Gate

Gates (Japanese:  gate) are prominent features of routes in the Pokémon world. They are located at junctions between different routes, or placed between a route and a city.

Generation I
In Generation I, gates serve to separate two areas and to guard the corresponding route, which is why a gatekeeper usually resides inside. Upon speaking to the gatekeeper, they may offer words of advice or information about the route or city that the gate guards.

Gates usually share the background music with one of the two or more areas that they connect and this remained a consistent element of gates up to Generation V, where gates finally received their own background music. Gates aren't locations on their own either, which is another element that was changed in Generation V, where gates are now locations by themselves.

Certain gates contain a second floor that features a spot where binoculars can be used to see faraway landmarks or even certain Pokémon. In some of these, the undefined will usually encounter one of Professor Oak's aides. He will check the Pokédex and will reward the player if he or she has caught a given number.

Seven gates block the player from passing them until they meet certain requirements:
 * give a, , , purchasable at the Celadon Department Store to the thirsty gatekeeper at the gates on , , and , all of which lead to Saffron City;
 * obtain the Bicycle so that the gatekeeper at the gates on and  allows the player to go through and enter ;
 * obtain all 8 Gym Badges and show each one to the 8 gatekeepers at the Pokémon League Front Gate on and at  to grant access to  and Indigo Plateau.

Riding the Bicycle inside the gates is not possible in Generation I.

Generation II
Much like Generation I, gates serve to separate two areas. Unlike other buildings, the undefined can often ride their Bicycle through these buildings to guarantee fast transportation. None of the gates have second floors, including those in Kanto that had them in Generation I.

At the gate leading to, to the north of Goldenrod City, is gatekeeper , a non-player character, who will give a to the player that holds Mail to be delivered to his friend on.

Four gates forbid the player to enter until he/she meets certain requirements:
 * in Ecruteak City, the player must have the Rainbow Wing and the Clear Bell or to pass the gate that leads to Bellchime Trail (a location in northeast Ecruteak that is unnamed and considered part of Ecruteak City's main area in Generation II), the small area outside Bell Tower;
 * 1,000 must be paid (if the player has at least that amount of money) to either at the gate on  next to the southernmost gate that connects to Mahogany Town but only before defeating Team Rocket at Team Rocket HQ (called Rocket Hideout in Generation II);
 * the Bicycle is required so that the gatekeeper at the gates on and  allows the player to go through and enter ;

Generation III
Gates are sparse in the Hoenn-based Generation III games. There are only two gates, each connected to the Seaside Cycling Road. Player undefineds must be on their Acro Bike or Mach Bike in order to pass through a gate towards the Seaside Cycling Road.

In, which are set in Kanto, gates serve the same purpose as in Generation I. The only significant change is that since players can now trade items attached to a Pokémon, the Key Item was introduced to prevent the player from advancing through the gates surrounding Saffron City prematurely. This Key Item serves the same purpose as the drink from the original games. Gates also exist in the Sevii Islands, giving access from the port to each town; however, they are not used to connect areas, being instead both the entrance and exit points for the Seagallop Ferries.

The only common gates to both Hoenn and Kanto are the ones at Navel Rock and Birth Island.

Generation IV
Much like in past generations, the gates in Generation IV serve to separate two areas. In, the undefined cannot ride their Bicycle through these buildings, but this limitation was lifted in and. Female gatekeepers were introduced in this generation.

In the Sinnoh-based games, most gates don't have gatekeepers to watch over the route, but other travelers can be found inside, as well as a map showing the player's current location.

Four gates have restrictions, however:
 * two of them are the gates at as they are the entrance and/or exit for ;
 * one is at Hearthome City, which connects to and requires the player to have met Fantina or to have defeated her;
 * one gate connecting to is blocked by a reporter and a cameraman for shooting, which can't be passed until Solaceon Town is passed or Veilstone Gym is defeated.
 * and the other one is at Fight Area, requiring the player to have the National Pokédex.

