Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

JP: September 12, 2009NA: March 14, 2010AU: March 25, 2010EU: March 26, 2010

JP: September 12, 2009
NA: March 14, 2010
AU: March 25, 2010
EU: March 26, 2010

Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version are 2009 remakes of the 1999 Game Boy Color role-playing video games Pokémon Gold and Silver, also including features from Pokémon Crystal. The games are part of the fourth generation of the Pokémon video game series and were developed by Game Freak, published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Gold and Silver, the games were released in Japan on September 12, 2009, and were later released in other regions during March 2010.

HeartGold and SoulSilver take place in the Johto and Kanto region of the franchise's fictional universe, which features special creatures called Pokémon. The basic goal of the game is to become the best Pokémon trainer in both the Johto and Kanto regions, which is done by raising and cataloging Pokémon and defeating other trainers.

Game director Shigeki Morimoto aimed to respect the feelings of those who played the previous games, while also ensuring that it felt like a new game to those that were introduced to the series in more recent years. The games have received positive reviews from critics, and as of March 2014, the games' combined sales have reached 12.72 million, making the two games combined the eighth best-selling DS video games of all time.

Summary

The plot of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver is mostly the same as Gold and Silver with a few changes and included plot elements exclusive to Pokémon Crystal. The player, either Ethan or Lyra, begins their journey from New Bark Town, running an errand for Professor Elm to Mr. Pokémon's house to discover what he was so excited about. Elm supplies the player with one of three Pokémon, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile, for this errand. After Mr. Pokémon's discovery turns out to be an Egg, the player returns to New Bark Town, only to find that a suspicious red-haired boy seen lurking outside of Elm's lab earlier has stolen one of Elm's Pokémon— the one that the player's choice is weak to, coincidentally. Upon defeating him and returning to New Bark Town, the player gives the name of the boy (the player can choose any name, provided it fits under the seven-character limit; his name defaults to Soul in HeartGold and Heart in SoulSilver) to a police officer who has come to investigate the incident. Elm is amazed by the Egg and insists on studying it, allowing the player to keep the Pokémon they traveled with as a starter Pokémon. From here, he encourages the player to journey across Johto and challenge the eight Gym Leaders, Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, Morty, Chuck, Jasmine, Pryce, and Clair, and eventually the Pokémon League. With the first Gym in Violet City nearby, the player heads off on their adventure.

Upon arriving at Violet City, the player must first defeat the Elder, Li, at Sprout Tower before facing the Violet City Gym. Li has just been defeated by Silver and after the player defeats Li, he gives the player Flash. After defeating Falkner for the Zephyr Badge, Elm's assistant appears to give the player the Egg, which will later hatch into a Togepi. Heading south towards Azalea Town by way of Route 32 and Union Cave, the player meets up with the villainous Team Rocket, formed again after it was disbanded three years prior in the neighboring Kanto region by a young Trainer. They are cutting off the tails of the Slowpoke that are sacred in Azalea, intending to sell them for a large profit. Kurt, a local maker of specialty Poké Balls, is greatly angered by this, and requests the player's help in chasing away Team Rocket and saving the Slowpoke. Though he falls into the Slowpoke Well, hurting himself in the process, he begs the player to continue on to fight the organization with their Pokémon. After this has been done, and Team Rocket is chased away from Azalea, Kurt gives the player a Lure Ball and will make his specialty Poké Balls when brought any kind of Apricorn, once per day. After defeating Bugsy in the Azalea Gym for the Hive Badge and defeating the red-haired boy (Silver) once again, the player can journey into Ilex Forest to find the Charcoal maker's Farfetch'd and get HM01 (Cut). With this, Ilex Forest can be navigated through towards Route 34. On Route 34, a Pokémon Day Care is set up that is capable of raising two Pokémon at once. The Day Care functions the same way as in other Generation IV games. Venturing into Goldenrod City, the player's third Badge, the Plain Badge, awaits. After defeating Whitney and getting the Plain Badge, getting a SquirtBottle allows the player to move the strange tree blocking Route 36 to the north. If it is Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday, the Bug-Catching Contest will be on at the National Park on Route 35 as well. In Ecruteak City, Bill, the developer of the PC Pokémon Storage System is performing repairs on the Time Capsule, and as the player arrives, he will finish, asking for them to come visit him in his parents' house in Goldenrod, where he will give away an Eevee. Another Gym is in Ecruteak City, where the Ghost-type Leader Morty battles for the Fog Badge. The player encounters the Legendary beasts in the Burned Tower and they run off around Johto. The player also meets Eusine who is studying the Burned Tower and takes interest in Suicune. The player goes on through Route 38 and Route 39 to arrive in Olivine City. Once there, they learn from Silver that Jasmine, the Gym Leader, is not available at the moment, since she is taking care of the lighthouse's Ampharos and refuses to leave until the Pokémon is given a special medicine from Cianwood City. The player thus surfs their way through Route 40 and Route 41 to get to Cianwood City. There, they encounter the Fighting-type Leader Chuck, who presents the player with the Storm Badge. They get the medicine from the Cianwood Pharmacy and go back to Olivine City. Jasmine, relieved after getting her Ampharos's medicine, goes back to taking Gym challenges. Her Pokémon specialty is of the Steel type. When the player gets their sixth Badge, the Mineral Badge, they travel to Mahogany Town, through Route 42. The Gym is blocked by a man and the way to Route 44 and the Ice Path is blocked by a man trying to sell Rage Candy Bars.

