Which Is Better, Pokémon X or Y? Pick by the Lock You Care About

Neither Pokémon X nor Pokémon Y is the better game. They have the same Kalos story, the same eight Gyms, the same starters and the same Champion. Pick Pokémon X for Xerneas, Mega Charizard X, Mega Mewtwo X and a complete Mega Pinsir. Pick Pokémon Y for Yveltal, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Mewtwo Y, Heracross and a wild Larvitar line. Five Mega Stones are locked to each version, and four of them sit in the opposite game from their Pokémon. Since the 3DS online shutdown on April 8, 2024, GTS and Wonder Trade are gone, so whatever your version is missing needs a local trade, the Friend Safari, or breeding from what the Safari gives you.

The short answer: X or Y by what you want

If you care about one of these, it decides the version. If you don’t, buy whichever copy is cheaper or has the box art you like. The first differences show up early, on Route 2 and Route 7, but the main story plays out the same way.

What is the same on Pokémon X and Pokémon Y

X and Y are one game with a handful of swaps. Almost everything in the first 30 hours plays out the same way:

• The story has the same rivals and the same Team Flare plot in the same order. The cover legendary, the scenes built around it and some of Lysandre’s lines change.
• The starters are Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie at Lv. 5, which Tierno hands you in Aquacorde Town for Professor Sycamore, then Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle at Lv. 10 from Sycamore himself in Lumiose City. See the best starter in Pokémon X and Y if you’re stuck on that pick, because the version doesn’t change it.
• Lucario (Lv. 32) at the Tower of Mastery, Lapras (Lv. 30) on Route 12, and the Jaw or Sail Fossil in Glittering Cave are the same in both.
• Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and the Champion use the same teams at the same levels. Neither version is harder or longer.
• Zygarde (Lv. 70) in Terminus Cave and Mewtwo (Lv. 70) in the Unknown Dungeon are in both games. You also get one roaming Kanto bird, Articuno, Zapdos or Moltres, and which one depends on your starter, not the version.
• The sleeping Snorlax (Lv. 15) on Route 7 is the same one-time encounter in both games.
• Poké Mart stock, TMs and boutiques are the same. Clothing follows whether you play as a boy or a girl, not the version.
• Every route, town and cave is in both games. Only the Pokémon in some grass and water change. The Kalos map works for either version.

Reviews didn’t split them either. Metacritic has Pokémon X at 87 and Pokémon Y at 88. Together they’ve sold 16.80 million copies, as of March 31, 2026.

The 2026 problem: you can’t trade for the rest online

For ten years the answer was “pick either and trade for the rest.” That changed on April 8, 2024, when Nintendo shut down online play for the 3DS (5:00 PM Pacific time). GTS, Wonder Trade, online battles and internet Mystery Gifts all ended that day.

What still works:

• Local wireless trades and battles with a second 3DS in the same room. X and Y trade with each other, and with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
• Friend Safari slots you already unlocked. A new friend’s third slot needs a local meeting with a player who has entered the Hall of Fame.
• Pokémon Bank, until it closes on February 25, 2027, at 7:00 p.m. PST. First-time downloads ended when the eShop closed in March 2023, but if you downloaded it before, you can still redownload it. With Bank installed, you can move Pokémon from X to Y (or the other way) on one 3DS, or send them on to Pokémon HOME.
• Buying the game: the 3DS eShop stopped selling games in March 2023. If you never bought the digital version, a cartridge is the only way in now. Redownloads of a copy you already own still work.

Bank moves Pokémon, not items. Anything a Pokémon holds goes to your Bag when you deposit it, so Bank can’t move a Mega Stone between your games. For stones you need a local trade: give the stone to a Pokémon, trade it, and have the other player take the stone off before trading the Pokémon back. If they don’t, the stone just comes back with it.

So the pick sticks harder than it used to. With nobody nearby who owns the other version, the cart you buy decides which Pokémon and Mega Stones you end up with.

Xerneas or Yveltal

You catch the cover legendary in Team Flare’s Secret HQ in Geosenge Town as part of the story. It’s Lv. 50, and if you knock it out it comes back, so you can’t miss it. Pokémon X has Xerneas. Pokémon Y has Yveltal. You can’t get the other one on that cart without a trade.

