Which two Japanese Game Boy games launched the Pokémon video game series?

The Pokémon video game series launched in Japan with Pokémon Red and Green.

Game Freak developed the games for Nintendo’s Game Boy. They introduced the core formula of catching, training, battling, and trading Pokémon, along with the fictional Kanto region and the original Pokédex.

International releases used the names Pokémon Red and Blue rather than Red and Green. This difference often causes confusion when discussing the franchise’s first games, because the Japanese Green version was not released overseas in its original form.

The Japanese Red and Green games contained 151 Pokémon, although completing the Pokédex required trading between versions. Their release established the paired-version model that became a defining feature of the series.