Pokémon Dash

Pokémon Dash (Japanese: ポケモンダッシュ Pokémon Dash) is a Pokémon racing game for Nintendo DS. It was the first Pokémon game released for the Nintendo DS and the first game to feature a Generation IV Pokémon,. The undefined plays as, sliding the stylus across the touch screen in order to keep Pikachu moving, and competing against other Pokémon in the various game modes and racing Cups.

To allow the player to become familiar with the game's controls, the game first offers a practice mode. After the player completes it, the various game modes and Cups become accessible.

The game has 5 Cups: Green Cup, White Cup, Blue Cup, Yellow Cup, and Red Cup, each consisting of 5 courses. The courses differ in the various Grand Prixes and the other game modes. In order to unlock a new Grand Prix, the player needs to complete the previous Prix first by winning all five of its Cups.

There is also a mode which allows the player to create his or her own Cups with courses made of Pokémon sprites from, versions. This mode is unlocked along with the Hard Grand Prix mode, after the player has completed the Regular Grand Prix.

Blurb
Become the Pokémon Dash Grand Prix Champion! Make tracks as you put Pikachu through its paces around the course. Race against the clock and other Pokémon rivals passing the checkpoints as you head toward the goal. Fast-Action Fun!

Race your rivals! - You can race as Pikachu in a whole new way using the stylus slide-action to reach the goal in record time. Don't be beaten by your rivals!

Meet ! - It's a mad dash racing against rival Pokémon. Don't be surprised when you run across an unfamiliar face. Meet Munchlax, the pre-evolved form of.

Connect for more courses! - Hook up with Game Boy Advance Pokémon versions: Ruby, Sapphire, Firered, Leafgreen, and Emerald to create new courses in the shape of your GBA Pokémon!
 * Up to six players can compete using their own Pokémon Dash Game Card!

Regular GP and Hard GP
In these modes, the player races from checkpoint to checkpoint in a specified order. Races take place on different maps for each cup. Maps have different landscapes, which affect the speed of player or prevent linear advencement. There is special pads that enable to move faster on rugged terrain, Lapras to cross water obstacles and Diglett with balloons for flying.

Courses in the game are:
 * Green Fields, Running Through, Beach Path, Footprint of Mankey, Pikachu Island for Green Cup;
 * White Snow Land, Trial Swamp, Lake of Mystery, Cracked Plains, Luvdisc Island for White Cup;
 * Zigzag Road, Steering Stream, Mud Plateau, Star Lake, Jirachi Mountain for Blue Cup;
 * Smeargle's Mark, Lava Island, Glacier Island, Sand Island, Pallet Island for Yellow Cup;
 * Twiddle Meadow, Heat Land, Vortex Lagoon, Freezing Spiral, Pokémon Park Island for Red Cup.

The player competes with about equally-sized Pokémon.

In Regular GP, the opponents are: Torchic, Teddiursa, Bulbasaur, Munchlax, and Meowth.

In Hard GP, the opponents are: Pichu, Mudkip, Wynaut, Torchic, Charmander, and Jigglypuff.

Expert GP
In the Expert mode, the player starts from the hot-air balloon with a view over the whole course. The players then dives towards the ground and the race begins. All checkpoints must be reached, but in any order. This gives the player the opportunity to choose where to start the race and allows him to play in his own way and with his own strategy. The player will now also compete with larger Pokémon such as or, making the races more difficult.

In Expert GP, the opponents are Treecko, Marill, Blaziken, Mightyena, Aipom, and Pikachu.

Time Attack
Time Attack mode allows a player to re-play any course they have previously completed. The objective of a Time Attack is to complete the entire course in the fastest amount of time possible. Time Attacks are not competitive and there are no CPU-controlled opponents, only the undefined's.

Multiplayer
There is a multiplayer mode which can support up to six players. Players may race in any previously completed course. Pokémon Dash does not support DS Download Play, requiring every player to own a copy of the game.

Special courses
Pokémon Dash includes 420 special courses. Most of them are obtainable by inserting a core series game in the Game Boy Advance slot of a Nintendo DS and selecting from the party a Pokémon whose sprite will become a course map. Besides these 417 different courses (every Pokémon prior to Generation III, including 's and 's alternate forms, and an ), there are also three special courses that can be downloaded from official events which star a flying, a and a  on a.

Reception
The game received a lukewarm reception, mainly due to the fact that the player could only play as in single player. Another common complaint was that the game could potentially be finished within hours. Gaming magazine gave Pokémon Dash a score of 31 out of 40. rated the game a "Mediocre" 5.0/10. It holds a rating of 48.91% on, based on 31 reviews.

Japanese sales
Pokémon Dash sold 56,337 units on its first week on the Japanese market. By December 31, 2006, the end of its 109th week, it had sold 360,185 copies.

Trivia

 * Although this is a Generation III game, it features fairly prominently (moreso than other games in which Munchlax appeared, such as ).
 * If, , , , and are all present in My Pokémon Ranch, the Dash event may trigger, where these Pokémon race against each other.
 * Pokémon Dash is the first Pokémon game to be released for the Nintendo DS.
 * Some of the music from this game is reused in Pokémon Rumble U.
 * The player can stretch Pikachu's tail, arms, and cheeks with the touch screen on the opening screen, and after winning a race.
 * In the Japanese version of Pokémon Dash's tutorial, there is only one arrow. This was changed in the international releases to three arrows.
 * The title screen was taken Pikachu: DS Tech Demo, only stripped down.