favorite place in game has gotta be Village Bridge. I ended up losing the cartridge on vacation sadly… still not over that lol

100% Pokemon Platinum. SOOOOO many memories. I actually have 3 copies of that game. One to play through, one for breeding, and one for competitive (my original saved file)

Sooo many late nights playing Platinum. Good times :)

Definitely Emerald! Fighting both Team Aqua and Magma improved the story driven conflict drasticly. You feel much more involved in it than just fighting with one team. The added Pokémon animations brought a lot of life into Hoenn as well and don't get me started on the Battle Frontier. Overall probably my favourite game in the entire series.

Pokémon Yellow and Pokémon Emerald are my two absolute favourite games in the series. It's really hard for me to decide which one takes the top spot: Yellow was my first Pokémon game, but it's with Emerald that I've spent an embarrassing amount of hours playing. However, if I really have to choose, I'd pick Emerald 💚

I still remember getting it from a friend in exchange for some Pokémon cards. I was 12 years old, almost twenty years ago 🥹

Yellow is always my favorite third version as I liked the anime twist on it.

I also enjoyed Black 2/White 2 for being a story continuation instead of just a replay.

14 hours ago, Sakuramei said:

Yellow is always my favorite third version as I liked the anime twist on it.

Since I was playing Yellow while also watching the anime, I still remember saying to my cousin: "Why don't Brock and Misty follow me?!" 😆

i'm a platinum stan first and a human being second. introduced some of my favorite pokemon & human characters in the whole franchise. i also have a soft spot for yellow, too.

On 10/4/2025 at 4:09 PM, Kerberos said:

i'm a platinum stan first and a human being second. introduced some of my favorite pokemon & human characters in the whole franchise. i also have a soft spot for yellow, too.

That is awesome to hear :)

I have very fond memories of Platinum as well. It was the height of my competitive battling days. I was like 13 and conquering the world lol

Going to go out on a limb here and say Pokemon Yellow. It's the first (third) main series title and it's based off the anime. It isn't hard to see what they were trying to accomplish. 🤫