List of Pokémon

At the core of the Pokémon franchise are hundreds upon hundreds of the eponymous creatures. These are collectively called Pokémon and have many roles in the Pokémon RPGs, mainly as game pieces in Pokémon battling where the object is to defeat the opponent's enemy Pokémon with your own. Pokémon are introduced en masse once every several years as part of a new "Generation" of the franchise, along with the newest handheld RPG versions. Thus far there have been a total of four generations, with the grand total of species clocking in at 493 separate characters, and each Smash Bros. game features a selected assortment of Pokémon from all current generations existent at its time to serve a variety of roles, such as playable character, Assist Trophy-style character that is summoned from an item called the Poké Ball, collectible trophy or sticker, background characters in stages, and others.

All listed Pokémon that are bolded have the major roles of being playable characters or Assist Trophy-style characters. All that are not linked at all are barely glimpsed in the games.

First Generation
The Pokémon franchise began stateside in 1998 with 151 Pokémon species featured in the very first versions of the Pokémon RPGs, Pokémon Red and Blue for the original Game Boy. This was the only generation in effect when Super Smash Bros. was developed and released.

Second Generation
The Pokémon franchise entered its second generation in 2000 with 100 new Pokémon species added to the original 151 to form a total of 251 Pokémon, and all were featured in the RPGs Pokémon Gold and Silver for Game Boy Color. These two generations were in effect when Super Smash Bros. Melee was developed and released.

Third Generation
The Pokémon franchise entered its third generation in 2003 with 135 new Pokémon species added to the previous 251 to form a total of 386 Pokémon, and all were first featured in the RPGs Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire for Game Boy Advance. Ironically, this generation's first appearance in a Smash Bros. game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is also the first appearance of the fourth generation that was put in effect an entire four years later.

Fourth Generation
The Pokémon franchise entered its most recent generation in 2007 with 107 more new Pokémon species added to the previous 386 to form the current grand total of 493 Pokémon species, and all are featured in the newest Pokémon RPGs, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl for Nintendo DS. Both this and the previous generation make their Super Smash Bros. debut in Brawl.