RG redirects here. For theTrading Card Game set that uses this set identifier, seeEX FireRed & LeafGreen (TCG).

Pokémon Red Version ポケットモンスター　赤
Box art of Pocket Monsters: Red,featuringCharizard
Pokémon Green Version ポケットモンスター　緑
Box art of Pocket Monsters: Green,featuringVenusaur
Basic info
Platform:	Game Boy(enhanced for theSuper Game Boy andSuper Game Boy 2) Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console)
Category:	RPG
Players:	2 players simultaneous
Connectivity:	Game Link Cable(Game Boy) 3DS Wireless(3DS VC)
Developer:	Game Freak
Publisher:	Nintendo
Part of:	Generation Icore series
Ratings
CERO:	A(3DS VC)
ESRB:	N/A
ACB:	N/A
OFLC:	N/A
PEGI:	N/A
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	6+(3DS VC)
Release dates
Japan:	February 27, 1996[1][2](Game Boy) February 27, 2016[3](3DS VC)
North America:	N/A
Australia:	N/A
Europe:	N/A
South Korea:	N/A
Hong Kong:	February 27, 2016(3DS VC)
Taiwan:	February 27, 2016(3DS VC)
Websites
Japanese:	The Pokémon Company(Game Boy) The Pokémon Company(Virtual Console) Nintendo(Game Boy) Nintendo(VC, Red) Nintendo(VC, Green)
English:	N/A

Pokémon Red Version (Japanese:ポケットモンスター　赤Pocket Monsters: Red) andPokémon Green Version (Japanese:ポケットモンスター　緑Pocket Monsters: Green) are the first video games in thePokémon series of games. They are the first primarypaired versions ofGeneration I, developed byGame Freak and published byNintendo for the handheldGame Boy. They were first released in Japan on February 27, 1996,^[1][2] and were later followed by the updatedPokémon Blue and the supplementaryPokémon Yellow.

Developed over the course of several years, Red and Green established several standards for later Pokémon games and sequels. They take place in theKantoregion, with the player having to collect eightGym Badges to become thePokémon Champion while also completing thePokédex by collecting all 151 Pokémon. The game was a commercial success in Japan, which prompted the localization of Red and Green for an international release; the games were then released asPokémon Red and Pokémon Blue.

In 1999, the sequels to these games,Pokémon Gold and Silver, were released for theGame Boy Color. In 2004, Red and Green were remade for theGame Boy Advance asPokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. In Japan, the original 1996 games, along with Blue and Yellow, were available on theNintendo 3DSVirtual Console between thePokémon 20th Anniversary onFebruary 27, 2016 and the discontinuation of the 3DS Nintendo eShop on March 27, 2023.^[3] The rerelease also allowed compatibility withPoké Transporter, a tool which can send Pokémon from Virtual Console copies of Pokémon toPokémon Bank, where they can be withdrawn inPokémon Sun, Moon,Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon.

Terminology

In these Japanese games, the English terms "Red Version" and "Green Version" are found on theirtitle screens:

Pokémon Red	Pokémon Green

The exact titlesPokémon Red Version andPokémon Green Version are not used in these Japanese games, in their manuals or on their boxes. However, they are mentioned on the official website Pokémon.com. For instance:

• "Twenty-six years on from the release of the original Pokémon games—Pokémon Red Version andPokémon Green Version in Japan—the number of Pokémon discovered has finally surpassed one thousand."^[4]

Plot

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Red and Green begin the Pokémon series in the region ofKanto, whereplayers play the role ofRed, an eleven-year-old boy who has just started his journey as aPokémon Trainer fromPallet Town, on the same day asBlue, who is Red's rival and the grandson of the local authority on Pokémon,Professor Oak. Oak lets the two boys choose afirst partner Pokémon—a choice from theGrass-typeBulbasaur, theFire-typeCharmander, or theWater-typeSquirtle; the player's rival chooses the Pokémon that has a type advantage over the player's Pokémon. Oak also gives them aPokédex and asks them to catch all the Pokémon in the region.

