Despite being designed with younger children in mind, the Pokemon series typically packs a ridiculous amount of content into its games. As such, there's often an awful lot of time between players choosing their starter Pokemon and them defeating the Elite Four.

While Pokemon games are nowhere near as long as some other JRPGs in the main story department, they can still take a fairly decent chunk of time to play through. What's more, once post-game content is taken into account, they're often not too far behind.

All times are based on data taken from HowLongtoBeat.com. Where direct sequels, remakes, or third installments take roughly the same amount of time to complete as the original games, their entries will be merged in the interest of brevity.

Updated January 8, 2024, by Tom Bowen: As Pokemon fans await news on the series' next new installment, there's arguably never been a better time to revisit some of the many great Pokemon games of old. The longest Pokemon games can provide players with hours upon hours of content, helping to keep them focused until news on the franchise's future finally emerges. Conversely, those with busy schedules may be more inclined to choose one of the shortest Pokemon games, so understanding how long it takes to beat every mainline Pokemon game can definitely come in handy.

16 Pokemon Sword & Shield

HowLongtoBeat Time: 25½ Hours (Main Story)

The first of the series' mainline entries to be on a home console instead of a handheld, Sword & Shield also happen to be two of the shortest Pokemon games. While hour count doesn't directly translate to quality, the games do feel very light on content, especially compared to earlier entries in the series. That said, the DLC does help in this regard.

Pokemon Sword & Shield were the games that introduced Gigantamax and Dynamax Pokemon, which allowed trainers to catch, battle, and train their own Kaiju-sized pocket monsters. Many people claim that this is a cheap gimmick meant to wow newcomers, yet these same people are unaware that the entire franchise is inspired by super-sized monsters doing battle.

15 Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire

HowLongtoBeat Time: 25½ Hours (Main Story)

While streamlining old games for remakes and remasters is important, it also shows exactly how much time is spent doing stuff that is no longer considered part of the meta in the old Pokemon games. As a result, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire have a considerably shorter average completion time than the originals.

Whenever content is removed in remakes, there is always a debate over whether the changes really benefited players. To many, the removals felt like the developers cut content due to time constraints rather than to improve the overall experience. However, the addition of primal forms for Groudon and Kyogre did give fans two of the coolest and most powerful Pokemon in the entire series, which no one is complaining about.

14 Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

HowLongtoBeat Time: 26 Hours (Main Story)

As with some of the series' other remakes, the quality of life updates found in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl end up making the games considerably shorter than the originals. This is especially true of the main story, which, according to HowLongtoBeat.com, is around fifteen and a half hours shorter in total.

Interestingly, the Completionist time is also a lot shorter as well, with estimates suggesting that the originals take more than twice as long to fully complete as the remakes do. Given how much new post-game content was added to Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, this will likely come as a big surprise to many players — especially with how grindy Ramanas Park is.

13 Pokemon Red & Blue

HowLongtoBeat Time: 26 Hours (Main Story)

The first installments in the series came out at a time when games were typically a lot shorter than they are in the modern age. The first adventure in Kanto did buck that trend somewhat though, with many players sinking well over 25 hours into the Gen 1 games during their first playthrough.

With fewer resources to aid trainers on their journey, a lot of Pokemon Red & Blue's gameplay involved players using trial and error to figure things out for themselves. Furthermore, with none of the quality-of-life aspects that appeared in more recent Pokemon games, players would sometimes take a lot longer than they actually needed to.

12 Pokemon Yellow

HowLongtoBeat Time: 27½ Hours (Main Story)

Setting the tone of the series release schedule early on, Pokemon Yellow is the first enhanced third entry that the series got, coming out even before the second generation. The game was loosely based on the anime, with the starter Pokemon being Pikachu and some story elements being slightly different than the original games, adding a couple of hours to the length.

The thing that stood out most about this version of the Gen I games is that there were many unique mechanics revolving around the player's starter Pikachu. They could follow the trainer around just like the Pikachu that Ash is partnered with in the anime and even use Surf. There were also many instances where the player could interact with their Pikachu, allowing them to become more immersed than was possible in the Red & Blue versions.

11 Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen

HowLongtoBeat Time: 29½ Hours (Main Story)

The first time that Game Freak decided to remake the games (or at least update them for modern handhelds), these games are incredibly close to the originals, with all the bells and whistles that the series had picked up on the way slapped on. Thanks to this extra padding, they were a little longer, though not by much.

There was also the inclusion of many aspects from the Gen II and Gen 3 games that made Kanto feel a lot more natural and fun to explore, like all of the moves, the updated graphics, the inclusion of held items, and much, much more. FireRed & LeafGreen were the first remakes, and they set the bar pretty high for those that would follow.

10 Pokemon Gold, Silver & Crystal

HowLongtoBeat Time: 30 Hours (Main Story)

While Pokemon Crystal is a slightly different game than the first two entries in the generation, it takes most players around the same amount of time to complete. In addition to that, these games are far bigger than the others, since the entire Kanto region is also included.

The Gen II games were the first to include a day and night cycle, as well as mechanics that became series staples, like breeding, happiness-related evolutions, held items, and a lot more. The added memory available to the developers allowed them to add cool content as well as the color data that the Game Boy Color was known for.

