Pokémon Colosseum

Pokémon Colosseum is a role-playing game for the GameCube, developed by Genius Sonority and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. Released in Japan on November 21, 2003, it reached North America on March 22, 2004, and Europe on May 14, 2004. As a spin-off, it breaks from the series tradition of random wild encounters; instead, players can steal—or "snag"—Pokémon directly from other Trainers. The game includes both single-player and multiplayer battle modes.

The story takes place in the arid Orre region, where the player controls Wes, a former member of Team Snagem. With the help of Rui, a non-player character who can identify them, Wes rescues "Shadow Pokémon"—creatures whose hearts have been closed off by the villainous Team Cipher—by snagging them. Unlike standard Pokémon games, there are no wild Pokémon to catch; all new party members come from snagging. Shadow Pokémon have a purple gauge that depletes through actions like entering battle. When empty, the player can purify them at Celebi's shrine in Agate Village or by using a rare Time Flute. While in shadow form, they may disobey, cannot gain experience, start with only the move Shadow Rush, and can enter Hyper Mode, where they act erratically until the player uses the Call command.

Gameplay is viewed from a third-person perspective, with the player navigating towns and locations on a one-wheeled motorcycle. Battles are turn-based and mostly double battles, with each side fielding two Pokémon at once. Trainers can carry up to six Pokémon. Items are bought at Pokémon Marts with Pokémon Dollars. Colosseums in various cities host additional battles. The game also features non-story modes: Quick Battle (against CPU or friends, with no experience or money earned), a single-player mode at Colosseums that awards Poké Coupons for rare items, and Gang Battle, a tournament for up to four players (player one can use story or Game Boy Advance Pokémon; others use only Game Boy Advance Pokémon). Trading is possible between Colosseum and the Game Boy Advance titles Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald.

Pokémon Colosseum was shown at E3 2003, using Pokémon models ported from Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2 on the Nintendo 64.