Exploring Pokémon Through Data
Can you believe that the Pokémon franchise is already 30 years? If you haven't heard of it, Pokémon is one of the most famous video game franchises in the world, created by Nintendo and Game Freak in 1996. The name “Pokémon” comes from “Pocket Monsters,” which describes the game’s core idea: catching, training, and battling creatures called Pokémon. Each Pokémon has different abilities, moves, and elemental types (like Fire, Water, or Electric), which makes battles strategic and engaging.
The games follow a simple but exciting journey—players, called Pokémon Trainers, travel through different regions, catching Pokémon and training them to compete in battles. The goal is often to defeat powerful opponents, known as Gym Leaders, and ultimately challenge the Pokémon League to become the Champion. Some Pokémon evolve into stronger forms, while others are incredibly rare and legendary.
Over the years, Pokémon has expanded beyond video games into TV shows, movies, trading cards, and even mobile games like Pokémon GO. Today, there are over 1,000 Pokémon, each with unique stats and abilities. This makes Pokémon not just a fun game but also a goldmine of data—perfect for analysis and visualization. With so many numbers, patterns, and relationships, Pokémon offers a great way to practice data storytelling in a fun and familiar setting!
The Wild Data Appears!
So in line with celebrating this cultural phenomenon, here's #GamesNightViz challenge. What was your favorite Pokémon and how do they compare to the rest? Or tell us about the game that started you on this journey. For some of us, it could have very well been Pokémon Go during the COVID years 😅 But nonetheless, we would love to hear your story! Here's a curated a list of datasets that include stats like Attack, Speed, and Defense, as well as types (Fire, Water, Electric, etc.), evolutions, and even where they live.
- Pokemon Yellow Legacy (Source: Reddit)
- Pokemon Emerald Legacy (Source: Reddit)
- Pokemon Trading Card Stock Market (Source: Will Sutton)
- The Population of Pokemon Red & Blue (Source: Reddit)
- JRose11's Pokemon Red/Blue Solo Tier List (Source: Reddit)
- Pokemon of the Year, 2020 (Source: Pokemon2020.com and Kaggle)
- Pokemon UNITE Character Stats (Source: Unite-DB.com)
- Pokemon Evolution Trees (Source: Bulbapedia, PokemonFandom, Kaggle)
- Pokemon Game Boy Music Midi Files (Source: nayuki.io)
- Twitch Plays Pokemon Completion Times (Source: wikipedia)
- Analyzing Pokemon for Pokemon GO (Source: Kaggle)
- All 721 Pokemon Stats (Source: Kaggle)
- Nuzlocke Single Full Run (Source: Blake Feiza's IronViz 2025 entry)
- #GamesNightViz Starter Kit
Or choose one of the data sets from the #GamesNightViz Data Archive 💾 ... and of course, feel free to bring your own data! If you find anything interesting, we'll love to know about it too!
Trainers, Assemble!
We are excited to see what everyone comes out with but here's some topic ideas and inspiration from the community to get started:
- Type Matchups: A clear, interactive chart showing which types have the best advantage in battles.
- Strongest Pokémon: Comparing stats to see which Pokémon would win in a head-to-head battle.
- Pokémon Evolution Trees: Visualizing how Pokémon evolve from one form to another.
- Generational Trends: Seeing if Pokémon have become stronger, faster, or more unique over time.
- Franchise dominance: Which Pokémon game did the best and why?
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Special badges from #TC25
Last year during Tableau Conference, the #GamesNightViz team went equipped with giveaways to anyone who would show us a videogame-related viz. I know some of you have asked for it, especially those who couldn't make it.
On top of the LinkedIn badges (more on that in the next section), we'll send out a badge of your liking for every Pokemon-themed viz you create! 🎮😉 And those who are thinking of heading to #TC26, these content might change your mind! And yes, the 2/3 of the team will be there too so if you spot Will or Dawn - say hi to them!
- TC registration is open. Here's how I think about whether it's worth it by Luigi Cicciari
- Your Ultimate Guide to Tableau Conference 2026 - Tips to Take it to the Next Level by dub dub data
- My first TC experience - #data23 by Louis Yu
- Essential Tips for Attending Tableau Conference 2025 by Sarah Bartlett
🏆New🏆 Certification and Badges to appreciate your fantastic work!
This is an effort from us at #GamesNightViz to certify and encourage your participation in this community project through issuing an unique digital footprint, which you can add to your LinkedIn profile too 😉 We also looking at retrospectively awarding for past Season 2 challenges!
Also, the team will also pick their top favorites to award an additional badge which is as prestigious as it looks!
We can't wait to see what everyone comes out with!
How to Submit
- This challenge will run for three months, because telling a great story takes time (we know!) and Tableau Conference is just around the corner so we will be running this through 🔔 End of Jul 2025 🔔
- Post your submissions on Twitter/X or LinkedIn with the hashtag #GamesNightViz and tag the team @WJSutton12, @datavizlouis, @techtipsgirl so we don't miss your great work!
- Submit your work the project tracker here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMRc4dJ089gPvHMtFVPZ7DVgcwrqqxkonffLF5apAZOzFX3A/viewform
