Product Overview
Unlike the Game Boy games Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, Pokémon Stadium does not have a storyline or a well-defined world, meaning that it is not considered a role-playing video game. Instead the game challenges the player to succeed in trainer battles at the Stadium, a tournament consisting of 4 "Cups" and 80 battles in total, as well as the Gym Leader Castle, where the player battles the 8 Kanto Gym Leaders, the Kanto Elite Four, and the Champion. When all Cups have been won and the Gym Leader Castle is completed, a six-on-one battle against Mewtwo is unlocked. Defeating Mewtwo unlocks another round of Stadium, Gym Leader Castle, and the Mewtwo battle, but with higher AI difficulty.
In Stadium mode, the player is challenged to earn trophies by winning the Pika Cup, Petit Cup, Poké Cup, and Prime Cup, each having its own set of rules and restrictions. In the Poké and Prime Cups, four trophies may be earned, one for each level of difficulty. The Pika and Petit Cups only award one trophy each. After choosing a Cup to compete in, the player decides on a party of six Pokémon, which may include available rental Pokémon and/or Pokémon imported from a Game Boy cartridge of Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow. In each battle, the player and the opponent are only allowed to use three of their six party Pokémon. The player will win a trophy after successfully completing all battles in a Cup. If certain conditions are met using imported Pokémon from a Game Boy cartridge, the player will be awarded a Pikachu with the move Surf, which unlocks a mini-game in Pokémon Yellow.
In the Gym Leader Castle, the player initially challenges the eight Kanto Gym Leaders from the Game Boy games, followed by the Elite Four, and finally the Champion. Before battling a Gym Leader, however, the player must defeat a gym's three Pokémon trainers. Like in the Stadium, the player has to pick a team of six Pokémon and may only use three at a time for battling. Each time the player defeats the Elite Four, one of eight randomly selected prize Pokémon will be awarded, which can be transferred to the player's Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow game using the Transfer Pak. The prize Pokémon are Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Eevee, Kabuto, and Omanyte.
Pokémon Stadium is compatible with Pokémon Game Boy game cartridges via the Transfer Pak, which allows players to use Pokémon stored on Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow Game Boy cartridges in Stadium's battle modes. A player's Game Boy Pokémon can also be saved, researched, and traded on the Nintendo 64 in Oak's Lab. This mode allows players to study each Pokémon's behavior and attacks.