What pair of games launched the Pokémon video game series in Japan?

Pokémon Red and Green launched the Pokémon video game series in Japan.

Released for the Game Boy in 1996, the pair established the series’ central loop: players catch Pokémon, train them, battle other Trainers, and trade creatures between games. The two versions contained version-exclusive Pokémon, encouraging communication between players.

The pair is an important source of international confusion. Japan later received an enhanced Blue version, while overseas releases used Pokémon Red and Blue. As a result, many English-speaking fans know the franchise’s first games as Red and Blue and may not realize that Green was part of the original Japanese launch.

The games were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo. Their first generation introduced the Kanto region, the original Pokédex, and 151 species, creating the foundation for the wider Pokémon franchise of anime, cards, films, and merchandise.