Pokémon Yellow was designed to resemble the anime by making Pikachu the player’s starter.
Released in Japan in 1998, Pokémon Yellow is an enhanced version of the first-generation Pokémon games. Instead of choosing Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle at the beginning, the player receives Pikachu from Professor Oak.
Pikachu follows the player outside its Poké Ball, reflecting the anime’s portrayal of Pikachu traveling beside Ash. The game also changes several early encounters and gives players opportunities to obtain the three original starter Pokémon during the adventure.
Yellow was not a completely new generation. It retained the Kanto setting and most of the original game structure while adding anime-inspired presentation and character appearances. Its distinction from Pokémon Go and later Pikachu-themed titles is that it was the original main-series game explicitly built around the anime’s version of Pikachu.