Pokémon Versione Oro and Pokémon Versione Argento were the fifth and sixth Pokémon games released in Japanese, on November 21, 1999. Like Red and Green before them, they are paired versions, with virtually no differences other than catchable Pokémon.

Given Pokémon's global success following the release of Red, Blue, and Yellow, these versions were highly anticipated, and were released outside Japan about a year later with the release of the US versions. Like Red and Blue/Green, Gold and Silver were followed shortly after by a third game with some differences, Pokémon Crystal.

Gold and Silver brought many new things to the Pokémon world, being the first "new" games. Unlike the first generation games, the story is now set in the Johto region, which is located west of Kanto (where the previous games took place). The player begins his adventure from Borgo Foglianova, whose motto is "The city where the wind of a new beginning blows".

The games are also available for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service from 22nd September 2017.