Same stats, different type and job

Xerneas is the better pick if you like setting up. Geomancy charges for one turn, then raises Sp. Atk, Sp. Def and Speed by two stages each. With a Power Herb it does that in a single turn, but the Herb gets used up. The Fairy type also handles the Dragon-types you meet late in the game. Yveltal is easier to use from the moment you catch it. It hits hard without a setup turn, and Oblivion Wing keeps it healthy. Either one will carry a casual team through the Elite Four.

What changes in the story

The order of events, the Gyms and the fights are the same. What changes is the legendary in the machine, the scenes built around it, and Lysandre’s last lines. In Pokémon X he threatens to grant you eternal life. In Pokémon Y he says he will show you what the ultimate weapon’s remaining power can do.

Version-exclusive Pokémon that actually matter

Most exclusives come in pairs: same route, same level, one species in X and the other in Y. Here they are, with where to find them.

X’s locks vs Y’s locks

Pokémon X	Pokémon Y	Where
Swirlix	Spritzee	Route 7, Lv. 14
Clauncher	Skrelp	Good Rod at Ambrette Town, Cyllage City and Route 8
Staryu	Shellder	Good Rod on Route 8. Starmie and Cloyster come from the Super Rod there
Houndour	Electrike	Route 10, grass and hordes
Sawk	Throh	Route 11, Lv. 22–23
Pinsir	Heracross	Route 12, grass and yellow flowers
Mightyena	Liepard	Route 15, Lv. 34–36
Aron, Lairon	Larvitar, Pupitar	Terminus Cave hordes (Lv. 24) for Aron or Larvitar. Lairon or Pupitar: Route 18 grass (Lv. 46), Route 18 red flowers (Lv. 44–46) and Terminus Cave (Lv. 45–46)
Xerneas	Yveltal	Team Flare Secret HQ, Lv. 50

Their evolutions follow them: Slurpuff and Clawitzer are X-only, Aromatisse and Dragalge are Y-only, and so on. Poochyena and Purrloin aren’t wild in either game, but you can breed them from Mightyena or Liepard.

The exclusives most likely to swing the choice are Tyranitar (Y), Heracross (Y), Clawitzer (X) and Aggron (X). Tyranitar comes with a catch, covered in the Mega Stone section.

Slot swaps that aren’t real exclusives

Some routes swap one common Pokémon for another between versions. You see different Pokémon early, but you can still catch all of them:

• Route 2 and Santalune Forest: Route 2 has Weedle in X and Caterpie in Y. Santalune Forest has wild Kakuna in X and wild Metapod in Y. Caterpie and Weedle are in the forest in both games, so both bug lines are catchable.
• Route 5: Plusle is in the grass in X and Minun in Y. The other one still shows up in hordes.
• Route 8: Zangoose is in the grass in X and Seviper in Y. Both appear in hordes in both games.
• Cyllage City Rock Smash: Onix in X, Binacle in Y. Onix is in Glittering Cave and Binacle is under other rocks in both games.
• Frost Cavern: Cryogonal and Haunter are in both games, but one slot swaps between them, so the odds differ.
• Basculin: the Red-Striped and Blue-Striped forms swap between the Good Rod and the Super Rod.
• Route 12 Super Rod: Huntail in X, Gorebyss in Y. Clamperl is in both games, so the other one is a trade evolution away (Deep Sea Tooth for Huntail, Deep Sea Scale for Gorebyss).

Mega Stones: five locks per version, four cross-locks

Most Mega Stones you can find in a normal playthrough are the same in both games. Ten aren’t. Each version gets five of them:

Pokémon X	Pokémon Y	Where
Charizardite X	Charizardite Y	Professor Sycamore (if you picked Charmander) or the Stone Emporium in Lumiose City
Mewtwonite X	Mewtwonite Y	Unknown Dungeon, after you catch Mewtwo
Pinsirite	Heracronite	Santalune Forest sparkle
Manectite	Houndoominite	Route 16 sparkle
Tyranitarite	Aggronite	Cyllage City Gym sparkle

The sparkles only show up after the Mega Ring upgrade in Anistar City, and only from 8:00 to 8:59 PM on your 3DS clock. The Mega Stone locations page has every spot and the timing.

