Pokémon Stadium

This page is about the first English Pokémon Stadium game (and second Japanese game). For the original Japanese game, see Pokémon Stadium (Japanese). For other uses, see Pokémon Stadium (disambiguation).

Stadium redirects here. For other uses, see Stadium (disambiguation).

Pokémon Stadium ポケモンスタジアム２
Boxart of Pokémon Stadium
Basic info
Platform:	Nintendo 64 Nintendo Switch (Nintendo Switch Online)
Category:	Battle Simulation
Players:	1-4
Connectivity:	Transfer Pak (N64) Nintendo Switch Online (Switch)
Developer:	Nintendo
Publisher:	Nintendo
Part of:	Generation I side series
Ratings
CERO:	N/A
ESRB:	E
ACB:	G
OFLC:	G8+
PEGI:	3
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	April 30, 1999 (N64) April 12, 2023 (Nintendo Switch Online)
North America:	February 29, 2000 (N64) April 12, 2023 (Nintendo Switch Online)
Australia:	March 23, 2000 (N64) April 12, 2023 (Nintendo Switch Online)
Europe:	April 7, 2000 (N64) April 12, 2023 (Nintendo Switch Online)
South Korea:	April 12, 2023 (Nintendo Switch Online)
Hong Kong:	April 12, 2023 (Nintendo Switch Online)
Taiwan:	N/A
Websites
Japanese:	Pokémon.co.jp Nintendo.co.jp
English:	Pokémon.com (US) Pokémon.com (UK) Nintendo.com Nintendo.co.uk
Japanese boxart Japanese boxart of Pokémon Stadium 2

Pokémon Stadium (Japanese, title: ポケモンスタジアム２ Pokémon Stadium 2, subtitled as Pocket Monsters' Stadium 2) is a Nintendo 64 game that allows players to upload and battle their Pokémon from the first generation Pokémon games, Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green in Japan. It features several battle arenas, introducing Stadium Mode's original four cups, the Pika Cup, Petit Cup, Poké Cup, and Prime Cup, the latter two of which would return in the sequel, and the original Gym Leader Castle. It also features new Pokémon cries, a feature that was carried on in the sequel for Pokémon from Generation II.

It was originally released in Japan on April 30, 1999, in North America on February 29, 2000, in Australia on March 23, 2000, and in Europe on April 7, 2000. It was announced during the September 13, 2022 Nintendo Direct that the game would be rereleased as part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in 2023. However, this version of the game is unable to connect to the original Game Boy or Virtual Console games. It was released on April 12, 2023.

This game is the sequel to the mostly incomplete original, which was never released anywhere outside Japan.

Terminology

This game is called "Pokémon Stadium" in English, as it was the first Pokémon Stadium series game released outside Japan. However, it is named ポケモンスタジアム２ (Pokémon Stadium 2) in Japan, as it was released after the game ポケモンスタジアム (Pokémon Stadium), which was never released internationally.

For comparison, the third Japanese game in this series is known as "Pokémon Stadium 2" in English.

Blurb

The ultimate Pokémon battle is about to begin...
At long last, all of your favorite Pokémon are ready to go head-to-head on the N64! Whether you're battling a friend, a Gym Leader or a tournament contestant, you're about to witness some of the most spectacular battle scenes in history! Select a team from a huge stable of "rental" battlers, or use the included N64 Transfer Pack to upload your own team from Pokémon Red, Blue or Yellow! This stadium is packed and ready to rock!

Game modes

Title screen

Game mode selection

Free battle

An open battle mode where players can battle with each other or the CPU with their favorite Pokémon. Players can use the Stadium rulesets (plus the available rentals), or choose "Anything Goes" for only the basic rules with no level limit.

Exclusive to Anything Goes is the ability to bring any number of Pokémon from one to six into battle, and play team matches with three or four players. When two players are on a given side, each selects up to three Pokémon to control.

Stadium

Main article: Stadium Mode

This is the main game mode. There are four different cup rules to win; Pika Cup, Petit Cup, Poké Cup, and Prime Cup. In the latter two, there are four levels of difficulty; Poké Ball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball and Master Ball.

Gym Leader Castle

Main article: Gym Leader Castle

In this mode, the goal is to climb to the castle's top by facing, in order, all eight Gym Leaders from Kanto, followed by the Elite Four, and finally the player's rival. Each of the Gym Leaders has three apprentices that the player must defeat first in order to battle the Gym Leader themselves.

When the rival is finally defeated, the player will be rewarded one of the following eight Pokémon at random, each of them uncommon in Generation I and usually only available once in a particular Game Boy game without trading.

