There are several regions that have appeared in the various media of the Pokémon franchise. Each of the five generations of the main series releases focuses on a new region. Moreover, several regions have been introduced in spin-off games, and one in the Pokémon anime, though most of these are still within the same fictional universe. Usually, the different regions are not accessible from one another via land (or at all within a single game), with the exception being Kanto, which can be accessed from Johto and vice versa in the Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver versions.
Every region consists of several cities and towns that the player must explore in order to fulfill many waiting challenges such as Gyms, Contests, and/or saving a region from antagonistic characters. At different locations within each region, the player can find different types of Pokémon, as well as other helpful items and characters. Most regions are on separate continents and though many are based on parts of the real-world country of Japan, recent games have international origins, such as Unova's New York City styling and the apparent Parisian origin of Kalos.
