Pokémon Black and White Versions 2

Pokémon Black Version 2 ポケットモンスター ブラック ２
File:Pokemon Black 2 Boxart EN.png Pokémon Black Version 2's boxart, featuring Black Kyurem
Pokémon White Version 2 ポケットモンスター ホワイト ２
File:Pokemon White 2 Boxart EN.png Pokémon White Version 2's boxart, featuring White Kyurem
Basic info
Platform:	Nintendo DS*
Category:	RPG
Players:	1-4 players simultaneous
Connectivity:	DS Wireless, Wi-Fi, IR
Developer:	Game Freak
Publisher:	Nintendo The Pokémon Company
Part of:	Generation V main series
Ratings
CERO:	A
ESRB:	E
ACB:	G
OFLC:	G
PEGI:	3
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	June 23, 2012
North America:	October 7, 2012
Australia:	October 11, 2012
Europe:	October 12, 2012
South Korea:	November 8, 2012
Hong Kong:	N/A
Taiwan:	N/A
Websites
Japanese:	Nintendo.co.jp Official site
English:	Pokémon.com Nintendo.com (Black 2) Nintendo.com (White 2) Official site
Japanese boxart File:Pokemon Black 2 Boxart JP.png Boxart of Pocket Monsters Black 2 File:Pokemon White 2 Boxart JP.png Boxart of Pocket Monsters White 2

Pokémon Black Version 2 (Japanese: ポケットモンスター ブラック ２ Pocket Monsters Black 2) and Pokémon White Version 2 (Japanese: ポケットモンスター ホワイト ２ Pocket Monsters White 2) are the second paired versions of Generation V and are the sequels of Pokémon Black and White, respectively.

Both games were revealed on Pokémon Smash! by Junichi Masuda, and subsequently the official Japanese and international Pokémon websites, on February 26, 2012. They were released in Japan on June 23, 2012, in North America on October 7, 2012, in Australia on October 11, 2012, in Europe on October 12, 2012 and in South Korea on November 8, 2012.

The games feature two new forms of Kyurem that serve as the version mascots of the games: Black Kyurem for Black 2 and White Kyurem for White 2.

Plot

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

The games take place two years after the events of Pokémon Black and White. Many changes have taken place in Unova over this period: new locations are accessible in the southwest and northeast of the region, and some previously existing locations cannot be visited or are restricted until later in the game. Three new Gym Leaders and a new Champion are introduced, while the Unova Pokédex is expanded to include Pokémon foreign to the region, much like in Pokémon Platinum.

The player—named, by default, Nate if male or Rosa if female—begins in the southwestern city Aspertia City. After receiving their first Pokémon from Professor Juniper's assistant Bianca, they are encouraged to battle in Pokémon Gyms and aim for the Pokémon League. A boy from the player's hometown, Hugh, will travel with the player at certain times. Filling the traditional rival role, Hugh is not pursuing the Pokémon League challenge: it is revealed that he is trying to recover a stolen Pokémon from Team Plasma, who were not disbanded two years prior as expected.

Over the course of their journey, the player and Hugh will have numerous encounters with both current and former members of Team Plasma, as well as the mysterious scientist Colress. One of the Seven Sages, Zinzolin, appears in an antagonistic role, yet former Sage Rood will help the player. The plot comes to a head when Zinzolin freezes Opelucid City in ice with a combination of technology and the legendary dragon Kyurem, which Team Plasma has captured. The player must defeat Team Plasma including its new leader Ghetsis to free Kyurem. Ghetsis will combine the power of Kyurem with the power of the legendary dragon befriended by his son two years earlier and force Kyurem to fuse with Zekrom^B2 or Reshiram^W2. Only once Kyurem is safe and Team Plasma has been disbanded, can the player continue his or her journey to the Pokémon League.

After the main plot of the game has been completed, many inaccessible parts of Unova, including the Skyarrow Bridge, will be unlocked. Further Pokémon not native to Unova will be available, and the legendary Pokémon Zekrom^B2/Reshiram^W2 and Kyurem will reveal themselves to the player. When they are caught, the player will be able to fuse the Pokémon and change Kyurem's form at will.

Blurb

Game box blurb

Two powers combine...A new legend arises! Set off on a new Pokémon adventure to save the Unova region! You and your Pokémon can accomplish anything together!

