However, the new game cannot be saved without overwriting the existing file, which results in all prior progress to be lost.
Prior to Generation VI, a new game can be started even if there is already a save file stored on the game's cartridge. Saving the game is required when using certain in-game features (see List of activities for more information).
Beginning with Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! save files are stored in the console's internal memory and not in the cartridge. The save file is stored in battery-powered SRAM in Generations I and II, and in flash memory from Generation III onward. Unlike the core series games, this is carried over to the localized versions as well. In the video game Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR!, saving is presented as writing in the player's Diary. As a result, the save function is represented by a book icon in the core series Pokémon games. In the Japanese core series games, saving from the menu is presented as writing down the player's recent actions in a Pokémon Report (Japanese: ポケモンレポート), although it is referred to as saving when saving due to changing Boxes in the Generation I and II games.
