Games
Red, Green and Blue: the three Japanese releases of 1996
Pocket Monsters Red and Green started the series on Game Boy in Japan on 27 February 1996, and Blue followed on 15 October 1996, reaching general retail shops on 10 October 1999. Red and Green each hold species the other lacks, while Blue redraws the Pokémon graphics, rewrites the Pokédex text and changes encounter rates, so species such as Tauros and Kangaskhan come easier. Today they run on Japanese cartridges or on a Japanese 3DS that already holds the 2016 Virtual Console downloads, which cover all four first-generation games.
Editorial record, read 8 Nov 2026.
Red and Green set out the first Pokémon structure
The official Japanese page calls Red and Green the first Pokémon software. The hero lives in Masara Town, known in English as Pallet Town, in the Kanto region, receives one Pokémon from Professor Oak and sets out. The page for the 2004 remakes, which follow the same story, adds that the rival is Oak's grandson, who competes with you on battle skill and on Pokédex completion. Gyms, the Elite Four and Team Rocket form the structure that pokemon.com later describes for the English Red and Blue, and the Pokédex is the second goal beside the League. A returning player who knows the English games will meet the same Kanto under Japanese names.
Red and Green split species, and Blue changed the rates
The official page says Red and Green differ in encounter rates, so some species appear in only one of them, and a full collection of 150 needs trades with the other version. Blue changes the rates again: its page names Tauros and Kangaskhan as species that are hard to find in Red or Green and easy in Blue. Red, Green, Blue and Pikachu all trade with each other over the Game Boy link cable, according to their official pages. The table below lists the split between Red and Green. The four trade evolutions, Kadabra, Machoke, Graveler and Haunter, evolve by trade here too, as the PokéAPI cache records for this generation.
Japanese names differ from the English ones
Every name in these games is the Japanese one. The species data in the PokéAPI cache gives the Japanese names of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle as フシギダネ (Fushigidane), ヒトカゲ (Hitokage) and ゼニガメ (Zenigame), and Pikachu is ピカチュウ in both languages. The official pages use マサラタウン, Masara Town, for Pallet Town and カントー地方 for Kanto. The fossil Pokémon Omanyte and Kabuto are オムナイト and カブト, and the legendary birds are サンダー, ファイヤー and フリーザー, the English Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno. A player who knows the English names should keep a short Japanese name list beside the console for the first hour.
Blue is a revision with new graphics and Pokédex text
Blue first went on sale in Japan on 15 October 1996 and reached general retail shops on 10 October 1999, according to its official product page. The story is the same as Red and Green, but the Pokémon graphics and the Pokédex descriptions are new, and the encounter rates differ. The page also lists the 64GB Pack, the Japanese counterpart of the N64 Transfer Pak, among its accessories, and the Japanese Pokémon Stadium 2 page says that pack lets you battle with Pokémon you raised, all 151 shown in 3D. Pikachu, the fourth version, followed on 12 September 1998, with a Pikachu that walks behind the player and shows its mood.
The Japanese releases share the Generation I type chart
The Japanese releases use the same Generation I rules as the export games. The type data in the PokéAPI cache gives Ghost moves no effect on Psychic types in this generation, and Bug as the only type that hits Psychic for double damage. The only Ghost family, Gastly to Gengar, is part Poison, and Poison took double damage from Psychic, so the obvious counter lost the matchup. Dark and Steel arrive only with Gold and Silver, as pokemon.com notes. In the current species data, Mewtwo has a base Special Attack of 154 and Alakazam 135, the two highest in the generation, and both are Psychic types. A Japanese cartridge plays the same type puzzle as an English one.
FireRed and LeafGreen remake Red and Green
The 2004 Game Boy Advance remakes are named after Red and Green, and their official Japanese page describes them as Red and Green reborn with new features, the same Kanto and new maps beyond it; pokemon.com also calls the 2026 Switch release a remake of Red and Green. In Japan the 3DS Virtual Console released all four first-generation games, Red, Green, Blue and Pikachu, on 27 February 2016, twenty years after the first release, at 1,111 yen each before tax. The English-language pokemon.com pages for the Virtual Console releases cover Red, Blue and Yellow only. The 2026 Switch versions of FireRed and LeafGreen are sold per language.