Changes from Pokémon Black & White

Aesthetic changes

• The opening is drastically different from the one in Black and White, now featuring the new game characters, the Tao trio and the Swords of Justice. Also, the title screen shows either Black Kyurem or White Kyurem, depending on the version.
• The bar that shows a Pokémon's level, experience points, and HP has been redesigned. It is black in Black 2 and white in White 2.
• The area eyecatch has also been redesigned and shows the location in the top left of the screen and season in the bottom right. It is black in Black 2 and white in White 2.
• New locations such as Aspertia City, Virbank City, Floccesy Town, Lentimas Town and Humilau City have been added to the game.
• New characters are introduced, such as Hugh, Colress, Roxie, Marlon and Benga.
• Cheren, Bianca, Elesa, Ghetsis and Iris all receive redesigns.
• All Unova Gyms receive redesigns, including newly remixed music in all but the Aspertia Gym.
• Most of the Black and White music has been slightly remixed, in addition to the Gym Leader and Champion music from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh.
• There have been several changes made to existing locations, such as Driftveil City and Nimbasa City.
• Every Trainer has their own fully animated sprite. They have more frames, allowing for smoother animations.
• Several attacks have received new battle animations.
• The battle menu has been redesigned.
• The C-Gear has been redesigned.
• The Unova Pokédex has been expanded tremendously to accommodate older Pokémon.
  • It also receives a slight aesthetic change, now having a red background instead of green.
  • The Pokédex also receives an upgrade in the form of the Habitat List. It consists of a list of all visited places, with the Pokémon found there listed (if they have been seen). The player will sometimes receive prizes from certain NPCs when a certain area is filled.
• All returning Gym Leaders and Champions receive new sprites. This also applies for the overworld sprites.
• Route 4 has changed drastically and also differs between Black 2 and White 2.
• Victory Road changed drastically from Black and White to Black 2 and White 2 as well and differs in appearance between Black 2 and White 2. It has also changed location.
• Challenger's Cave's entrance collapsed, while Route 10 was blocked off due to a landslide on Victory Road, making both areas inaccessible.
• In place of Cold Storage, there is now the Pokémon World Tournament.
• Places marked on the map with green dots in Black and White are now marked with green squares. Also, now when they are tapped they become red (though they still cannot be flown to). This was only true of Liberty Garden in Black and White.
• During battles in tall grass, there are now visible tufts of grass around the platform, with varying colors depending on the season.
• Following the battle at Opelucid Gym, Team Plasma will freeze Opelucid City (along with a portion of the neighboring routes, Route 9 and Route 11), which will last until after the player has defeated the Elite Four.
• The weather icons are redesigned and smaller.

Storyline changes

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

• The player no longer starts in Nuvema Town, instead starting in Aspertia City.
• Instead of the usual 5 Poké Balls, the player is given 10 at the start of his or her journey.
• Chili, Cress, Cilan, Lenora and Brycen are replaced by Cheren, Roxie and Marlon as Gym Leaders.
• Bianca gives the player a Starter Pokémon.
• A new Team Plasma has formed, and is run by Ghetsis.
• Colress, a Team Plasma member, is battled frequently throughout the story.
• Rood, Zinzolin and the Shadow Triad are battled as part of the story.
• The Gym Leader order has changed to Cheren, Roxie, Burgh, Elesa, Clay, Skyla, Drayden, Marlon.
• Iris is the new Champion of Unova.
• Ghetsis returns and plans to freeze Unova with Kyurem.
• N returns to Unova with either Zekrom^B2 or Reshiram^W2, who is then fused with Kyurem to form either Black Kyurem^B2 or White Kyurem^W2.
• Unlike Pokémon Black and White, the version mascots Black Kyurem^B2 or White Kyurem^W2 can't be caught within the story, but can be obtained post-game by following certain requirements.
• Cobalion and Virizion interact with the player, making it possible to catch them during the storyline, although it is possible to catch all three Pokémon including Terrakion.
• Several tag battles take place throughout the game: one with the other player character, two with Cheren, four with Hugh, one with Bianca, and a daily tag battle with one of either Chili, Cress, or Cilan against the other two brothers.
• A new attraction known as the Pokémon World Tournament opens up in Driftveil City, where the player battles Gym Leaders and Champions from all five regions, among others.
• Another new attraction introduced is the Pokéstar Studios, located in Virbank City, where the player takes part in many different movies. Brycen and Sabrina appear here.
• Lenora revives the player's fossils.
• Several new key items exclusive to Black and White 2 are introduced.
• During the post-game, the player may find N at his castle and on the first visit, battles his Zekrom^B2 or Reshiram^W2, who is free for capture after defeating N. Subsequent battles can be done once a season and feature N using a team of Pokémon centered around that season.
• Several areas that were previously limited to the post-game of Black and White are now part of the main story. In contrast, some of the areas that were formerly part of the main story are now limited to the post-game.

