During battle, the player may use a move, use an item, switch the active Pokémon, or flee. When the player encounters a wild Pokémon or is challenged by a trainer to a battle, the screen switches to a turn-based battle screen where the Pokémon fight. The player begins the game with one Pokémon and can capture more using Poké Balls. As with all Pokémon games for handheld consoles, gameplay is viewed from a third-person overhead perspective, and consists of three basic screens: a field map, in which the player navigates the main character a battle screen and the menu, in which the player configures their party, items, or gameplay settings. The basic mechanics of the games are largely the same as their predecessors'.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver are role-playing video games with adventure elements. The player's Totodile, which is one of the game's three starter Pokémon, follows him. The player first encounters a member of Team Rocket in Slowpoke Well. The games have received positive reviews from critics, and as of March 2014, the games' combined sales have reached 12.72 million, making the two games combined the eighth best-selling DS video games of all time. Game director Shigeki Morimoto aimed to respect the feelings of those who played the previous games, while also ensuring that it felt like a new game to those that were introduced to the series in more recent years.

The basic goal of the game is to become the best Pokémon trainer in both the Johto and Kanto regions, which is done by raising and cataloging Pokémon and defeating other trainers. HeartGold and SoulSilver take place in the Johto and Kanto region of the franchise's fictional universe, which features special creatures called Pokémon. In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Gold and Silver, the games were released in Japan on September 12, 2009, and were later released in other regions during March 2010. The games are part of the fourth generation of the Pokémon video game series and were developed by Game Freak, published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version are 2009 remakes of the 1999 Game Boy Color role-playing video games Pokémon Gold and Silver, also including features from Pokémon Crystal.

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