During their travels, the player will encounter the villainousTeam Rocket and their bossGiovanni, a criminal gang that treats Pokémon as tools, rather than train them as friends and partners. The player must defeat them to put a stop to their crimes, which include killing aMarowak while keepingMr. Fuji hostage, and taking control ofSilph Co. to obtain plans for theMaster Ball. The rival will also continuously challenge the player to abattle, with an increasingly powerful team. As the player's own Pokémon become more powerful, they draw closer to theIndigo Plateau.

Between the battles with Team Rocket, their rival, and other trainers, the player journeys across the region, defeating all theGym Leaders:Brock,Misty,Lt. Surge,Erika,Koga,Sabrina andBlaine. The eighth and final Gym Leader is Team Rocket's boss, Giovanni, who disbands the team after his final defeat within his Gym. After defeating all eight Gym Leaders, the player goes on to challenge theElite Four:Lorelei,Bruno,Agatha, andLance, and finally, in the last battle, the current Champion, the player'srival.

The player becomes the Champion after defeating their rival and is commended by Professor Oak for their friendship with Pokémon. After becoming Champion, the player will be allowed to enter the mysteriousCerulean Cave, filled with strong Pokémon, where the LegendaryMewtwo awaits.

Features

Gyms

As would become the case for almost every Pokémon game in thecore series to come, there are eightGyms in Kanto, each with their own type affiliation. TheGym Leaders are:Brock (Rock) atPewter City,Misty (Water) atCerulean City,Lt. Surge (Electric) atVermilion City,Erika (Grass) atCeladon City,Koga (Poison) atFuchsia City,Sabrina (Psychic) atSaffron City,Blaine (Fire) atCinnabar Island, andGiovanni (Ground) atViridian City.

Elite Four

Another standard established by Red and Green, the goal for players, theElite Four, is located atIndigo Plateau. The Elite Trainers areLorelei (Ice),Bruno (Fighting),Agatha (Ghost), andLance (Dragon). ThePokémon Champion is the rival,Blue, who does not specialize in any one type.

Pokémon

Each game contains pre-recorded data on 151 different species of Pokémon, includingMew, a Pokémon even Nintendo was not aware of initially.^[5] However, not all Pokémon are available to the player, regardless of version; trades must occur between players in order to complete their Pokédex without the use of cheats or glitches. In addition, Mew is not normally obtainable in either game; the only legitimate way to obtain Mew is through a Nintendo sponsored event.

Version-exclusive Pokémon

The following Pokémon are only obtainable in one game of this pair. In order to obtain Pokémon exclusive to the other game of this pair, they must be traded either from that game or from another compatible game ofGeneration I orGeneration II which has that Pokémon available.

Red 0023 Ekans Poison 0024 Arbok Poison 0043 Oddish Grass Poison 0044 Gloom Grass Poison 0045 Vileplume Grass Poison 0056 Mankey Fighting 0057 Primeape Fighting 0058 Growlithe Fire 0059 Arcanine Fire 0123 Scyther Bug Flying 0125 Electabuzz Electric

Green 0027 Sandshrew Ground 0028 Sandslash Ground 0037 Vulpix Fire 0038 Ninetales Fire 0052 Meowth Normal 0053 Persian Normal 0069 Bellsprout Grass Poison 0070 Weepinbell Grass Poison 0071 Victreebel Grass Poison 0126 Magmar Fire 0127 Pinsir Bug

Connectivity

Players maytrade Pokémon between two cartridges or battle with another cartridge using aGame BoyGame Link Cable. To take full advantage of this feature, several Pokémon are exclusive to each game of the pair and others require trading to evolve, making trading necessary to complete thePokédex. The games can trade and battle with Japanese versions of Pokémon Red, Green,Blue andPokémon Yellow. They can also trade with Japanese versions ofPokémon Gold, Silver, andCrystal via theTime Capsule. Pokémon Red and Green are completely incompatible with games fromGeneration III onward.