In, set in Johto and in Kanto, the gates are similar to those in Generation II and the gatekeepers in charge of guarding them are reinstated. Like in Generation II, there are no gates with second floors, taking into account those in Kanto that had them in.

Generation V
There are gates on several routes in Unova, each with a gatekeeper. Gates now have Gate as background music, and each gate has a specific name (e.g.: Opelucid Gate). These names appear in-game when saving inside a gate and/or on the summary page of a hatched inside a gate. Due to this, gates are now locations by themselves.

Another new feature of gates in Generation V is the introduction of an electronic bulletin board and a screen on one of the walls. The electronic bulletin board displays the current date, the weather in a few adjacent routes and towns (including what location a or  is brewing at), information about a nearby town or city, and information about where Pokémon are swarming (once the undefined has obtained the National Pokédex). The screen shows images from the connected location. Also in these gates are a trash can and two chairs for a quick rest.

There are also some gates that only connect bridges and that have unique designs, though these gates don't have electronic bulletin boards and monitors.

Two gates in impose certain requirements from the player to allow him/her to pass:
 * in Accumula Town, Accumula Gate is blocked by two s until Ghetsis talks to the citizens and the player battles N;
 * Bianca will not let the player pass the Nimbasa Gate on before she shows him/her the Musical Theater in Nimbasa City.

In, two other gates instead have restrictions for the player and are the Bridge Gates at Marine Tube.

Six gates initially inaccessible by the player are shared between Black and White and Black 2 and White 2:
 * both Black Gates or White Gates on and  by some men;
 * the Bridge Gates to Tubeline Bridge on and.

Practical use
The gates also have a practical use within the games' programming. As a undefined moves from a route to a town or city, the map's textures (tilesets in the first three generations) must be loaded for each. While this is easy when a city connects to relatively few routes, where all can use the same tileset/texture, areas like Saffron City and Hearthome City, which connect to many different areas, would need to load multiple tilesets/textures, which would end up crashing the game due to the system not having enough RAM to hold multiple tilesets/textures. The programmers broke up the overworld with these gates to assure crash-free gameplay, and to properly display the routes, towns and cities, all while keeping the illusion of the overworld being a single continuous map.

In the Generation IV games, a player can use a "walk through walls" cheat to go from location to location without going through the gates. By doing this, the map textures may fail to load properly and many of them may appear as blank white tiles. Some buildings may appear to be invisible as well. The cheat can also be used in the Generation V games; however, the texture problem is very limited, if not completely absent.

After the first four generations, the need for using gates to justify unloading and reloading graphics lessened as games from Generation V onwards no longer attempt to present the overworld as a single map, and visible map transitions now occur between routes, towns and cities (or, in certain cases, several streets of a single city).

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
In Kalling Kadabra, both and  tried to get to Saffron City through each of its four gates, but the guards refused to let them in. In The Winged Legends, while the three Pokédex holders were battling Team Rocket at the Silph Co., Brock, Misty, Erika, and Erika's subordinates captured all the members of Team Rocket who were trying to escape the city through its four gates.

In Halting Honchkrow,, on his way to Veilstone City to save from the Team Galactic HQ, faced a heavily guarded gate leading from  to Veilstone City. Thankfully, with the help of the he and  had befriended earlier at the Solaceon Ruins, Diamond was able to break through the masses of s blocking the gate and enter the city.

In Sandstorm, and  were seen trying to go through the Castelia Gate to, but were temporarily forced back by the intense  on the other side.

The Lumiose Gate appeared in What Does Charmander Do When It Dozes?, where, , , , and  entered Lumiose City through it. In Charging After Electrike, the group exited Lumiose City through the Lumiose Gate. The Route 4 Lumiose Gate made a brief reappearance in Xerneas Gives when the group re-entered Lumiose City through it.

Trivia

 * Due to their design, the gates in the Sevii Islands are the only ones that have their supporting pillars built on water.
 * They are also the only gates that have a single access point, given that they are the gates of the islands' ports, with one common entrance and exit for the Seagallop Ferries. These gates are all headed north as well.

In other languages
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