For four of these stones, the Pokémon is wild in one game and its stone is in the other:

That’s why X is the better pick for a Mega collector. With the right Friend Safari, all five of X’s locked stones can go on a Pokémon you caught in X. On Y alone, Aggronite and Houndoominite are useless, because Aron and Houndour aren’t in Y’s grass or in the Safari. Other popular Megas, like Gengar, Gardevoir and Lucario, have the same stone in both games.

One more exception: Blazikenite was never on the map in X or Y. It came with a 2013–2014 event Torchic, and those events are over. Today you get it by local trade: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have it on their map, so a Pokémon holding one can come over from there, or from an X or Y save that already has one. Latiasite and Latiosite work the same way. Bank can’t carry any of them, because Bank doesn’t move held items.

Mega Charizard X vs Y

The letter on the stone matches the game. It doesn’t depend on picking Charmander. If you choose Charmander, Sycamore gives you your version’s Charizardite. If you don’t, a man in the Lumiose City Stone Emporium sells it, and again only the one for your version.

Mewtwo works the same way. Mega Mewtwo X (X only) is Psychic/Fighting with 190 Attack. Mega Mewtwo Y (Y only) stays Psychic with 194 Sp. Atk. Both total 780.

Why Tyranitarite is in X

The same hidden spot gives a different stone in each version. The Cyllage Gym sparkle gives Tyranitarite in X and Aggronite in Y. The Route 16 sparkle gives Manectite in X and Houndoominite in Y. So all four stones end up in the game that doesn’t have their Pokémon in its normal wild areas. Back when GTS worked, you could use it to get the Pokémon from the other version. The stones were different: GTS doesn’t accept a Pokémon holding a Mega Stone, so they always needed a direct trade. In 2026, you need a friend in the same room for both. The Friend Safari covers two of the Pokémon (Manectric and Pupitar), not the stones.

What Friend Safari still fixes

The Friend Safari in Kiloude City opens after the Hall of Fame. Its Pokémon list is the same in X and Y, so it ignores some version locks. Each friend gives you one type and two or three Pokémon of that type. You need friends with the right types.

The Safari doesn’t have the baby forms. Some of them you can breed. Breed a Safari Cloyster for Shellder, a Pupitar for Larvitar, or a Manectric for Electrike, using Ditto or a partner of the opposite gender at the Pokémon Day Care. You still need the right friend’s Safari, and for Cloyster and Manectric that’s the third slot.

Some locks the Safari can’t fix at all: Xerneas or Yveltal, Staryu and Starmie, Houndour and Houndoom, the Aron line, Clauncher, Skrelp, and Huntail or Gorebyss. For those you need a trade.

Third slots only open if your friend entered the Hall of Fame and you’ve met since. With online play gone, a new friend now has to be a local connection. The Friend Safari page lists every type and slot.

Fossils, clothes and everything that doesn’t change

The story fossil is the same choice in both games: Jaw Fossil (Tyrunt) or Sail Fossil (Amaura) in Glittering Cave. After the Hall of Fame, Rock Smash in the cave gives more fossils, and that’s where the versions split:

For the odds and the revive steps, see fossils in Pokémon X.

Shops, TMs, boutiques and clothing are the same in both versions too. The games also play the same on a 3DS, 2DS or New 3DS. The 2DS just doesn’t have 3D.

Pick a version by goal

Story, one cart, no friends

Pick the legendary and the Mega Charizard letter you like. If you want Tyranitar on your team, take Y, because Pupitar is on Route 18 (Lv. 46 in the grass, Lv. 44–46 in the red flowers) and Larvitar is in Terminus Cave hordes. Pupitar evolves into Tyranitar at Lv. 55. If you want a Mega Evolution you can finish on your own, X gives you Pinsir, Charizard X and Mewtwo X with no help. Y gives Heracross, Charizard Y and Mewtwo Y. For the rest of your team, the best Pokémon in X and Y is the same list in both games.

Living dex or Mega collection

It depends on which Pokédex you mean.

• Kalos Pokédex: neither version finishes it alone, because of the exclusives above. With both versions, or a friend with the other one, it’s doable. But one save only gets one Kalos starter, one Kanto starter, one story fossil and one Kanto bird, so plan to trade for or breed the rest.
• National Pokédex: even two carts can’t finish it. Many species only come from older games through Pokémon Bank, or from events that are over.
• Every Mega Stone X and Y can use: you need the other version’s five stones by local trade, plus Blazikenite, Latiasite and Latiosite. None of those three is on the map in Kalos, but a Pokémon holding one can come over by local trade from Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire, or from an old X or Y save that already has it.