#	Pokémon		Level
0001		Bulbasaur	5
0004		Charmander	5
0007		Squirtle	5
0106		Hitmonlee	20
0107		Hitmonchan	20
0133		Eevee	25
0138		Omanyte	20
0140		Kabuto	20

Battle Now!

In this mode, the player can play a battle without having to select Pokémon. Rather, the players are randomly assigned one of two predetermined teams.

Round 1

Player Battle Now! Stadium

Type: Electric Unknown Pikachu Lv.50 Thunderbolt Electric   --       Quick Attack Normal   --       Thunder Wave Electric   --       Swift Normal   --       Types: Grass Poison Bulbasaur Lv.50 Razor Leaf Grass   --       Sleep Powder Grass   --       Leech Seed Grass   --       Cut Normal   --       Type: Fire Unknown Charmander Lv.50 Flamethrower Fire   --       Bide Normal   --       Dig Ground   --       Slash Normal   --       Type: Water Unknown Squirtle Lv.50 Surf Water   --       Withdraw Water   --       Strength Normal   --       Ice Beam Ice   --       Type: Ground Unknown Sandshrew Lv.50 Earthquake Ground   --       Sand-Attack Normal   --       Submission Fighting   --       Rock Slide Rock   --       Type: Normal Unknown Clefairy Lv.50 DoubleSlap Normal   --       Metronome Normal   --       Thunder Electric   --       Mega Punch Normal   --

Player Battle Now! Stadium

Type: Electric Unknown Magnemite Lv.50 Thunderbolt Electric   --       Supersonic Normal   --       Thunder Wave Electric   --       Swift Normal   --       Types: Grass Poison Oddish Lv.50 Mega Drain Grass   --       Sleep Powder Grass   --       Double-Edge Normal   --       Petal Dance Grass   --       Type: Fire Unknown Vulpix Lv.50 Flamethrower Fire   --       Confuse Ray Ghost   --       Dig Ground   --       Fire Blast Fire   --       Type: Water Unknown Psyduck Lv.50 Surf Water   --       Disable Normal   --       Confusion Psychic   --       Ice Beam Ice   --       Type: Ground Unknown Cubone Lv.50 Earthquake Ground   --       Focus Energy Normal   --       Submission Fighting   --       Body Slam Normal   --       Type: Normal Unknown Meowth Lv.50 Fury Swipes Normal   --       Growl Normal   --       Thunder Electric   --       Take Down Normal   --

Round 2

Player Battle Now! Stadium

Type: Electric Unknown Raichu Lv.50 Thunder Electric   --       Submission Fighting   --       Swift Normal   --       Body Slam Normal   --       Types: Normal Flying Dodrio Lv.50 Drill Peck Flying   --       Tri Attack Normal   --       Rage Normal   --       Mimic Normal   --       Type: Ground Unknown Sandslash Lv.50 Slash Normal   --       Earthquake Ground   --       Rock Slide Rock   --       Toxic Poison   --       Type: Fire Unknown Ninetales Lv.50 Flamethrower Fire   --       Dig Ground   --       Double-Edge Normal   --       Confuse Ray Ghost   --       Types: Grass Poison Vileplume Lv.50 Petal Dance Grass   --       Stun Spore Grass   --       Mega Drain Grass   --       SolarBeam Grass   --       Type: Water Unknown Seadra Lv.50 Hydro Pump Water   --       Take Down Normal   --       Substitute Normal   --       Ice Beam Ice   --

Player Battle Now! Stadium

Type: Electric Unknown Electabuzz Lv.50 ThunderPunch Electric   --       Strength Normal   --       Psychic Psychic   --       Seismic Toss Fighting   --       Types: Normal Flying Pidgeot Lv.50 Fly Flying   --       Mirror Move Flying   --       Quick Attack Normal   --       Hyper Beam Normal   --       Types: Grass Poison Victreebel Lv.50 Razor Leaf Grass   --       Toxic Poison   --       Mega Drain Grass   --       Sleep Powder Grass   --       Type: Fire Unknown Rapidash Lv.50 Stomp Normal   --       Fire Spin Fire   --       Fire Blast Fire   --       Agility Psychic   --       Types: Water Ice Dewgong Lv.50 Blizzard Ice   --       Headbutt Normal   --       Surf Water   --       Growl Normal   --       Types: Ground Rock Rhydon Lv.50 Earthquake Ground   --       Rock Slide Rock   --       Horn Attack Normal   --       Tail Whip Normal   --

Vs. Mewtwo

Once the player has completed the Stadium Mode and Gym Leader Castle, Mewtwo's silhouette will appear in the sky over the Stadium for selection. This is simply a showdown against Mewtwo itself, under essentially "Anything Goes" rules: up to six Pokémon (the player's own or Prime Cup rentals) can be brought to the battle, but Mewtwo is the only opponent. It has full PP Ups applied to all of its moves (in round 1), or to both of its attacking moves (in round 2).

