What was the first Pokémon game released for Nintendo 64 in Japan?

Pocket Monsters Stadium was the first Pokémon game released for Nintendo 64 in Japan.

Nintendo released the strategy role-playing game in Japan in 1998. It brought Pokémon battles into a 3D arena and used the Nintendo 64’s hardware to display animated models of the creatures. The game supported connections with the Game Boy titles through the Transfer Pak.

Only 40 of the original 151 Pokémon were available for use in its gameplay. This limitation is an important distinction from Pokémon Stadium, the later international title that offered a much larger selection and became the better-known release outside Japan.

Naming creates considerable confusion. In Japan, the later game was initially released as Pokémon Stadium 2, while it was released internationally as Pokémon Stadium. The original Japanese title, Pocket Monsters Stadium, is therefore the precise answer when asking for the first Pokémon Nintendo 64 release in Japan.