Quick Links:
[Official Rulesheet]
Game Information & Overview:
- Lead Designers: George Gomez, Jack Danger
- Code/Rules: Tanio Klyce, Andrew Wilkening, Joshua Henderson
- Mechanical Engineers: Mason Dooley, Thomas Malcolm
- Artwork:
- Display and Animations:
- Sound Design: Jerry Thompson
- Release Date: March 2026
- Wiki Rulesheet based on Code Rev: 0.82
- Edit the Code revision, if applicable, when you make changes
- Original Wiki Rulesheet hosted on Tilt Forums
Pokémon marks Nintendo’s first foray into physical pinball in over 30 years and is Stern’s first pinball machine of 2026. Using assets from the anime as a base, players will be able to help Pikachu and the three Kanto region starters on their quest, while catching Pokémon of their own across four different biomes.
Layout:
Skill Shots:
Two skill shots are available:
- Plunge at full strength and hit whatever lane is flashing to increase the bonus multiplier by 2x + 1x each time the skill shot is made. Starts at 500k.
- Hold the left flipper and full plunge to enable super skill shots worth 2x the skill shot value. Starts at 1M.
- Hitting the center lane as a super skill shot instantly completes the BATTLE targets and lowers the Meowth balloon in addition to the score award.
- Hitting the scoop as a super skill shot lights the mystery award if it isn’t already lit.
- Bounce into the Psyduck sneak-in for a super secret skill shot worth 3x the skill shot value. Starts at 1.5M.
Main Modes:
Welcome to the world of Pokémon! Pokémon are creatures of many different shapes and sizes that wage battles either with other wild Pokémon, or against those of other Trainers once they have been caught and have the trust of the Trainer responsible. The player enters this new world with Pikachu and the three starters from the Kanto region, but can catch other Pokémon by finding them in the wild. Help the four Pokémon uncover their true potential and fight against rivals for a chance to win an arena battle!
The two main mode types on Pokémon are story modes and battle modes. Story modes can be played at any time but battle modes must be qualified beforehand and can only start by hitting the right scoop.
Story Modes:
The ramps and orbits correspond to, from left to right, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Pikachu, and Charmander. Hitting any of those shots three times during single-ball play will start a story mode based on that character. Boost story modes by completing the training targets - each color boosts a different Pokémon’s mode. Completing the training targets during a story mode will extend the timer by 20 seconds.
Completing a story mode will qualify a shot multiplier.
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Bulbasaur:
- Level 1 - All ramps / orbits start lit to increase the pollen value (400k + 50k per shot). Shoot the center berry target to relight the shots and collect the built value as well. Clearing a full set of four shots without hitting the berry target increases the multiplier on the pollen value +1x. Final shot lights at the captive ball after 6 lit shots.
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Squirtle:
- Level 1 - Shoot the left ramp to spin the whirlpool. By hitting the other lit blue shots, you can increase the value of each ramp shot (Pro) or whirlpool spin (Prem / LE) by +1x up to 4x for 10 seconds per shot. Final shot lights at the captive ball after 3 lit left ramp shots to complete the mode.
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Pikachu:
- Pikachu vs. Raichu - 2-ball multiball. All shots are lit yellow to score jackpots and unlight once made, until another shot’s jackpot is scored. Scoring a jackpot (+1 per super jackpot) lights the super jackpot at the Pokedex captive ball based on their combined value. Nail the captive ball to hit the very back target for a 2x super jackpot. Collect 3 super jackpots to complete the mode. Add-a-ball is available in this multiball by completing the BATTLE targets, then pressing the action button while blinking green.
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Charmander:
- Level 1 - The right orbit is lit to collect a spinner jackpot, worth 30k/spin. The left orbit and both ramps multiply the jackpot (up to 4x). Final shot lights at the captive ball after 100 spins to complete the mode.
Pokedex Scan / CATCH! Hurry-Up:
The player starts the game in the forest biome, and moves to lake, desert, and mountain biomes over the course of the game. Hitting switches while a mode or multiball isn’t running (primarily the top lanes and bumpers) will fill up the gauge and eventually discover a Pokémon that can be scanned by shooting the captive ball.
Scanning the Pokémon activates the ball save for a short time, and starts a hurry-up that starts at 2M. Shoot purple targets to spell CATCH! and light the Poké Ball shot at the left ramp to catch it for a value starting at the combined value of the prior shots. Catching Pokémon lights the right scoop to start a rival battle; one successful capture is required to light the first one, and each subsequent battle requires one more capture than before, to a maximum of 3 captures to light battle.
