I Choose You! The Pokémon Pinball Trainer's Survival Guide
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Nintendo has certainly had an interesting history with pinball! Despite having their start as an arcade company, their first big exposure to pinball came with the decision to partner with Gottlieb to release 1992's Super Mario Bros., and plans were made to release one the following year based on The Legend of Zelda but these plans were quickly scrapped as Nintendo instead opted to create pinball games based on their characters in-house. Pokémon was one of the lucky franchises to receive a digital pinball game owing to its popularity in the early 2000s, and 30 years later, that popularity hasn't diminished with excitement around the franchise still rivaling other massive IPs. With Stern Pinball experimenting in the early 2020s with saving progress on their pinball machines, Pokémon was a natural choice for a game that used their technology, bringing Nintendo back into the world of physical pinball after almost 35 years.
Pokémon is Stern Pinball's first release of 2026 and was co-designed by George Gomez and Jack Danger as a game with a fan layout that also happens to be packed with unique shots and ball paths. The game's “main characters” are the three Kanto region starters and Pikachu, but Pokémon from across the series' run are represented and can be caught throughout the game. Game progression is split into three “paths”: playing story modes, catching Pokémon and engaging in rival battles, and shooting the Meowth balloon to start Team Rocket multiball, with players that use all three methods effectively being guaranteed to get the top score. Read on and learn how to catch 'em all like a pro!
Train a party of four Pokémon on their travels while evading the grasp of Team Rocket and taking on other trainers' rosters. Pokémon allows players to save their caught creatures and progress using Stern Insider Connected and is Nintendo's first foray into physical pinball in over 30 years.
When the game was originally revealed, Pokémon's layout was often compared to that of Junk Yard, but having played it, the game is more comparable to a mix of Attack from Mars and NBA Fastbreak that just so happens to have a large center bash toy. The left side of the playfield has three standup targets that boost the value of story modes and a hidden Psyduck target (Pro) / scoop (Prem / LE) that scores an increasing point award, gating the entrance to Bulbasaur's left orbit that sends the ball all the way around the back of the playfield to the right flipper or can feed the bumpers if the shot was weak. Balls that exit the left orbit come at an angle towards the tip of the left flipper, but dead bouncing or holding up the left flipper make this feed manageable to deal with.
Squirtle's left ramp is the steepest shot on the game but makes a U-turn at the top that isn't required to gain credit for the shot – only the gate at the left ramp exit needs to register for shot credit. On the Prem / LE, the left ramp has two additional features: a scoop hidden under the entrance that reveals itself whenever a Pokémon can be caught, and a whirlpool at the left ramp exit that is used during the Squirtle mode and can be avoided with a diverter at the exit of the left ramp. The left ramp entrance is hidden by a toy Poké Ball that flashes whenever a Pokémon can be caught there, and two berry standup targets gate both sides of the left ramp entrance.
The center of the playfield is called the Battlefield. The Battlefield features two sets of 3-bank standup targets that spell BATTLE, and a center lane in between them gated by two thin standup targets. Spelling BATTLE during single-ball play lowers the Meowth balloon which reacts to the ball and is used to light the center lane for Team Rocket multiball, while spelling BATTLE during multiball play lights the action button to add a ball. The Prem / LE adds more energy to the Battlefield with hidden magnets that allow the ball to bounce around the area more.
The Pokédex is a mechanism in the game series that scans Pokémon and provides information on them and where they can be caught. In Pokémon pinball, the Pokédex is represented by a triple captive ball shot that must be hit with a strong shot that registers the target at the very back. The Pokédex captive ball is the most important shot in the machine, as it scans Pokémon once one has been discovered, completes story modes, and cashes out combos made at the orbit and ramp shots. Another berry target is located to the left of the Pokédex captive ball.
The right ramp shot is Pikachu's shot as the ball travels around their figure and feeds the right flipper at a fast speed. A post at this shot holds the ball when Pikachu's story mode or the mini-wizard mode is about to start, but players will want to learn how to make follow up shots from the right ramp effectively as there's no stopping the ball after hitting it. The right orbit is Charmander's shot and features a spinner at the front; this also serves as the quickest way of entering the bumper area to spawn Pokémon for capture, but if combos are lit, the right orbit will always ignore the bumper area unless the shot is weak.
Lastly, the town scoop is located at the far right of the game and is used to start rival battles, collect mystery awards, and award extra balls when lit. Two standup targets near the town can only be hit with lucky slingshot bounces and light the outlane ball save when completed, which alternates with every slingshot hit.
Scoring on Pokémon is average for its era, with the best players being able to break a billion, but most scores evening out around 100M or 200M. The highest amounts of points in the game come from well-played rival battles and story modes, but end-of-ball bonus can be worth a lot during a long game with many Pokémon caught.
Pokémon has a standard skill shot - plunge the ball onto the playfield and roll through the flashing lane which can be changed with the flippers. The machine also has a super skill shot; hold the left flipper in and then hit any flashing shot off the plunge.
Plunging for the top lanes is advised over making a super skill shot, as the bumpers below the top lanes are the main method of spawning Pokémon and progressing towards rival battles.