Trades between Pokémon games in different languages are possible; however, a Japanese game cannot connect with a non-Japanese game without causing corruption. This is due to the fact that the games cannot automatically translate the Pokémon data from Japanese to a different language or vice versa, since neither game fullyencodes bothkana and theLatin alphabet (only encoding one fully and the other partially). If a battle between a Japanese game and a non-Japanese game is attempted, the battle simply does not work, with the save files left unharmed.

Pokémon Red and Green are compatible withPokémon Stadium,Pokémon Stadium 2 (released as Pokémon Stadium in English), andPokémon Stadium G&S (released as Pokémon Stadium 2 in English). While link battles are not possible directly between Pokémon Red and Green and the Generation II games, a player may challenge a Generation II game using Pokémon Stadium G&S.

Virtual Console

TheNintendo 3DSVirtual Console releases use 3DS wireless communication as a substitute for the Game Link Cable. Japanese and non-Japanese Generation I core series games do not recognize each other when attempting to link them via 3DS wireless communication.

UsingPoké Transporter, the entirety of Box 1 can be sent from the Generation I core series games toPokémon Bank (regardless of language), from where they can be withdrawn in theGeneration VII core series games.

Differences in the Virtual Console release

The Nintendo 3DSVirtual Console releases canlink with other Virtual Console Generation I and II core series games via Nintendo 3DS wireless communication, simulating theGame Link Cable. When initiating a link, the Virtual Console menu on the touch screen replaces the Cable Club attendant's dialogue.

UsingPoké Transporter, Pokémon can be sent from the Generation I core series games toPokémon Bank, from which they can be withdrawn in theGeneration VII core series games.

The movesBlizzard,BubbleBeam,Confusion,Dream Eater,Explosion,Guillotine,Hyper Beam,Mega Kick,Mega Punch,Psychic,Reflect,Rock Slide,Selfdestruct,Spore, andThunderbolt had their animations changed slightly to tone down the flashing.

Legacy

Pocket Monsters Red and Green set the precedent for what has become a blockbuster, multibillion-dollar franchise. In Japan, Red, Green, and thethird version Blue combined have sold 10.23 million copies.^[6] In the United States, Pokémon Red has sold 4.83 million copies, while Pokémon Blue has sold 5.02 million copies.^[7] These numbers combine to make a total of 9.85 million copies sold in the US.

Pocket Monsters Red and Green were the namesake of theGeneration III remakes ofFireRed and LeafGreen released in 2004, even in regions where Blue was paired with Red.

Version history

Development

Main article:Pokémon Red and Green beta

Pokémon Red and Green had many pre-release elements that differ from the final release, although the internationalPokémon Red and Blue would later have several altered aspects of their own during the two-and-a-half years between the release of Red and Green, their bug-fixing releaseBlue, and the release of the merger of the trio into Red and Blue for overseas markets.

An error made during development causes thePokémon depicted duringProfessor Oak's introductory lecture to be aNidorino but with thecry of aNidorina. It was not fixed in the Japanese Blue or in the international Red and Blue.

Soundtrack

Main article:Game Boy: Entire Pokémon Sounds Collection CD

Main article:Pokémon Red & Pokémon Green: Super Music Collection

The Game Boy: Entire Pokémon Sounds Collection CD soundtrack, released on November 1, 1997, contains all of the background music and sound effects used in the games, all of which were composed solely byJunichi Masuda. This includesPokémoncries andPokédex entries read by "Dexter",Ash's Pokédex. A reissue of the Red and Green soundtrack was released on April 27, 2016 as Pokémon Red & Pokémon Green: Super Music Collection.

Staff

Main article:Staff of Pokémon Red and Green

Gallery

Logos

• 
  Japanese Red logo
• 
  Japanese Green logo

Title screens

When played on theSuper Game Boy,Super Game Boy 2,Game Boy Tower,Game Boy Color,Game Boy Advance, orGame Boy Player, the games usepredefined color palettes based on the game version instead of displaying in monochrome.