The capture sequence has different purple targets lit depending on how many Pokemon the player has caught in the game. The player must always hit the left ramp after hitting the listed purple targets. Using a Pokedex Assist will spot the currently lit shot and award its value, but will not spot the final left ramp shot.
- Capture 1: Left Battlefield targets
- Capture 2: Left ramp, right ramp
- Capture 3: Training targets, right ramp, left orbit
- Capture 4: Right orbit, right Battlefield targets, training targets, right ramp
- Captures 5+: Left ramp, town scoop, right ramp, left orbit, left Battlefield targets
Rival Battles:
(work-in-progress)
Rival battles put the trainers head-to-head against each other. Defeat the rival’s Pokémon by shooting flashing shots and battlefield targets. Pokemon with more than one type classification will alternate attacks of different types with each shot (ie: Bulbasaur is grass / poison-type, so they can deal those two attack types). The battlefield targets build up an arena bonus that can be scored at the center lane, while other shots have their points multiplied by any active shot X.
Shoot the town scoop when flashing after having dealt 3 shots worth of damage to switch out your Pokémon. The right flipper changes which Pokemon will be chosen, and if one type is super-effective against the opposing team, their insert will be flashing quicker than the others. If one faints, the next Pokemon in your party will automatically be queued up, though completing the training targets will heal the currently active Pokemon (only one heal can be used per Pokemon swapped out). The player always starts as Pikachu (Electric).
Using Pokedex Assists while in a rival battle will prioritize the most valuable currently lit shot, or if all shots are worth the same value, the one that deals the most damage.
After defeating all the rivals’ Pokémon and winning the battle, shoot the left ramp to score the victory bonus. The victory bonus is based on how quickly the player was able to complete the battle and is only lit for 10 seconds at the end of the mode. Regardless of if the player scores the victory bonus, they will then move to the next biome.
Order of Battles and Possible Rival Pokémon
- Forest Battle: Primarily Bug types.
- Lake Battle: Primarily Water types.
- Desert Battle: (TBD on 0.82 code)
- Mountain Battle: (TBD on 0.82 code)
Team Rocket Multiball:
Shoot the BATTLE targets to lower the Meowth balloon, with the center lane spotting targets that haven’t been hit. Making a super skill shot to the center lane also instantly lowers the balloon.
Once the balloon is lowered, shoot the balloon 3 times (+2 per multiball) to light Team Rocket multiball at the lane below it. Hitting the lane underneath the balloon as a “sneak-in” will light the multiball instantly.
During Team Rocket multiball, the ramps and balloon are lit to score jackpots. Score 6 jackpots at any shot to light the lane under the balloon for super jackpot. Once the super jackpot is scored, a shot multiplier will be qualified, and the outer ramps and orbits will light for 15 seconds to score unlimited super jackpots before the multiball process resets. For the second+ jackpot cycles, 2 more jackpots are needed than before.
Add-a-ball is available in this multiball by completing the BATTLE targets, then pressing the action button while blinking green.
Other Scoring:
Shot Multipliers:
Qualify shot multipliers by completing story modes or scoring a super jackpot during Team Rocket multiball. The next shot made once either task is achieved will enable 2x scoring at that shot for the rest of the ball. The shot multiplier affects all scoring from that shot - not only the mode / multiball scores, but values scored during CATCH! hurry-up and the third shot of any Eevee evolution combo that ends at a shot that can be multiplied.
If the player has lit shot multipliers at every shot, then qualifies an additional shot multiplier, 3x scoring will be enabled at the next shot made.
Training Targets:
Completing the training targets while outside of a story mode will train one of the four playable Pokemon. Pokemon that have been trained can deal more damage per shot during rival battles.
Psyduck Sneak-In:
The target (Pro) / scoop (Prem / LE) above the training targets scores a sneak-in award whenever the ball happens to hit it through a lucky bounce. The award starts at 500k, increases by 250k per sneak-in, and resets to its original value at the end of each ball.
Berries (2x Playfield):
The berry targets are located on both sides of the left ramp and near the Pokedex captive ball. Start 2x playfield for 20 seconds by hitting the left and right berry targets two times each, then hitting the center berry target when flashing to indicate that 2x playfield will start. The 2x playfield timer is represented by Pikachu’s cheeks glowing above the flippers.
