With essentially every Pokémon title in the main series, we saw two colors. Red and Blue, for instance. Then, Game Freak and Nintendo would release another version that offered more features and stood definitively. With Red and Blue, we had Yellow.

We had Gold and Silver, and then we got Crystal. We saw the release of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, and then we got Emerald.

You get the point. The first main entry to buck this trend came from Pokémon Black and Pokémon White. We all expected we’d see a Pokémon Grey, but it never happened. In fact, the trend was bucked so hard that we got our first numbered sequels in the main Pokémon line with Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.

Why? Well, we finally have an answer, and I’ll totally admit that it’s a lame one. Game Informer has been doing a feature where they toured Game Freak in order to learn more about the developer and its legacy. They spoke with Director Junichi Masuda about why they elected to skip Grey. Here’s what they offered up in a Reddit AMA about their visit.

Somewhat related – they did talk about why Pokémon Grey wasn’t a thing after Black and White. Masuda said thematically, the game is about the opposition of good and evil, black and white, yin and yang, etc., and to have a Pokémon Grey would have been in opposition of that theme.

I guess Grey simply wouldn’t have fit thematically with the overall hook of Pokémon Black and White. I suppose that makes sense in a creative way, but it certainly seems weird given the franchise’s history.

Either way, we now have the answer to a question that hounded fans for a little while a few years back. I’m cool with closure, how about you?