The original Pokémon games launched on the Game Boy.
Pocket Monsters Red and Green were released for Nintendo's handheld Game Boy in Japan in 1996. The system's link cable was especially important because it enabled players to trade Pokémon and battle one another, turning the handheld into a social platform rather than a purely solitary device.
The Game Boy was already an established console by the time Pokémon arrived. Its relatively simple hardware helped Game Freak build a large role-playing game around exploration, turn-based battles, and collecting. Pokémon's success gave the aging handheld a major late-life boost.
Later first-generation releases used the Game Boy Color's capabilities more directly. Pokémon Yellow was designed with a closer visual connection to the anime and supported the color palette of the newer hardware, although it remained compatible with the original Game Boy. The first Pokémon games are therefore associated with the Game Boy, not the Game Boy Color.