Defeating Mewtwo launches the credits, changes the title screen and unlocks Round 2. Re-unlocking and defeating Mewtwo in Round 2 (where its stats are increased to the max) awards special hidden stickers available in the Gallery mode.

Round 1		Round 2
	Mewtwo Vs. Mewtwo Stadium Type: Psychic Unknown Mewtwo Lv.100 Psychic Psychic   --       Blizzard Ice   --       Thunderbolt Electric   --       Rest Psychic   --	Mewtwo Vs. Mewtwo Stadium Type: Psychic Unknown Mewtwo Lv.100 Psychic Psychic   --       Amnesia Psychic   --       Thunderbolt Electric   --       Rest Psychic   --

Kids Club

Main article: Pokémon Stadium series mini-games → Pokémon Stadium

The Kids Club area is home to nine different mini-games, which may be played with one to four human players (the remaining players are controlled by the computer).

Gallery

Gallery

This feature, which only exists in the North American version of the game, is used to take pictures of Pokémon from a Red, Blue, or Yellow cartridge inserted into the Transfer Pak or any rental Pokémon. Any of the game's arenas can be selected for a backdrop and the photos are stored in an in-game album. These pictures can be printed out as stickers (in 16×1 or 4×4 sizes) via the same Sticker Station that was used for Pokémon Snap.

Pokémon Lab

Main article: Pokémon Lab (Stadium)

This can only be used if the player has a copy of Pokémon Red, Blue or Yellow inserted into a Transfer Pak. Here, the player can access boxes to organize and store Pokémon and items, trade Pokémon between game cartridges (with two Transfer Paks), and accept prize Pokémon won elsewhere in the game. Using this feature will cause any Pokémon above level 100 (obtained either by hacking or via the Old man glitch) to be permanently reverted to level 100.

GB Tower

Transfer Pak compatibility

Main article: Game Boy Tower

This is used to play an emulated version of Red, Blue, or Yellow on the Nintendo 64. Different borders can be applied, some exclusive to particular versions. In addition, a Doduo Game Boy Tower can be unlocked by completing either the Poké Cup or Prime Cup in Round 1, which allows the game to be played at double the speed. A Dodrio Game Boy Tower can also be unlocked by beating both the Poké Cup and Prime Cup in Round 1, allowing the game to be played at triple speed.

Hall of Fame

When the player clears the final division of a Stadium Cup or defeats the Rival in the Gym Leader Castle, all of the Pokémon on the player's team will be registered in the Hall of Fame, recording its nickname, level, and Original Trainer name and ID, as well as the tournament it was on the winning team for. Each species can only have one entry in the Hall of Fame at a time, and attempting to register a Pokémon that already has an entry there will cause the previous entry to be overwritten.

Round 2

When the Vs. Mewtwo battle is cleared, Round 2 can be toggled on and off by pressing C-Right on the main menu. Round 2 challenges the player to battle through the game all over again, against the same opponents with different Pokémon and a much higher difficulty. Mew can also be rented in the Prime Cup. The surrounding Stadium area in Round 2 is set at night.

Changes

Trainer class changes

As there is a seven-letter limit for Trainer names, some Trainer classes go by different names.

Original Stadium Lt. Surge Surge Giovanni Giovani Bug Catcher Bug Boy Youngster Lad Engineer Mr. Fix Fisherman Fisher Channeler Medium Gentleman Old Man Black Belt Judoboy Cooltrainer Cool♂ or Cool♀ Bird Keeper Birdboy Jr. Trainer Jr.♂ or Jr.♀ Super Nerd Nerd PokéManiac Pkmniac Scientist Lab Man Cue Ball Cueball

Changes from Red, Blue, and Yellow

Pokémon Stadium features a number of changes to the battle system. Many of these fix glitches present in the Generation I core series games.