9 Pokemon Emerald

HowLongtoBeat Time: 31 Hours (Main Story)

Being the third entry in the third generation, Pokemon Emerald comes in slightly shorter than the other two. This is in part due to it having a slightly modified story, though it's also possible that players' familiarity with key story beats may also have helped them to get through the game a little faster.

Pokemon Emerald gave players a different perspective on the happenings of the Gen 3 games, allowing them to understand the lore of the world and the motivations behind both antagonistic teams a little better. The focus on the fan-favorite legendary Rayquaza also helped to solidify this title as one of the most memorable in the franchise.

8 Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

HowLongtoBeat Time: 32 Hours (Main Story)

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet were the first fully open-world Pokemon games, building upon the excellent foundation laid out by Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Sadly, this switch to a seamless landscape did result in some rather serious technical issues, with the frame rate dropping down to what can often feel like single digits in particularly busy areas.

Thankfully, the game makes up for this somewhat with one of the best Pokemon stories in recent years. Players are free to follow three different critical paths in any order that they like, with a fourth storyline becoming available once players are done with the rest. This all results in Scarlet & Violet being two of the longest Pokemon games ever made, even before the two DLC expansions are taken into account.

7 Pokemon Black & White

HowLongtoBeat Time: 32 Hours (Main Story)

In many ways, Pokemon Black & White tried to soft-reboot the series, with players only able to catch new Pokemon in the Unova region. The game also features a much more mature storyline than some of their predecessors, with the villains questioning the relationship between Pokemon and people.

The introduction of Arceus in Gen 4 left developers with a bit of a struggle about what concepts should surround the Gen 5 games. Thankfully, however, they found a reasonable topic: balance. Reshiram and Zekrom represent yin and yang, positive and negative energy, and Kyurem embodies the border between these forces: neutrality. This deeper take on the lore benefited the series; allowing players to think a bit more about the things they were experiencing in-game.

6 Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon

HowLongtoBeat Time: 33 Hours (Main Story)

Despite the "sequel" games having entirely different stories as well as different Pokemon to catch, the completion time works out about the same. All four games take place in the Alola region, with the originals focused on Lillie and her companion Cosmog and the sequels focused on other dimensions.

This generation introduced Mega Evolutions, which were a hotly debated topic among the fan base at the time. Many felt that the developers were running out of ideas and were beginning to steal concepts from rival franchises. Mega Evolutions also destroyed the competitive meta, which is perhaps why they've been quietly phased out in the years since.

5 Pokemon Black 2 & White 2

HowLongtoBeat Time: 34½ Hours (Main Story)

The first time in the series that a generation got direct sequels instead of a third entry, Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 take place two years after the events of the originals, with different parts of Unova now accessible. They also have a hard mode: a feature that many players wish was carried over into future games.

The direct sequels started something of a trend for the franchise, which results in players getting two new games instead of a singular third entry. This was also the first time that a follow-up game took place in the same setting, which made them feel like true sequels as opposed to the location shift commonly found between many other games in this long-lived series.

4 Pokemon Platinum

HowLongtoBeat Time: 35 Hours (Main Story)

The third entry to take place in the fourth generation's Sinnoh region, Pokemon Platinum's plot sees Cyrus awaken the power of Palkia and Dialga. This results in the Lake Guardian Trio and Giratina dragging Cyrus and the player into the Distortion World: a trippy dimension where the player must defeat Giratina to restore balance to the region.

This alternate dimension, known as the Distortion World, offered bizarre new mechanics and forced players to navigate a complicated area of platforms that were often sideways or upside down. This was a far cry from any other area in the series, which caused it to stand out to players even years after their time in this unusual realm.

3 Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire

HowLongtoBeat Time: 35 Hours (Main Story)

While it's not entirely clear why Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire have a longer average completion time than Emerald and the remakes, most players won't care. They remain a lot of fun to play, with many considering the Gen 3 games to be among the series' very best.

With the added power and performance of the Game Boy Advance, the developers were able to give players a noticeably bigger map to explore than the ones found in previous games. There were also much more complex animations for moves, which not only allowed players to feel more immersed in the world, but also left them in awe at how cool some of the attacks now looked.

2 Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver

HowLongtoBeat Time: 37 Hours (Main Story)

Perhaps the last remakes that focused more on making a better version of the games instead of just streamlining them with modern conveniences, Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver are arguably the best versions of the best games in the series. And, to be clear, that 39-hour average playtime doesn't include the Kanto post-game content either.

With so much to see and do in the Johto region, players really can get lost in the games. The minor details made traversing this region feel incredibly comfortable and nostalgic for players who had played the original Gen II games and made first-time trainers feel like they were entering a rich, diverse, and interesting world.

1 Pokemon Diamond & Pearl

HowLongtoBeat Time: 41 Hours (Main Story)

Pokemon Diamond & Pearl may have boasted updated graphics and better battle animations than their predecessors, but they also featured a massive region, some interesting new Pokemon, and a narrative that was superior to the ones from earlier Pokemon titles in just about every way.

Pokemon Diamond & Pearl introduced a split between physical and special moves that allowed formerly nonsensically special moves like Fire Punch and Crunch to become physical. The same could be said in reverse for a few other moves. This allows for a whole new level of immersion for players as well as a huge change-up to the competitive Pokemon scene.