For Megas, X gets closer on its own, because it can use all five of its locked stones with the Friend Safari. If you use Pokémon HOME, move everything through Bank before February 25, 2027. The Kalos Pokédex shows where every Pokémon is.

Nuzlocke

The version makes very little difference. Your starter, Kanto starter, Lucario, Lapras and fossil are the same. You’ll see different first encounters on Routes 7, 10, 11 and 12, and different Good Rod catches at the coast. If you want a strong mid-game catch, Heracross (Y) and Pinsir (X) are both on Route 12 at Lv. 25, before the fourth Gym.

Two 3DS systems in the house

Buy one of each. That’s the easiest way to cover the version locks in 2026: trade the cover legendaries, the exclusives and the ten locked Mega Stones back and forth with local wireless. It still won’t give you event-only content or the species that only come from older games.

This isn’t Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Pokémon Legends: Z-A came out on October 16, 2025 for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. It’s also set in Lumiose City, but it’s a different game with a different Pokédex, different Mega Evolutions and different rules. There is no Pokémon Z, no third Kalos version and no Switch release of X or Y. If you see Mega Chesnaught, Mega Delphox or Mega Greninja, that’s Z-A, not X and Y.

Tools for whichever version you pick

• Every Mega Stone in X and Y, with the 8:00 PM sparkle rule.
• Friend Safari types and slots, for the exclusives it covers.
• The Kalos map, for Routes 7, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 18.
• The Kalos Pokédex, for a living-dex checklist.
• Best starter and best Pokémon, for your team.

FAQ

Which is better, Pokémon X or Pokémon Y?

Neither. They’re the same game with a different cover legendary, five version-locked Mega Stones each and a few different wild Pokémon. Pick X for Xerneas, Mega Charizard X and the easier Mega set. Pick Y for Yveltal, Mega Charizard Y, Heracross and the wild Larvitar line.

Is there a big difference between X and Y?

No. The Gyms, Elite Four, Champion, starters, gifts and map are the same, and the story follows the same order. The differences are the cover legendary and the scenes around it, about a dozen wild Pokémon lines, a few slot swaps on early routes, ten Mega Stones and the post-game fossils.

Xerneas or Yveltal: which should I pick?

They have the same base stats. Xerneas (X) gets stronger after Geomancy, which takes two turns, or one with a Power Herb. Yveltal (Y) is easier to use right away and heals itself with Oblivion Wing. Pick the type you want: Fairy, or Dark/Flying.

Can I get both Xerneas and Yveltal in one game?

Not on your own. You need a local trade with someone who has the other version, or Pokémon Bank and a second save on the other version, before Bank closes on February 25, 2027.

Which Mega Stones are version-exclusive?

X has Charizardite X, Mewtwonite X, Pinsirite, Manectite and Tyranitarite. Y has Charizardite Y, Mewtwonite Y, Heracronite, Houndoominite and Aggronite. The other Mega Stones you can find in a normal playthrough are in both games. Blazikenite, Latiasite and Latiosite aren’t on the map in either game; they come in by local trade from Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire.

Does Friend Safari have the other version’s Pokémon?

Some of them. Both games have Pinsir, Heracross, Sawk, Throh, Swirlix, Spritzee, Mightyena, Liepard, Pupitar, Manectric and Cloyster, and you can breed Larvitar, Electrike and Shellder from them. It doesn’t have the cover legendaries, Houndour, Aron, Staryu, Clauncher or Skrelp.

Can I still trade in Pokémon X and Y in 2026?

Only locally. GTS and Wonder Trade ended with the 3DS online shutdown on April 8, 2024. Local wireless trading with a second 3DS still works, and Pokémon Bank works until February 25, 2027 if you already have it.

Is X or Y easier?

Neither. Every trainer, Gym Leader and Champion team is the same. Your legendary is the same level and has the same base stats.

Is Pokémon Legends: Z-A the same as X and Y?

No. Z-A is a 2025 Switch game set in Lumiose City. It’s not a remake or a third version of X and Y.

Does the 2DS change which version I should buy?

No. X and Y run the same on a 3DS, 2DS or New 3DS. The 2DS just can’t show 3D.