Pokémon X and Pokémon Y are role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. Released worldwide in October 2013, they marked the beginning of the sixth generation of the core Pokémon series and were the first mainline Pokémon titles to feature fully rendered 3D graphics. The games are set in the Kalos region, a star-shaped land inspired by France, and introduced 72 new Pokémon species alongside the new Fairy type to balance the game's type matchups.
The story follows a young Pokémon trainer who moves to Vaniville Town and embarks on a journey across Kalos, collecting gym badges while confronting the nefarious Team Flare, an organization obsessed with creating a "beautiful world" through mass destruction. A central theme of the games is the concept of Mega Evolution, a temporary transformation that certain Pokémon can undergo during battle to become more powerful, which ties into the region's lore about a legendary war and the ancient weapon that ended it.
X and Y were critically acclaimed for their visual overhaul, the introduction of player customization, and the new Fairy type, though some critics found the story and characters less compelling than previous entries. Commercially, they were a massive success, selling over 16 million copies worldwide and becoming the best-selling games on the Nintendo 3DS after Mario Kart 7. The games' legendary Pokémon—Xerneas, the Life Pokémon, and Yveltal, the Destruction Pokémon—became central figures in the expanded Pokémon anime and film universe.