in Slowpoke Well. The player's
Totodile, which is one of the game's three starter Pokémon, follows him.|alt=A pre-teenaged boy with black hair and a black and yellow baseball cap stands inside a dark, rocky, cave-like area. A small, blue, crocodile-like Pokémon stands behind him. Standing elsewhere in the area are two young men and one young woman, all wearing black clothes and beanies, and two small, pink, quadrupedal Pokémon.
Pokémon HeartGold and
SoulSilver are
role-playing video games with
adventure elements. The basic mechanics of the games are largely the same as their predecessors'. As with all
Pokémon games for
handheld consoles, gameplay is viewed from a
third-person overhead perspective, and consists of three basic screens: a
field map, in which the player navigates the main character; a battle screen; and the menu, in which the player configures their party, items, or gameplay settings. The player begins the game with one Pokémon and can capture more using Poké Balls. When the player
encounters a wild Pokémon or is challenged by a trainer to a battle, the screen switches to a
turn-based battle screen where the Pokémon fight. During battle, the player may use a move, use an item, switch the active Pokémon, or flee. Fleeing is not an option during battles against trainers. Pokémon have
hit points (HP), which is displayed during battles; when a Pokémon's HP is reduced to zero, it faints and cannot battle unless taken to a
Pokémon Center or healed or revived with a Pokémon skill or an item, typically a "revive" medicine. If the player's Pokémon defeats the opposing Pokémon (causes it to faint), it receives
experience points. After accumulating enough experience points, it will
level up; most Pokémon evolve into a new species of Pokémon when they reach a certain level, or when certain conditions are met, such as how much a Pokémon statistically "likes" its trainer. Additionally, a
pedometer was bundled with each copy of the games called a "Pokéwalker", which allows players to transfer Pokémon from the game into the device and walk around with them, earning "watts" in the process, which can be exchanged for in-game rewards. Another new item, the GB Sounds, changes the background music to the
chiptune music that sounds similar to original music from
Pokémon Gold and Silver. A new mechanic in the Safari where the player can customize areas to increase the rate of wild species to appear was also added. The entire mechanics will be unlocked after having gained the national Dex, completed two quests by the Safari administrator and automatically answered to each of his calls (one-each 3 hours of game).
HeartGold and
SoulSilver were also the only games in the GB, GBA and NDS era to feature a permanent Running Shoe feature. This feature would eventually be replaced by the use of the joystick on the 3DS, which would serve to mirror this function.
Connectivity to other devices HeartGold and
SoulSilver can access the
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (since discontinued) to trade, battle, and interact with other players of these games, as well as players of
Pokémon Diamond,
Pearl, and
Platinum. ==Setting and story==