Gameplay changes

• The new Unova Link is introduced, which makes way for new features.
  • Challenge Mode and Easy Mode are introduced, which raise and lower the strength of opposing Trainers respectively.
  • A new feature called the Memory Link is introduced, which reveals flashbacks from the NPCs that shed light on events that happened between Black and White and Black 2 and White 2.
• Many TMs and all but one HM are received in different locations.
• The Xtransceiver adds two new mini-games called Balloon Catch, where the player needs to catch balloons of their face or an NPC's, and Balloon Smash, where the player needs to inflate the balloons as large as possible without bursting them.
• The Move Tutors are back, and as with Pokémon Platinum, they teach most of the moves that were in that game for Shards, but here they all ask for shards of a specific color. They also teach many moves that lost their TM status, such as Dark Pulse, Roost and Stealth Rock.
• If the player has used a Repel, after its effect wears off, and if the player has more Repels in their bag, they will be asked if they would like to use another immediately without having to go into the menu.
• A number of legendaries from Hoenn and Sinnoh (excluding the Weather trio and Creation trio) can be found in the post-game.
• Zorua, Zoroark and TM95 (Snarl), which were previously accessible through Nintendo events only, can now be found within the game without any special requirements.
• The Kami Trio are notably the only Unova regional Pokémon absent from either game and must be obtained through the Pokémon Dream Radar and then transferred or alternatively they can be traded from Black and White. The Dream Radar is also necessary to obtain their new forms.
• Breeding was changed—the Everstone now always passes down nature (if both parents hold Everstone, one parent's nature is randomly picked). Furthermore, offspring have an 80% chance to have the Ability slot corresponding to their mother, unless it is a Hidden Ability; for example, Venomoth with Shield Dust is more likely to breed Venonat with Compoundeyes than with Tinted Lens.
• All Pokémon Breeders can now be rebattled every time the player re-enters the area in which they are found.

Features

Pokémon World Tournament

Main article: Pokémon World Tournament

A new facility featured in Black 2 and White 2 is the Pokémon World Tournament, where the player is able to battle every Gym Leader and Champion (except Koga and Iris) from the main series games in various types of battles.

Pokéstar Studios

Main article: Pokéstar Studios

Pokéstar Studios is a new feature in the games that allows the player to take part in making films involving Pokémon. The player chooses from various scenarios and acts them out.

Seasons

Main article: Seasons

Seasons once again return to the games. In addition to covering the entire screen upon starting the games, a text box appears at the bottom of the screen presenting the current season every time a new area is entered.

Sprite animations

Just like in Pokémon Black and White, the Pokémon sprites are fully animated and move throughout battles. However, unlike Black and White, every Trainer in the game has battle animations, as well as more frames which allows for smoother animations.

The game also introduces new entry sprite animations for Pokémon, much as if it were a Shiny Pokémon.

• N's Pokémon, which are obtainable through Memory Link, (with the exception of N's Zorua, who is obtainable during the main plot) have a green/yellow diamond shine, along with their own sound.
• Also, in the Pokéstar Studios, when a player successfully completes a movie with their Pokémon in an unusual matter by deviating from the script, their Pokémon will become a star and during battles, when the Pokémon is summoned, a star will bounce upwards and then back downwards. This is the only entry animation that can be added manually by the player.

Gyms

Within the two years separating Black 2 and White 2 from their predecessors, some of the past Gym Leaders have passed on their positions to others or retired from the Unova League. The eight Gym Leaders of Unova are now: Cheren (Normal), Roxie (Poison), Burgh (Bug), Elesa (Electric), Clay (Ground), Skyla (Flying), Drayden (Dragon) and Marlon (Water).

Elite Four and Champion

Like Black and White, the Elite Four can be battled in any order; after battling all four, a path to the Champion is unlocked. The Elite Four members are Shauntal (Ghost), Marshal (Fighting), Grimsley (Dark), and Caitlin (Psychic). The new Champion is Iris.

Pokémon

Each game features a Pokédex of 301 different Pokémon species, many of which are from previous generations such as Growlithe, Psyduck, and Marill.

Version-exclusive Pokémon

Black 2 0013 Weedle Bug Poison 0014 Kakuna Bug Poison 0015 Beedrill Bug Poison 0126 Magmar Fire 0185 Sudowoodo Rock 0240 Magby Fire 0311 Plusle Electric 0325 Spoink Psychic 0326 Grumpig Psychic 0379 Registeel Steel 0381 Latios Dragon Psychic 0427 Buneary Normal 0428 Lopunny Normal 0443 Gible Dragon Ground 0444 Gabite Dragon Ground 0445 Garchomp Dragon Ground 0438 Bonsly Rock 0467 Magmortar Fire 0574 Gothita Psychic 0575 Gothorita Psychic 0576 Gothitelle Psychic 0629 Vullaby Dark Flying 0630 Mandibuzz Dark Flying 0644 Zekrom Dragon Electric 0646 Kyurem Dragon Ice