General changes include:

• Team preview is enabled.
• The HP bars of both active Pokémon numerically display their HP.
• Items may not be used in battle.
• The duration of sleep is reduced to 1-3 turns.
• A Pokémon cannot be put to sleep by an opponent (but it can use Rest) if the Pokémon's teammate is asleep.
• If a Pokémon defeats an opposing Pokémon with a recoil move, the Pokémon does not suffer recoil damage.
• An immobilized Pokémon can still select a move.
• Consecutive moves such as Wrap end when the target switches out.
• If a Pokémon is fully paralyzed during the invulnerable turn of Dig or Fly, the move resets.
• When a paralyzed Pokémon's Speed stat is modified, its Speed reduction is no longer nullified.
• A confused Pokémon will reveal the move it attempted to use when it hits itself in confusion.
• After a move which causes self-inflicted confusion (e.g. Thrash) ends, the game will display a message stating that the target is confused.
• The variable that determines the last damage dealt is reset whenever a Pokémon switches, is fully paralyzed, or uses a two-turn move.
• This variable is unaffected by recoil damage.
• Recovery moves no longer fail when the difference between a Pokémon's current and maximum HP is 1 less than a multiple of 256 (i.e. 255 or 511).
• Critical Hit ratio is changed to $\left\lfloor {\tfrac {(BaseSpeed+76)}{1024}}\right\rfloor$.
• Moves no longer have an additional 1/256 chance to miss.
• The stat modifiers for accuracy and evasion were changed.

In addition, the following moves were changed:

Move	Type	Change
Bide	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	A move can now be selected during each of Bide's idling turns. Bide will miss against any Pokémon that is in the middle of Dig, Fly, or a similar semi-invulnerable state.
Counter	Fighting			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	No longer capable of countering itself or self-inflicted recoil damage if the opponent does not make a move on a subsequent turn after using Counter.
Disable	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Now causes a Pokémon's rage to build only if successful. The disabled move's PP is not replaced with a "disabled!" message, though attempting to select the move will still result in a notice that the move is disabled.
Focus Energy	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Increases the user's critical hit ratio to $\left\lfloor {\tfrac {(BaseSpeed+236)}{512}}\right\rfloor$
Haze	Ice			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Eliminates any major status ailments that the user has
Hyper Beam	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Recharges even if it missed or defeated the target
Mimic	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Will no longer copy a move's maximum PP
Mirror Move	Flying			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Will now copy multi-turn moves during either of the turns they take to execute
Psywave	Psychic			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Always deals at least 1 damage
Rage	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Its accuracy does not drop when it misses. Disable causes Rage to build only when Disable hits.
Rest	Psychic			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	No longer fails when difference between the user's maximum HP and current HP leaves a remainder of 255 when divided by 256 (such as 255 or 511). It removes stat drops from burn and paralysis and resets the Toxic counter.
Struggle	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Can hit Ghost Pokémon
Substitute	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Prevents all HP-draining moves and non-volatile status conditions, Selfdestruct and Explosion users still faint when the move breaks a substitute.
Transform	Normal			{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}	Transform will not work if the target's current species is Ditto. The transformed Pokémon appears with the normal colors of the target.

Changes from previous Stadium game

There have been several changes from the earlier game Japanese Pokémon Stadium.

• All 151 Generation I Pokémon are playable in battle, as opposed to only 40 Pokémon.
• This game was localized in English, as well as multiple European languages, while the previous game was only available in Japanese.
• The Pokémon Lab was introduced in this game. The PC, trade machine, and machine to switch Game Boy games were also introduced in this game.
  • The Pokédex is now located in the Pokémon Lab. The "List" feature (a large table listing Pokémon), and the features to arrange Pokémon, items, and Boxes are now located in the PC. (All these features were introduced in Japanese Pokémon Stadium, but they were simply found at the main menu.)
  • The Nintendo 64 Pokémon storage in previous game had 4 Boxes for 30 Pokémon each (total 120). This was expanded in this game, as the Japanese version has 8 Boxes with 30 Pokémon slots each (total 240) and the English version has 12 Boxes with 20 slots each (total 240).
• In the previous Stadium game, the player was required to save at a Pokémon Center (in the connected core series game) in order to use the Pokédex. In the current Stadium game, the player can freely use the Pokédex, no matter where they saved.
• Several mini-games were introduced in this game.
• The player's Pikachu from Pokémon Yellow says its name in battle (voiced by Ikue Otani), as opposed to other Pikachu, which have the usual electronic noise cry. This Pikachu's idle animation is also different from that of other Pikachu. It keeps swinging its head to the sides, with its ears slightly uneven. Its voice and pose are also seen in the Gallery (only available in the English version).

Localization changes

Like the Generation I handheld games, Pokémon Stadium had several changes from the Japanese version.