Japanese copies in 2026 need Japanese hardware or a Game Boy
The official Japanese page lists Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance as the systems for Red and Green. The 3DS is a different case: Nintendo's support page says 3DS software is region locked and plays only on hardware for the country where it was released, so the Japanese Virtual Console downloads need a Japanese 3DS. Purchases on the 3DS eShop ended on 27 March 2023, and copies bought before then can still be redownloaded. The official Japanese Pokémon Bank page says Poké Transporter moves Pokémon from the Virtual Console Red, Green, Blue and Pikachu into Bank, from where they can be withdrawn only into Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Bank ends on 25 February 2027.
| Species | Version |
|---|---|
| Ekans | Red |
| Arbok | Red |
| Oddish | Red |
| Gloom | Red |
| Vileplume | Red |
| Mankey | Red |
| Primeape | Red |
| Growlithe | Red |
| Arcanine | Red |
| Scyther | Red |
| Electabuzz | Red |
| Sandshrew | Green |
| Sandslash | Green |
| Vulpix | Green |
| Ninetales | Green |
| Meowth | Green |
| Persian | Green |
| Bellsprout | Green |
| Weepinbell | Green |
| Victreebel | Green |
| Magmar | Green |
| Pinsir | Green |
Unverified. The Japanese Red and Green page says some species appear in one version only but lists none; the PokéAPI cache holds no encounter tables. Blue (Japan) has its own rates, not shown.
| Badge order | Leader | Badge | Type | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brock | Boulder Badge | Rock | Pewter City |
| 2 | Misty | Cascade Badge | Water | Cerulean City |
| 3 | Lt. Surge | Thunder Badge | Electric | Vermilion City |
| 4 | Erika | Rainbow Badge | Grass | Celadon City |
| 5 | Koga | Soul Badge | Poison | Fuchsia City |
| 6 | Sabrina | Marsh Badge | Psychic | Saffron City |
| 7 | Blaine | Volcano Badge | Fire | Cinnabar Island |
| 8 | Giovanni | Earth Badge | Ground | Viridian City |
Unverified. English names for leaders, badges and cities rest on game knowledge; no official page read on 8 Nov 2026 lists them, and the Japanese names differ.
5 checks before you act
- Print a Japanese and English name list for the starters, towns and legendary Pokémon.
- Check that a 3DS is a Japanese system before looking for the Virtual Console download.
- Trade with Blue or Pikachu for species Red and Green find hard, such as Tauros and Kangaskhan.
- Plan trades between Red and Green for the species each version lacks.
- Move Virtual Console Pokémon to Pokémon Bank before 25 February 2027.
Read next
Sources read for this page
- Readpokemon.co.jp, ポケットモンスター 赤・緑 product pageread 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.co.jp, ポケットモンスター ファイアレッド・リーフグリーン product pageread 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.com, Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Versionread 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.co.jp, ポケットモンスター 青 product pageread 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.co.jp, ポケットモンスター ピカチュウ product pageread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadPokéAPI evolution chains, repository cache (repos/dexvoyage/data/cache/evolution-<id>.json)read 8 Nov 2026
- ReadPokéAPI species records, repository cache (repos/dexvoyage/data/species/<id>.json)read 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.co.jp, ポケモンスタジアム2 product pageread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadPokéAPI types with past damage relations, repository cache (repos/dexvoyage/data/cache/type-<id>.json)read 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.com, Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Versionread 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.com, The Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version Games Are Releasing on Nintendo Switch (20 Feb 2026)read 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.co.jp, 3DS Virtual Console 赤・緑・青・ピカチュウ official siteread 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.com, Pokémon Yellow Special Pikachu Editionread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo Support, Pokémon FireRed Version/Pokémon LeafGreen Version FAQread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo Support, Nintendo 3DS game read issues (using a foreign game)read 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo Support, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS eShop Discontinuation Q&Aread 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.co.jp, Pokémon Bank: how to depositread 8 Nov 2026
- Readpokemon.com, Pokémon Bankread 8 Nov 2026