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Defiant

Pokemon Gotta Catch ... Some Of Em ???
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So everyone talks about a Mega timeline and a non mega timeline, this seems to stem mainly from ORAS, where Zinnia references a Hoenn without Mega Evolution meaning RSE.
Ok so that tells us RSE and ORAS are separate universes. And we know RBY - GSC are separate to FRLG - HGSS as well.

But why can't XY take place in the same timeline as Gen 3 - Gen 4 - Gen 5? It mentions Fairy type being newly discovered which isnt the case in ORAS, ORAS should take place about 7 years before XY but they're all used to the Fairy type fine. XY also mention Mega Evolution is pretty rare and unique to Kalos. Putting it with the other games, whereas ORAS even contradicts the origin story of Mega Evolution.

So lets say Gen 3,4,5 and XY are the same universe. SMUSUM take place a few years after XY and only a few people have access to Mega Evolution, no one in the main story, only the Battle Tree which isn't canon and Giovanni who it says comes from another universe. Dexio has specificially come from Kalos saying its in the same universe as XY, so is there any reason Gen 7 can't take place in the same universe as 3,4,5 and XY?

Finally Sword/Shield, again no mega evolution present at all, doesnt mean its necesarily a universe without mega evolution, just that its rare, Kalos exclusive etc, so SWSH could be in the same universe too.

Therefore, the only games we know to be a separate universe which GF didnt plan are ORAS, which was created due to fan demand, and the lets go games which are obviously separate.

So could we have
Classic :- RBY -> GSC
Main :- FRLG -> HGSS -> RSE -> DPPT -> BW -> B2W2 -> XY -> SM/USUM -> SwSh
New :- LGPE -> ??? -> ORAS -> ??? (room for LG2J and DPRE)
 
The problem with saying XY takes place same in the same line of universes as the previous games is because the ultimate weapon was not fired in those worlds.

Also, Pokémon is like Mass Effect or Dragon Age: Some basic events happen in each universe, but the specific details vary completely depending on what people do.

The only things I can say that are consistent between lines are the defeat of the evil teams, that the kid took part in the league and helped their respective professors. Anything else (starters, their teams, if they managed to be a Champion) are left in the air. The Memory Link is the only thing that takes what you do in account.

EDIT: Also, there are more than four timelines, thanks to Rainbow Rocket and the Ultra Warphole. You even visit one where Guzzlord destroyed Hau'oli City (and maybe the rest of Alola).

EDIT 2: In other words, the closest thing to a canon you are asking for is what order the events in the regions happen.
 
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Well yes you can say that about any game/franchise/series etc
But there are established timelines, 3 in Zelda, and many assume 4 in Pokemon, but I'm suggesting could be 3.

But unlike Zelda, the people who actually make the Pokémon games have made no attempt whatsoever to designate any precise number or shape of alternative universes. They merely gesture at the idea that there are lots of them, with some being particularly far-flung from the course of events with which we're familiar (such as the villains' plans succeeding due to the protagonists 404ing, or a nuclear meltdown obliterating Hau'oli).

What you're talking about is more like a timeline as in a sequence of game-to-game relation, in which case, the basic sequence of events for Pokémon is known to be Kanto/Hoenn > Johto/Sinnoh > Unova 1 > Unova 2/Kalos > Alola > Galar. There’s not anything more “established” than that, and breaking it up any more specifically is just excessive pedantry when all you need is a single footnote that says there's (at least) one universe in which Mega Evolution doesn't exist and the events of modern Kalos presumably don't happen, or at least, happen very differently because the story of X & Y relies so fundamentally on the ultimate weapon. As it happens, that should answer your initial question - if you do assume that Zinnia is talking about some combination of the GBA/DS games, then the versions of X & Y that we see can’t be a part of that because Zinnia says that the world without Mega Evolution had no Kalos war or ultimate weapon, which are both very crucial to X & Y.
 
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The more timelines there are, the less point there is to keep track of them. Back in my day, you had the GB/C games on one line disregarding minor version differences.
 
Green? She's just a late addition, or arguably a character that was removed for no obvious reason and then came back.
 
Pokémon’s timeline or narrative setting has never really been messy on its own, the fans just make it that way. “Just think of each game (other than GSC) as its own thing” is a pretty simple brief at its core, and the series doesn’t focus on its continuity enough for small contradictions to matter.

I mean I like geeky pedantic timelines and charts and stuff as much as the next guy, but I engage in that sort of thing while conscious of the fact that I’m willfully overthinking it all for fun
 
Green? She's just a late addition, or arguably a character that was removed for no obvious reason and then came back.
I guess I should have explained: When I was at school once FRLG were released I was talking with a friend wondering what would happen with the final battle in a then-hypothetical GSC remake, if you had the option to fight Red or "Leaf" and things like that.

“Just think of each game (other than GSC) as its own thing”

Don't forget B2W2 and it's neat Memory Link feature.
 
Well yes you can say that about any game/franchise/series etc
But there are established timelines, 3 in Zelda, and many assume 4 in Pokemon, but I'm suggesting could be 3.

Problem with using Zelda as an explanation of time lines is that it was never intended as a hard and fast "this is 100% how it plays out" deal and more of a flexible guideline:

"Famitsu asked series producer Eiji Aonuma, and Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi what the changes meant, and this was their reply: Eiji Aonuma, series producer: “Well of course it’s at the very end. But, I get what you’re asking, it’s which timeline is it the end of?” Hidemaro Fujibayashi, director: “That’s… up to the player’s imagination, isn’t it?” Aonuma: “Hyrule’s history changes with time. When we think of the next game and what we want to do with it, we might think, 'Oh, this’ll fit well', and place it neatly into the timeline, but sometimes we think, 'Oh crap', and have to change the placement. Actually, the decided history has been tweaked many times.” (laughs)"

So as of Breath of the Wild we're basically back to having to assume that the games could be entirely separate universes for the most part. I know a lot of fans were screaming out for a Zelda timelines for a long time but I think including that in the Hyrule Historia was a bit of a daft choice considering it was only meant as a guideline and now people quote it as the be all and end all.

In terms of Pokémon I find it easiest to assume every game is part of a separate timeline, personally I find that easier to believe than the hand wave explanation of there being nearly twice as many types of Pokémon discovered in the world between gens 1 and 2 only recently being discovered despite being massively common in the neighbouring region.
 
So could we have
Classic :- RBY -> GSC
Main :- FRLG -> HGSS -> RSE -> DPPT -> BW -> B2W2 -> XY -> SM/USUM -> SwSh
New :- LGPE -> ??? -> ORAS -> ??? (room for LG2J and DPRE)

I consider SwSh and LGPE to be in Switch-verse that is completely different from DS/3DS-verses.

Otherwise, my GBA/DS/3DS main-verse could be:
FRLG/RSE/ORAS → DPPt/HGSS →BW → BW2/XY → SM/USUM
Switch-verse: LGPE → ??? → SwSh
 
Please note: The thread is from 4 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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