page_title: Pokémon Black and White
section_title: Setting
hierarchical_section_title: Pokémon Black and White / Plot / Setting
caption_attribution_description: English: The Brooklyn Bridge, seen from Manhattan, New York City.
context_page_description: Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version are role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. They are the first installments in the fifth generation of the Pokémon video game series. First released in Japan on September 18, 2010, they were later released in Europe on March 4, 2011, in North America on March 6, 2011, and Australia on March 10, 2011.
  Similar to previous installments of the series, the two games follow the journey of a young Pokémon trainer through the region of Unova, as they train Pokémon used to compete against other trainers, while thwarting the schemes of the criminal organization Team Plasma. Black and White introduced 156 new Pokémon to the franchise, 5 more than the previous record holder Pokémon Red and Blue, as well as many new features, including a seasonal cycle, rotation battles, fully animated Pokémon sprites and triple battles. Both titles are independent of each other, but feature largely the same plot, and while both can be played separately, trading Pokémon between both of the games is necessary in order to complete the games' Pokédex.
context_section_description: Black and White are set in the Unova region, a continental mass located far away from the previous regions, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. Unlike the previous regions which were based on real locations in Japan, Unova is modeled after New York City, an idea developed by game director Junichi Masuda when he visited the city for the launch of Diamond and Pearl. One particular example of this is Castelia City, which serves as the region's central metropolis and had such inspirations as its "Brooklyn Bridge-style suspension bridge" and its "huge skyscrapers". Masuda also wanted to convey a "feeling of communities" in Castelia's streets. Unova is host to large urban areas, a harbor, an airport, an amusement park, several bridges, and several mountain ranges. In addition to a diversity of new landscapes, the Unova region is also home to a diversity of people who vary in skin tone and occupation. The region's Japanese name "Isshu" (イッシュ) is derived from the Japanese words tashu (多種, meaning "many kinds") and isshu (一種, meaning "one kind"); the many kinds of people and Pokémon seen up close look like only one kind of life from afar.
caption: The Brooklyn Bridge was used as inspiration for the Skyarrow Bridge in Unova
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