Pokégear/Core series games/Phone

Included in with the device, the Pokégear's phone acts like a cellphone, allowing the user to make calls to people that they've traded phone numbers with. This allows the player to talk to other characters and learn information from them, such as battling tips or when rare Pokémon appear. Trainers with whom the player has exchanged numbers may also sometimes call the player to request a rematch, in which they will use higher-level Pokémon than during their initial battle.

The phone can also store numbers of other important people, like the player's or Professor Elm. Mom will also ring every so often, telling the undefined about the money she has saved (if opted for by the player) and occasionally spending that money on decorations for the player's bedroom or items such as s for the player. In Generation II, the phone function has a memory bank that can store the numbers for up to ten people.

In, the phone function makes a return and is used in the same way as before, though the interface (like the rest of the Pokégear) can now be controlled with the touch screen in addition to (or as an alternative to) the DS's buttons. In the remakes, the phone has no limit on how many numbers can be stored, though, unlike Generation II, numbers cannot be deleted from it. Also in the remakes, the player now has the option not to answer when someone calls them.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Trainers will only begin calling the player for rematches once the player has collected seven Badges and beaten Team Rocket at the Radio Tower in Goldenrod City. In addition, once the Radio Tower has been saved, the player can call registered Trainers to arrange rematches with them without having to wait for the respective Trainers to call the player. Each Trainer has a specific time during a specific day each week where they will accept a rematch when called; if they are called at any other time of the week, they will use their usual script, and a rematch will not be arranged. When a Trainer is called at the appropriate time, as long as the player is not at the same route or location as the Trainer, they will accept the challenge of a rematch and can then be battled at their original location with higher-level Pokémon at any later point in time (though, once the rematch has taken place, the player will need to call or be called again in order to carry out another rematch). Additionally to further power up the Trainer's team in two additional phases, entering the Hall of Fame and later collecting all 16 Badges are the necessary requirements for these power-ups as long as each incarnation of that Trainers' team is fought at least once. If a rematch with a Trainer has been arranged but not carried out, a red exclamation point will appear next to the name of the Trainer's location on the Pokégear map (unless it is against a Gym Leader, in which Saffron City will not have the exclamation point).