The Pokémon Pinball Map: Changing Location and Exploring the 12 Areas

In Pokémon Pinball, the location you are in decides which Pokémon can appear in Catch’em Mode. It is shown on the central panel and changes through Travel Mode, which is triggered differently depending on the table. This page explains that mode, the location cycle and the list of areas on each table.

The starting location

Before the first ball is launched, the central panel scrolls through the table’s seven starting locations, about one every half second. Pressing the launch button freezes the displayed location and sends the ball out. You therefore choose your starting point by timing. On the Red Field, the seven locations offered are Pallet Town, Viridian Forest, Pewter City, Cerulean City, Vermilion City, Rock Mountain and Lavender Town; on the Blue Field, Viridian City, Viridian Forest, Mt. Moon, Cerulean City, Vermilion City, Rock Mountain and Celadon City.

Starting Travel Mode

Each hit raises that side’s counter up to three, and the counter loses one notch about every eight seconds without a new hit. Losing the ball resets both counters to zero. The mode cannot start if a Catch, Evolution or Travel Mode is already under way.

Completing the travel

When the third hit lands, Travel Mode starts with a 30-second limit. The music becomes more urgent and two arrows flash on the side where you hit:

• Red Field, left side: the ball must go up the outer left loop or the inner left loop to the yellow rectangle.
• Red Field, right side: it must go up the right loop to the yellow rectangle or hit Bellsprout.
• Blue Field, left side: the left loop or Slowpoke.
• Blue Field, right side: the right loop or Cloyster.

This action opens the central bonus hole, marked by its indicator. You then have to get the ball into it before the 30 seconds run out; the game then announces your arrival at the new location, displaying its name. On the Blue Field, the Dash arrow often points to the useful side to make this shot easier. If time runs out, the travel fails and you have to start over.

The six-location cycle

The game chains locations in a cycle of six, drawn at random at each step, never repeating a location already visited in the current cycle:

1. the starting location, from area 1;
2. two other locations from area 1;
3. two locations from area 2;
4. Indigo Plateau;
5. then the cycle starts again with three locations from area 1, two from area 2 and Indigo Plateau.

You therefore cannot choose your destination. The only possible strategy is to avoid traveling as long as the current location offers the Pokémon you want, then to chain travels when you want to reach area 2 or Indigo Plateau. Losing a ball does not change the location.

Red Field locations

Blue Field locations

The location called “Rock Mountain” in the American and Japanese versions represents the Dark Cave (Rock Tunnel): the name is a labeling error noted by Bulbapedia. The same goes for “Fuchia City” on screen, which refers to Fuchsia City. Five locations exist only on the Red Field: Pallet Town, Pewter City, Lavender Town, Cycling Road and the Seafoam Islands. Five others exist only on the Blue Field: Viridian City, Mt. Moon, Celadon City, Fuchsia City and Saffron City. Seven appear on both sides: Viridian Forest, Cerulean City, Vermilion City (seaside on the Red Field, streets on the Blue Field), Rock Mountain, the Safari Zone, Cinnabar Island and Indigo Plateau, but their Pokémon lists are not identical from one table to the other.

Indigo Plateau

The last step of the cycle, Indigo Plateau offers nine Pokémon, almost identical on both tables (Ekans on the Red Field, Sandshrew on the Blue Field), with a spot for Mew under certain conditions: see the Mew page. It is also home to Moltres and Mewtwo, available with three GET arrows. For this reason, players hunting rare Pokémon readily chain travels to get there.