The four main Pokémon of the game each have a story mode that starts by hitting any of their lanes a total of 3 times while in single-ball, non-mode play. While in a story mode, shots are lit to score points and advance towards lighting the captive ball to complete the mode for the shots' combined value. Completing a story mode will enable a shot multiplier at the next shot that the player makes, and add a ball to the Pikachu vs. Charizard mini-wizard mode that starts after playing all four modes. Team Rocket Multiball can be played with all single-ball story modes.
The four modes, and the shots used to start them, are:
The mini-wizard mode, Pikachu vs. Charizard, is lit at the right ramp after playing the previous four modes and is a multiball that ranges from 2 to 6 balls based on how many modes were completed successfully. Shoot any orbit / ramp shot to start a phase of the fight, then hit all four shots again followed by the captive ball to add-a-ball and move to the next phase. A super jackpot is available at the center lane by completing all four phases of the fight and is worth the total of all points from the mode. If the player drains down to a single ball, there is a generous last chance timer to allow the player to keep the mode going.
Catching Pokémon is one of the more difficult tasks to complete in the machine. To discover a Pokémon, shoot the bumpers (which represent tall grass) via the right orbit shot or simply by plunging the ball. Once one has been found, the next shot to the Pokédex captive ball will start the CATCH! hurry-up where each purple shot adds to the word on the display and increases the value for successfully catching the Pokémon at the left ramp. The first Pokémon capture of a game requires only one purple shot to light but subsequent ones require more. Catching Pokémon lights the town scoop for rival battle: the first one takes 1 capture, and every subsequent battle takes 1 more than the previous.
During rival battles, every orbit, ramp, or center Battlefield shot the player makes deals damage of a certain type to the opposing Pokémon: grass-poison type for Bulbasaur, water type for Squirtle, electric type for Pikachu, and fire type for Charmander. If the Pokémon is at low enough health, it will faint and the next Pokémon in the party will replace it, or the player can shoot the town scoop to move onto the next one instantly. Defeating any Pokémon in the rival's party lights the center lane to score a faint jackpot, which is multiplied for every Pokémon the player has defeated while keeping their own party alive.
During single-ball play, spelling BATTLE at the center targets will lower the Meowth balloon that can be hit with the ball. The center lane will assist in spotting these targets, and if the ball “sneaks into” the center lane with a lucky bounce from the targets while the balloon is lowered, the next center lane shot will start the multiball. Otherwise, the player must hit the Meowth balloon 3 times to light the multiball. The number of shots increases every time the multiball is played during the game.
During Team Rocket Multiball, the balloon and two ramp shots are lit to score jackpots that increase in value with BATTLE target hits and with each one scored. Scoring 6 jackpots at any combination of the three shots lights the center lane to score a super jackpot worth the jackpot total, lights a shot multiplier applied to the next shot made, and starts a timed round where all shots are lit to score super jackpots for the next 20 seconds. The jackpot process then resets, but more jackpot shots are required to light the super jackpot.
Spell BATTLE during the multiball to light the action button green for add-a-ball. Hitting these targets early during the multiball while ball save is active is advised, as the Meowth balloon will help with bouncing balls into the BATTLE targets.
Earn shot multipliers by completing any story mode or scoring a super jackpot during Team Rocket Multiball. The “X” lights at the major ramp & orbit shots indicate whether a shot multiplier is active there; once qualified, the next shot made to that lane will activate the shot multiplier and double all scores at that lane for the rest of the ball.
The left ramp is a great first choice to apply shot multipliers to, as this is where Pokémon are caught and jackpots can be scored during Team Rocket Multiball. The right orbit is a solid second choice to increase the value of the spinner jackpot during Charmander's mode.
2x Playfield can greatly boost scores on Pokémon thanks to how many of the modes compound scores onto each other. To start 2x playfield, hit the three berry standup targets: there are two on both sides of the left ramp entrance, and one near the Pokédex captive ball. The last target needed to start 2x playfield will flash quickly to indicate that it can be started.
Starting 2x playfield only gives the player 20 seconds of time to score big, indicated by Pikachu's cheeks above the flippers glowing. However, the timer can be extended every time a berry target is hit while 2x playfield is running. This means that frantic multiball play can extend the 2x playfield timer long past its initial 20 seconds.
The combo rule on Pokémon is comparable to the similar combo collect rules on Foo Fighters or Metallica Remastered. Shooting ramp or orbits in quick succession scores combos and lights the Pokédex captive ball to cash it out for Poké Balls: each shot in the combo adds 1 Poké Ball to the cash out, and each Poké Ball adds to end-of-ball bonus. The mystery award lit by spelling TEAM can also add Poké Balls.
Certain three-shot combos correlate to one of Eevee's evolutions (for instance: right ramp – left ramp – captive ball scores an Espeon combo). The score for each Eeveelution combo increases with unique ones made during a game.
The targets below the town scoop, where Chansey is located, light the left outlane ball save once completed. These targets are very difficult to hit from the flippers and can only be hit with lucky slingshot bounces. The slingshots also change which outlane is lit for ball save.
Every time ball save is used in a game, one more target completion than before is required to light the ball save.
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