Unova, the new region introduced in this generation, is known to be far away from the regions of previous generations. Unlike the past four, Unova is based on an area outside of Japan, drawing inspiration from the New York City metropolitan area.

The Generation V games are able to communicate with the five Generation IV games in the same way that the Generation IV games can communicate with the five Generation III games, with players able to transfer Pokémon via a method similar to Pal Park. Pokémon caught in a Generation III game are able to move forward to Generation V by passing through Generation IV games.