• The Japanese version has six Stadium Cups. In addition to the Pika, Petit, and Prime Cups, there are three cups based upon official tournaments: the Nintendo Cup '97, Nintendo Cup '98, and Nintendo Cup '99. In the international versions, the Nintendo Cups were replaced with the Poké Cup from Pokémon Yellow's Colosseum 2.
• Several rental Pokémon had their movesets changed between the Japanese and localized versions.
• A gallery mode was added, but only in the American version (it is absent in Japanese and European versions).
  • In the Japanese and European versions, the main menu has the "options" button in the middle, below the "Pokémon Stadium" option. In the American version, the "gallery" button was added where the "options" would be in other games, and the "options" button was moved to the right side.
• Pikachu can be taught Surf under special conditions. Japanese players could teach a Pikachu Surf in the original Pokémon Stadium.
• The number of teams that could be registered was decreased from 12 to 10.
• In Clefairy Says, the Clefairy sing rather than repeat the same sound effect.

Special Pokémon

One Pokémon with a unique move can be obtained and transferred to any Generation I game.

Amnesia Psyduck

This Psyduck with the special move Amnesia is obtained by registering all 151 Pokémon in the Hall of Fame.

Pokémon Info			Battle Moves
PSYDUCK			Normal	Scratch
Lv. 15	Dex No.		Psychic	Amnesia
	0054		--	--
	Type		--	--
	Water		Unknown	There is no limit to this Pokémon's availability. It may be obtained on any date, beginning from when it was released. It was available in all regions.
Item	OT	スタジアム* STADIUM*
Gorgeous Box*	ID No.	01999* 02000*
Can be obtained with: R G B Y R B
Obtained from: JStad Stad Stad2 Distribution

Move Tutor

A Pikachu can be taught Surf if the player clears the Master Ball division of the Round 2 Prime Cup under the following conditions:

• All of the Pokémon must be selected directly from a Game Pak (Pokémon cannot be registered). The Pikachu can come from any Generation I game.
• Continues may be used, but the game cannot be saved.
• Pikachu only has to be selected for the final battle, but does not have to take part in the battle.

Staff

Main article: Staff of Pokémon Stadium

Trivia

• Pokémon cries have a much more realistic sound in this game. However, the partner Pikachu from Pokémon Yellow says its name like Ash's Pikachu in Pokémon the Series.
  • This was carried over to Pokémon Stadium 2.
• This was the first home console game to have all Pokémon in its generation usable in battle.
• Rocket's Pokémon have numbers in their nicknames, even though this was not possible until Generation III. The same applies for Team Rocket Grunts in the sequel.
• This was the first Pokémon game that allowed more than two players to battle at one time. This feature would not be implemented into the handheld games until Generation III.
• This is the only game where Lance does not use a Dragonite at any point in the game.
• Unlike in the handheld games, if due to glitches (like Pokémon "growing" from Lv. 255 to Lv. 0, thus lowering HP) a Pokémon's current HP is below 0, this displays properly (like 64569).
• Clearing the Gym Leader Castle and Prime Cup on Master Ball mode will unlock an alternate title screen.
• Although there is a 1'4" (0.4 m) difference between Nidoking and Venonat, the two appear to be the same height in battle.
• If a Pokémon knows four HM moves, using a TM in the menu allows the first move to be overwritten. This is the only way to replace HM moves in Generation I.
• Jynx's body color was changed from black to purple between the 1.0 and 1.1 English releases to avoid further controversy.
• According to an FAQ page that was available in February 1999 on Pokémon.com, there were no plans to release an American version of Pokémon Stadium, as well as any other Pokémon games that have been only released in Japanese at the time. This referred to the first Pokémon Stadium game (the version with only 42 Pokémon available for battles), which was never released in English.
• Moves that are flagged as illegal by the game are displayed in purple in the battle menu, and the Trainer's name is displayed in purple as well.
• The VS portraits for the Elite Four strongly resemble their artwork in the board game Pokémon Master Trainer (1999).
• The VS portraits for the Gym Leaders all resemble their headshots drawn by Ken Sugimori, with Blaine's being from the Red and Green manual, as opposed to his original design found in early promotional material.

In other languages

Language Title Japanese ポケモンスタジアム２ French Pokémon Stadium German Pokémon Stadium Italian Pokémon Stadium Spanish Pokémon Stadium

External links

Side series games

Stadium series

Stadium (Japanese) • Stadium • Stadium 2

Storage software

Box RS • My Pokémon Ranch • Bank (Poké Transporter) • HOME

Orre games

Colosseum • XD: Gale of Darkness

Other games

Battle Revolution • Pokéwalker • Dream World • Dream Radar

Pokémon games

Core series • Side series • Spin-off series • Pokémon mini • Individual spin-offs • Betas • Demos

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.