Add time to 2x playfield by hitting the center berry target while 2x playfield is already active.
Pokedex Assists (Action Button):
Shooting the Pokedex captive ball advances towards awarding a Pokedex Assist. Progress towards earning assists is easier during single-ball than multiball play. Use a Pokedex Assist by pressing the action button while it is blinking red.
Pokedex Assists are active during the CATCH! hurry-up, where they will collect the currently lit shot, and during rival battles, where they will score the most valuable lit shot. Assists cannot be used to collect the final CATCH! shot at the left ramp, or the victory bonus shot at the left ramp following the end of a rival battle.
Hitting the captive ball 25 times in a game lights the extra ball at the town scoop. During single-ball play, every switch counts individually towards this total, up to 3 with a maximum strength shot. During multiball, every captive ball counts as 1 switch.
Poké Balls (Combos):
Each combo shot made awards 1 Poké Ball. Making a 2-way combo or greater lights the Pokédex captive ball to finish the combo and award Poke Balls based on the length of the combo (ie. a 5-way combo that ends at the captive ball would award 5 Poke Balls). Poke Balls can also be awarded from mystery (between 2 to 10), and add to end-of-ball bonus.
Eevee Evolution Combos:
There are 8 secret combo sequences which, when completed, will collect an Eevee Evolution. Each combo scores 2.5M + 500k per unique combo made. Collecting all 8 combos awards 10M and resets the combos so they can be scored again (but will not reset the combo value).
- Vaporeon: Left Ramp - Right Ramp - Battlefield
- Jolteon: Right Ramp - Left Orbit - Center Playfield X Target
- Flareon: Left Ramp - Right Orbit - Right Orbit
- Espeon: Right Ramp - Left Ramp - Captive Ball
- Umbreon: Right Ramp - Left Orbit - Training Targets
- Leafeon: Left Orbit - Left Ramp - Town Scoop
- Glaceon: Left Ramp - Right Orbit - Town Scoop
- Sylveon: Left Orbit - Left Ramp - Right Orbit
Mystery Award:
Complete TEAM bottom lanes to light mystery at the town scoop. The first mystery award lights after one TEAM completion and subsequent ones require two.
Possible mystery awards:
- 2.5M
- Advance Discover
- Poke Balls (2 - 10)
- Advance outlane ball save (by one target set)
- Light extra ball
Outlane Ball Save:
Complete the town targets to light ball save. One completion of the targets is needed to light the first ball save +1 completion every time ball save is used. The ball save alternates between outlanes by pressing either flipper.
Extra Balls:
Extra balls can be lit at the town scoop by…
- Completing three story modes
- Collecting 50 Poke Balls
- Hitting the captive ball 25 times (up to 3 switches per shot in single-ball play, capped at 1 during multiball play)
- Lighting it from a rare mystery award
Extra balls score 2.5M when off or maxed out.
End-of-Ball Bonus:
Bonus is determined by the following:
- 500k x Pokémon caught
- 25k x Berry targets hit
- 12.5k x Poké Balls collected
All multiplied by Bonus X, built by completing the top lanes. Bonus X caps out at 20x.
Wizard Modes:
Pikachu vs. Charizard:
Light the right ramp to start this mini-wizard mode by playing all four level 1 story modes. The mode will only start if no other modes are currently running.
The # of balls in play and scoring during this mode are determined by the number of story modes that have been successfully completed. By default, this mini-wizard mode is a 2-ball multiball but if all 4 modes were completed, the mode can be played as a 6-ball multiball!
The multiball starts out with the four orbits and ramps lit to start a phase. Each phase uses 10% of the total score from that shot’s respective story mode (ie. shooting the left orbit will start a phase using the values from Bulbasaur 1) as the base shot value. Shooting two lit shots while in the phase will light the Pokedex captive ball to score the total value of the shots x balls in play, though the value can be increased by hitting further lit shots before the captive ball. Repeating this process, once for all four major shots, will light the center lane to win the battle and score a super jackpot hurry-up starting at the total of all shots made up until the center lane was shot. The maximum value of this hurry-up is 100M (200M with 2x playfield active).
If the player drains down to a single ball during Pikachu vs. Charizard, they will have 20 seconds to complete the current phase and hit the captive ball to add a ball. The mode ends once the player either scores the super jackpot or times out of the last chance.
Lucario Battle:
(TBD on 0.82 code)
Arena Battle:
(TBD on 0.82 code)
Wikified, thanks!