White 2 0010 Caterpie Bug 0011 Metapod Bug 0012 Butterfree Bug Flying 0122 Mr. Mime Psychic 0125 Electabuzz Electric 0239 Elekid Electric 0300 Skitty Normal 0301 Delcatty Normal 0312 Minun Electric 0322 Numel Fire Ground 0323 Camerupt Fire Ground 0378 Regice Ice 0380 Latias Dragon Psychic 0439 Mime Jr. Psychic 0466 Electivire Electric 0577 Solosis Psychic 0578 Duosion Psychic 0579 Reuniclus Psychic 0627 Rufflet Normal Flying 0628 Braviary Normal Flying 0643 Reshiram Dragon Fire 0646 Kyurem Dragon Ice

• Normally unavailable, Regice and Registeel can be caught in the Black 2 and White 2, respectively, after trading respective keys from game which has unlocked them. Initially, Regice's key is unlocked in White 2, and Registeel's in Black 2.

Compatibility

Black 2 and White 2 can connect with the Pokémon Dream Radar, which transfer Pokémon found to the player's game. The Pokémon Global Link has also been updated to make way for the release of Black 2 and White 2. The games are compatible with Black and White, much as Platinum is to Diamond and Pearl. The games can connect as with games of the same generation, and they operate on the same Global Trade Station server. Pokémon from the Generation IV games Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver can be transferred to these games using the Poké Transfer.

However, they are not entirely compatible with Pokémon Black and White as the updated Black 2 and White 2 Entralink no longer features the ability to travel into another player's "world" and thus Pass Powers are instead earned through minigames that take place in the hubworld. Likewise, a player in Black or White cannot connect with a Black 2 or White 2 via the Entralink system.

Pre-release images

• 

  Japanese Black 2 logo

• 

  Japanese White 2 logo

• 

  English Black 2 logo

• 

  English White 2 logo

• 

  Hugh in the opening

• 

  Versus Hugh

• 

  With Roxie

• 

  With Hugh and Marlon

• 

  With Colress in Castelia City

Trivia

• These are the first main series games since Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen in September 2004 to be released in North America in the fall months, as opposed to spring months.
• The localization period for Black 2 and White 2 is the shortest worldwide, lasting about three and a half months for the majority of the translated versions.
• These are the first main series Pokémon games to officially be a direct, numbered sequel to Pokémon Black and White from the same generation.
  • This also makes them the first main series Pokémon games to have numbers in their titles.
  • However, Pokémon Gold and Silver were initially advertised to be direct, numbered sequels to Generation I, originally dubbed "Pocket Monsters 2". This was changed later, thus making Black 2 and White 2 the first official direct, numbered sequels.
    • Because of this, Unova and Kanto are the only two regions to be explored in different time periods, by different player characters (excluding gender counterparts).
      • In addition to this, these are the only games to have any word (or in this case number) after the word "Version" in the title.
• These are the first main series games in which the player starts at a location in a City, as all previous versions had the player starting at a Town.
• These are the first paired versions to have the same Pokémon on the boxart, with the only difference being its form.
• These are the first paired versions since Red and Blue in which every single Pokémon has the same Pokédex entry in both games regardless of which region it is native to.
• These are the first main series games in which the Pokémon Day Care is inaccessible before the credits.
  • These are also the first main series games in which the version mascots cannot be obtained without trading before the credits.
• Players who pre-ordered the games from GameStop received a "Preview Guide" which hints at the new features and storyline, as well as explaining the TCG. It also includes parts of the animated trailer in a comic book-style format. The guide was released online in the UK.
• These are the first games in which each Gym has different music from the others. Aspertia Gym uses the normal Gym theme (probably due to the fact that it is a Normal-type Gym), while other Gyms use remixed versions, which are affected by the type used.

Reception

Gaming magazine Famitsu gave Pokémon Black and White Versions 2 a score of 36 out of 40, which is lower than its perfectly-scoring predecessors.

According to Famitsu and Yahoo Japan, the game sold 1,618,621 copies during its first weekend on sale, making it the third best selling DS game of all time.

IGN rated this game an "Amazing" 9.6/10 and called it more "than just a slightly expanded repackaging of the latest generation's core titles (a la Pokémon Yellow, Emerald or Platinum)" and that it features a "stunning amount of fresh content" over Pokémon Black and White which received a 9/10 from the site.

In other languages

Language Title Japanese ポケットモンスター ブラック2・ホワイト2 French Canada Pokémon Version Noire 2 et Version Blanche 2 Pokémon Black Version 2 et White Version 2* Europe Pokémon Version Noire 2 et Version Blanche 2 German Pokémon Schwarze Edition 2 und Pokémon Weiße Edition 2 Italian Pokémon Versione Nera 2 e Versione Bianca 2 Korean 포켓몬스터 블랙2·화이트2 European Spanish Pokémon Edición Negra 2 y Edición Blanca 2

References

Template:Main series

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