The player heads north to Route 43 and the Lake of Rage. Upon entering the gate, two Team Rocket Grunts charge them 1000 to go through. When the player gets to the lake, they encounter the Red Gyarados. After the player defeats, catches or flees from it, they get the Red Scale. A caped man named Lance appears on the shore and reveals Team Rocket's secret hideout to the player. The player goes back to Mahogany and goes through the hideout, along with Lance. Team Rocket planned to emit sound waves, inducing the Magikarp in the lake to evolve into Gyarados, which caused the effect of the Red Gyarados. Once the player defeats all the Team Rocket members and disables the wave-emitting machine, they can challenge Pryce, the town's Ice-type Gym Leader.

Upon defeating the Gym Leader and obtaining the Glacier Badge, the player receives a phone call from Prof. Elm about a strange radio signal emitted by Team Rocket, trying to connect with their missing leader, Giovanni. The player goes to the Goldenrod Radio Tower to investigate. Once there, a Team Rocket Grunt tells the player that only Team Rocket members are permitted to enter the tower. The player then goes into the tunnel, where a Team Rocket Grunt says they are looking for new recruits, then dresses the player in a Team Rocket grunt's uniform. The player is then permitted to enter the tower, but, all of a sudden, Silver enters, and tells the player off for thinking they look tough in the clothing. The player finds out the tower has been taken over by Team Rocket. When the player ascends to the top floor, they find the director of the Radio Tower, only to discover that he has been impersonated by a member of Team Rocket and that the real Director is locked in Goldenrod's basement. Once the player enters the basement, they are once again encountered by Silver, who intends to defeat Team Rocket all by himself. He still questions the way he treats his Pokémon. Once the player gets to the very bottom of the basement, they find the Tower's real Director. He gives the player the Card Key so that they can access the higher floors of the Radio Tower.

After clearing all of the Team Rocket members and defeating the Team Rocket executives, effectively disbanding them, the player receives either a Rainbow Wing to encounter Ho-Oh or a Silver Wing to encounter Lugia, in HeartGold and SoulSilver, respectively. The player then is allowed to go through the Ice Path and to Blackthorn City. There the player can challenge Clair, the Dragon-type Gym Leader. Before giving the player the Rising Badge, however, Clair makes the player go through a test to prove their worthiness. To complete this test, the player must enter the Dragon's Den and take a test before they receive the Rising Badge from Clair. Having obtained all 8 Badges, the player is given the Master Ball by Elm and is requested to visit the Kimono Girls to prove their worthiness. After defeating the Kimono Girls, the player will either go to the Bell TowerHG or the Whirl IslandsSS to encounter Ho-OhHG or LugiaSS. Then the player is allowed to go east of New Bark into Kanto.

From New Bark Town, the path to the Pokémon League is to the east, across Route 27 and into Kanto, then across Route 26 and through Victory Road to the Indigo Plateau. When the player reaches the exit of Victory Road, Silver appears again and battles the player.

The Elite Four awaits the player if they have collected all eight Badges. When the player enters the League, they must face all four in sequence. Will, who trains Psychic-type Pokémon, is first, followed by Koga, whose specialty is Poison. Bruno, who uses Fighting-type Pokémon, follows, and finally, Karen, who specializes in the Dark type. After defeating these four, the reigning Pokémon Champion, Lance, whom the player met at the Lake of Rage, challenges the player to a final battle. After his defeat, Oak and his co-host on Pokémon Talk, DJ Mary, arrive and congratulate the player. Lance then takes the player to a back room and tells the player that they are admitted into the Hall of Fame. The credits roll.

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