With well over 100 titles in the Pokemon franchise, fans have more than enough to keep their hands full, but die-hard Pokemon fanatics may be searching for something outside the typical experience. Luckily, the Pokemon series has an underground contingent of players dedicated to putting out their own spin on the Pokemon games. These fan games range from unfinished efforts that take a few hours to finish at most to sprawling adventures that, in the opinion of their fans, rival any of the mainline Pokemon games.

Despite Nintendo's efforts to ban fan-made Pokemon games, the community is still alive and well. While many titles have been shelved following legal action, even banned Pokemon fan games are still available for those willing to look hard enough.

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Pokemon Uranium

Urayne Actan Battle in Pokemon Uranium

While Pokemon Uranium is officially dead, it's still very much available in the fan-made communities. Once the poster boy for all fan-made Pokemon efforts, Uranium offered up a strange blend of Pokemon meets Fallout, with many of their homebrewed Pokemon being based around nuclear radiation and mutations. At the time it was shut down by Nintendo, Uranium boasted over 160 Pokemon that were either wholly new or riffs on tried-and-true Pokemon characters.

Before it was hit with legal action, Pokemon Uranium was included in the Game Awards back in 2016—a testament to its relative quality and overwhelming popularity. Today, Pokemon Uranium stands out as an unusual adventure through the Pokemon universe that is still worth checking out despite its lack of updates.

Pokemon Xenoverse

A Pokemon Center in Pokemon Xenoverse

Arguably the most complete-feeling of all the fan-made Pokemon games, Xenoverse is positively jam-packed with unique content. The most common complaint about Xenoverse is its cartoonish overworld, but it more than makes up for it with the number of unique characters, dialogue, storylines, and homebrewed Pokemon it implements.

The most intriguing element of Pokemon Xenoverse is its inclusion of 'X Pokemon,' which are essentially evil versions of the best-designed Pokemon out there. Like shiny Pokemon in the official games, X Pokemon are extremely rare and coveted by players for their unique look and abilities. With over 40 of these X Pokemon and countless missions to embark upon, Xenoverse will keep fans busy for a long time.

Pokemon Phoenix Rising

Staryu Attacking Pidgey in Pokemon Phoenix Rising

Pokemon Phoenix Rising had a huge amount of promise when it first debuted, but has since been stuck in a long development cycle. It boasts smooth interfaces, impeccable sprites, and an engaging storyline, but has suffered from a lack of meaningful updates for the last few years. When compared to other Pokemon fan games, Phoenix Rising feels most like a mainline Pokemon game.

Like Pokemon Xenoverse, Phoenix Rising introduces a whole new type of Pokemon known as Relic Pokemon, which are mythological Pokemon thought to have been either long extinct or merely legend before they suddenly returned to the world. Sadly, with the lack of content updates, Phoenix Rising should be played as is with no expectations for the future.

Pokemon Reborn

Pokemon Reborn Dark Aesthetic

There are a few things that fans should expect from Pokemon Reborn: it's grim, it's difficult, and it's one of the lengthier fan-made Pokemon games. This makes it an entirely different experience than the other fan-made efforts, but also distinguishes it as one of the best. It veers away from the happy-go-lucky tones of classic Pokemon titles and instead presents a world that is darkly realistic.

Pokemon Reborn is one of the oldest fan-made games out there, but has aged well in the light of continued development efforts. It should be left to Pokemon players expecting a bit of a challenge, but is not nearly as difficult as it once was.

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