• 
  Red title screen (Game Boy)
• 
  Green title screen (Game Boy)
• 
  Red title screen (Super Game Boy,Super Game Boy 2,Game Boy Tower)
• 
  Green title screen (Super Game Boy, Super Game Boy 2, Game Boy Tower)
• 
  Red title screen (Game Boy Color,Game Boy Advance,Game Boy Player)
• 
  Green title screen (Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Player)

Flyers

• 
  Front of Japanese flyer^[8]
• 
  Back of Japanese flyer

Virtual Console icons

• 
  Red Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console icon
• 
  Green Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console icon

Trivia

• According toPokémon Story,Shigeru Miyamoto suggested to turn the game into multiple versions separated by colors. The idea was to make seven versions in all rainbow colors, but they ended up with just two (deciding on red and green because ofMario andLuigi).Tsunekazu Ishihara integrated different encounter rates andversion-exclusive Pokémon to motivate "exchange".^[9]
• Development of Red and Green started during 1990, making their development the longest of allPokémon games by far.
• The game's main characters,Red andGreen, have several default names, among them サトシSatoshi and シゲルShigeru, respectively. These names come from Pokémon creatorSatoshi Tajiri and his friend and fellow Nintendo developer,Shigeru Miyamoto. In the English counterpartsPokémon Red and Blue, the default names are Red and Blue. Alternative names that could be chosen wereAsh andGary, after the characters fromPokémon the Series that share the names Satoshi and Shigeru, respectively.
• While Red and Green are the first Pokémon games released, they were not necessarily the firstPokémon trademark ever registered.Mew was the first Pokémon trademark ever applied for; the application for the Pokémon was submitted on May 9, 1990, while the application for Pocket Monsters Red and Green was submitted on September 11, 1995. Before Red and Green were granted registered trademarks on December 26, 1997, Mew (then spelled ミュー, not ミュウ) had already become the first Pokémon trademark registered, granted on March 31, 1994; ミュウ was later granted on August 6, 1999.
• Mew was added byShigeki Morimoto to the internal data as part of a prank after the debugging features were removed. He took a great risk by doing so, since further tests forglitches that would have been caused by adding Mew could not be done, which goes against standard programming procedures.^[10]
• The games were originally scheduled for a December 21, 1995 release, according to an old Nintendo of Japan flyer.^[11] This could explain the copyright year of 1995 that appears in the games' introductory sequence, and all subsequent games and official merchandise.
• InThe Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon,Professor Oak references these games with his password, "REDGREEN".
• At the back of the game packages (including the package of the JapanesePokémon Blue, but not onPokémon Yellow), there's a battle screenshot where a Charmander namedSepultura (Japanese: セパルトラ; in Spanish and Portuguese, "sepultura" means "grave", as in the place where a body is buried) usesScratch on a Pidgeotto.
  • This image also appears at the back of the box of theVirtual Console versions of not only Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, but Pokémon Yellow as well.
• According to a FAQ page that was available in February 1999 onPokémon.com, there were no plans to release an American version of Pokémon Green, as well as any other Pokémon games that had been only released in Japanese at the time, which includedPokémon Yellow,Gold, Silver, andStadium.^[12] However, with the exception of Pokémon Green and Pokémon Stadium (the first Japanese game, not thelater game which was released in English), all the other Pokémon games mentioned were eventually released in English nonetheless.
• Pokémon Red and Green are the onlycore series games in whichHP Ups are not obtainable by repeatable means.
• Sales of these games combined with the Japanese version of Pokémon Blue, and the English versions of Pokémon Red and Blue exceed 31 million units, making these the highest selling Pokémon games as well as the only games in the series to exceed 30 million units.

In other languages

External links

• Pokémon Generation I (Virtual Console) Miiverse Community

References

Related articles

This game-related article is part ofProject Games, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on thePokémon games.

• Games
• Game Boy games
• Virtual Console games
• Nintendo 3DS games