Which cartridge for an origin dex

Before 25 February 2027, a Gen 1 or 2 Pokémon you mean to keep has to come off a real cartridge. So the question is not where it is, but whether the box you own can produce it. This follows what the game's own tables record — encounters, trees, the contest, evolutions, NPC trades — to a fixpoint, and keeps what a cartridge does alone apart from what it only does with a cable.

How this works

What each cartridge covers on its own

On the left, what a cartridge supplies on its own. On the right, what it also reaches with a cable and a second cartridge — the trade evolutions. Gen 1 games are counted against 151 and Gen 2 games against 251, once evolutions and NPC trades are resolved.