Time Capsule

This article is about the trading method in Generation II. For the Pokémon fought in a Pokéstar Studios movie, see Time Machine.

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Ken Sugimori artwork of the Time Capsule from Gold and Silver

The Time Capsule (Japanese: タイムカプセル Time Capsule) is a mechanic in Gold, Silver, and Crystal that allows players to trade Pokémon back in time to Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. A permanent fixture in every Pokémon Center, the Time Capsule is the only facility which allows direct inter-generational trades.

The Time Capsule was also featured as a Trainer Card in the TCG.

In the games

The Time Capsule is located on the second floor of each Pokémon Center. However, it will be under repair and unavailable until the player has met Bill in Ecruteak City. Even then, the player has to wait for another 24 hours in the game's internal clock before being able to use the Time Capsule.

After this point, it is possible to trade with the main series Generation I games; however, there are still some restrictions:

• The player cannot have any Generation II Pokémon or Eggs in their party.
• None of the Generation I Pokémon that are in the party can know any moves introduced in Generation II.

When linked up to a Generation I game, the trade will happen as it did in Generation I, and the Generation II game will act as if it is a Generation I game.

Limitations and their consequences

Because of the restriction that moves introduced in Generation II cannot be traded back to Generation I, a Move Deleter in Blackthorn City will delete moves that are incompatible with earlier games. While trades with previous generations were not supported in any games after Gold, Silver, and Crystal, the concept of a Move Deleter was retained as part of gameplay.

Glitches

The Time Capsule's limitation that prevents Generation II Pokémon from entering can be bypassed with the Johto guard glitch, though Generation II Pokémon brought in this way must still only know Generation I moves. When traded to a Generation I game, they will become glitch Pokémon. The four Pokémon that evolve by trade in Generation I—Haunter, Kadabra, Machoke, and Graveler—, if traded from a Generation I game to a Generation II game at the correct level, will learn a Generation II move after evolving, but can be traded back to Generation I immediately after. This gives access to glitch moves in the Generation I game.

In future generations

Direct trades between generations would not be possible in any games starting with Ruby and Sapphire in Generation III, although it is possible to migrate Pokémon forward a generation through use of Pal Park (from Generation III to Generation IV), the Poké Transfer (from Generation IV to Generation V) and the Poké Transporter (from Generation V to Generation VI). Pokémon can no longer be "sent back in time", i.e., they can no longer be directly traded back to a previous generation game.

The Time Capsule is not present in the Generation IV remakes of Gold and Silver, HeartGold and SoulSilver.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga

The Time Capsule makes an appearance in Find the Legendary Pokémon!!.

In the TCG

This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring the Time Capsule in the TCG.

Time Capsule Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card	Type	English Expansion	Rarity	#	Japanese Expansion	Rarity	#
Time Capsule	T	Neo Genesis		090/111	Gold, Silver, to a New World...

Names

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Missing names in other languages

Language Title Japanese タイムカプセル French Bloc temporel German Zeitkapsel Italian Tempocapsula Spanish Cápsula del Tiempo

See also

• Trade
• Pal Park
• Poké Transfer

Inter-generational transfer
Gen I Time Capsule • Poké Transporter → Bank Gen II Gen III Dual-slot mode → Pal Park Gen IV Dual-slot mode → Pal Park • Poké Transfer • Relocator Gen V Poké Transfer • Relocator • Poké Transporter → Bank Gen VI Poké Transporter → Bank Gen VII Poké Transporter → Bank • GO Park • HOME Gen VIII Bank → HOME • GO Transporter Gen IX

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