Pokemon Never Finished Its Perfect Would-Be Trilogy, and Its Replacement Got the Same Treatment

The Pokemon franchise is one of the largest and most popular in the world thanks to its mainline games. We are nearing the release of Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves, which will mark the 10th generation, showing just how much the series has expanded. Then there are the numerous spin-off games, with Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Pokemon Pokopia being the most recent. But before these, The Pokemon Company released two pairs of spin-off games that were widely loved. But rather than giving fans the third game that would make them perfect trilogies, both series were just abandoned.

Pokemon Stadium and its sequel, Pokemon Stadium 2, were some of the best games on the Nintendo 64. And in the next generation, the GameCube, Pokemon fans got to enjoy Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. The two series are not exactly identical, but they carried the same spirit and have been seen as pairs. This makes it even more painful that The Pokemon Company never released a third game in either series, instead pivoting to other spin-off series. But with the Nintendo Switch 2, these mistakes can be fixed once and for all.

Pokemon Stadium Stopped Just as It Was Taking Shape

Pokemon Stadium arrived in 2000, bringing the battles from Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow into fully rendered 3D arenas. Visually, it was a dream come true for a kid like me. I could even use the Pokemon I trained in Pokemon Blue to battle my brother and in-game AI. But battles weren’t the only reason to play. Pokemon Stadium offered a wide variety of challenges and formats, but one of my favorite aspects was the various mini-games that brought so much charm to the game.

Then came Pokemon Stadium 2, which expanded the concept around the second-generation games. It included Pokemon from Gold, Silver, Crystal, Red, Blue, and Yellow, along with 12 minigames, additional battle content, tutorials, and a Pokedex-style reference library. The Transfer Pak also allowed players to use Pokemon from their Game Boy games. Looking back at those features, it is easy to see why the Stadium formula felt like it could continue indefinitely as new generations arrived.

Both games were beloved, and I know I spent countless hours playing as a kid. I always hoped that we would get a third game. After the release of Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire, I thought for sure that we would get another game. But that day never came, leaving fans with only two games. This was before the time of DLC as well, meaning that what was released on the cartridge was all that we would ever get from the series.

Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Became the Replacement

But in 2004, a different dream was realized when Pokemon Colosseum was released on the GameCube. Nintendo itself described it as a follow-up to Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Stadium 2, but it took the idea considerably further by introducing a full RPG adventure. Not only that, but it focused on double battles, something that I always wanted more of after Generation 3. In it, players could explore the Orre region, capture and purify Shadow Pokemon, and participate in traditional Pokemon battles while also connecting Game Boy Advance games to the GameCube.

Pokemon Colosseum was not just a battle simulator with some added mini-games, but a full-fledged adventure. It had its own setting, characters, and story while retaining the multiplayer battling that had defined the Stadium games. I remember falling in love with the game and immediately starting a new run of Pokemon Crystal and raising an Umbreon. Seeing the Pokemon I knew from the handheld games rendered in a larger 3D world brought the series to life like never before.

Then came Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness in 2005. It brought players back to Orre and built on the idea of Colosseum’s Shadow Pokemon. It offered another full-length RPG starring Eevee and featuring Shadow Lugia, while players could once again capture and purify Shadow Pokémon. It also retained multiplayer battles for two or four players. Yet once again, rather than follow these up with a third game, The Pokemon Company abandoned the Orre region.

A Third Game Could Finally Bring Both Ideas Together

The obvious question is what a modern third game would actually look like. A new Pokemon Stadium could return to the series’ original purpose while taking advantage of modern Pokemon battle mechanics, online multiplayer, and contemporary visuals. One could argue that Pokemon Champions fills this void, but it doesn’t have the same charm and variety that the Stadium games did. That said, I would totally be happy to see The Pokemon Company bring some of the Nintendo 64 game ideas into Champions.

The other possibility is an Orre sequel that finally gives Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD a third chapter. The Nintendo Switch 2 could make the Orre region even bigger and more impressive and revolve it around a new story involving Shadow Pokemon. It could also preserve the more mature atmosphere and unusual setting that made those games stand apart from the mainline series and offer older fans something more to their speed.

The most interesting possibility would be combining the strengths of both ideas rather than simply copying either series. A modern Pokémon console game could have a substantial single-player adventure like Colosseum and XD, while also offering the deep competitive and multiplayer infrastructure associated with Stadium. The Pokemon Company could even incorporate elements from Pokemon Pokopia, creating the ultimate cozy and battling combo. After decades without a third game in either series, there is still an obvious opportunity to finally finish what those games started. The question is whether Nintendo and The Pokémon Company see the same potential that longtime fans have seen for years.

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