Which two Pokémon games launched the Pokémon video game series in Japan in 1996?

Pocket Monsters Red and Green launched the Pokémon video game series in Japan in 1996.

Game Freak created the paired role-playing games for Nintendo's Game Boy. Although their stories and mechanics were closely related, each version contained Pokémon that could not be obtained in the other without trading. That design made the Link Cable an important part of completing the collection and encouraged players to interact.

The international releases used different naming: North America and Europe received Pokémon Red and Blue. The original Japanese Green version was not released overseas in its original form, although its content influenced the later international Blue version. This difference explains why many international players know Red and Blue as the first pair.

The games introduced the first generation of Pokémon, the Kanto region, the Pokédex, Gym challenges, and the basic capture-and-battle structure that remains central to the series.