Infrared

The infrared communication (Japanese:  infrared communication) feature allows communication between the Pokémon games and certain accessories. It was first used in the Generation I spin-off game.

Generation II
In Generation II, the infrared port at the top of the Game Boy Color allows players to obtain Mystery Gifts via Pokémon Pikachu 2 GS or other Game Boy Colors.

Generation IV
In, an infrared sensor on the game card is used to communicate with the Pokéwalker.

Generation V
In, the C-Gear has an infrared communication feature and the Multi Battle Lines in the Battle Subway can use infrared for communication; this is used to quickly identify which player will be communicated with, after which DS Wireless Communications are used.

Official tournaments sometimes use infrared for the duration of the battle. Event Pokémon that are distributed using infrared can be obtained multiple times.

Generation VI and VII
In the Generation VI and games, the infrared port on the top of the Nintendo 3DS is used to quickly identify which player will be communicated with, after which 3DS Wireless Communications are used.

Like in Generation V, official tournaments sometimes use infrared for the duration of the battle. Some event distributions are conducted via infrared communications; this is most common in South Korea.

Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR!
In and Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR!, players can send and receive cards and deck configurations or perform a Card Pop! between two copies of the same game via infrared, using the Infra-Red Communications Port of two Game Boy Color systems.

Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR! cannot communicate with each other. Attempting to perform a Card Pop! between the two can result in glitches such as a game freeze or a loss of save data in Pokémon Trading Card Game.

All multiplayer features are disabled in the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console release of Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Pokémon mini
The video game handheld Pokémon mini has an infrared port that allows some games to participate in multiplayer games with up to 10 players (number of players varies per game).

Pokémon Party mini, Pokémon Zany Cards, Pokémon Tetris, Pokémon Race mini, and Pichu Bros. mini all utilize this feature.