Pokémon Red and Blue Versions

Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version were the first Pokémon games to be released outside of Japan, becoming available in North America on September 28, 1998, in Australia and New Zealand on October 23, 1998 and in Europe on October 5, 1999.Pokémon Red Version | Game Boy | Games | NintendoPokémon Blue Version | Game Boy | Games | Nintendo In North America, the pair closely followed the debut of the 's English dub, which began airing on September 8, 1998,Pokémon (TV) [Episode titles] - Anime News Network and within a year, Pokémon was well known as a popular Nintendo franchise.
The games were available on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console between the Pokémon 20th Anniversary on February 27, 2016 and the discontinuation of the 3DS Nintendo eShop on March 27, 2023.
Unlike later generations, Red and Blue were not the same as their corresponding Japanese releases . Besides Pokémon distribution, the aspects of Red and Blue such as graphics, script, and sprite designs are instead based on the Japanese .
Despite being released towards the end of Game Boy's lifespan, they quickly became the best-selling non-bundled games released for the Game Boy as well as being the best-selling s of all time when also including sales of Pokémon Green and the Japanese versions of Pokémon Red and Blue. Sales exceed 31 million units for all versions combined, which made them the best selling Pokémon games and the only games in the series to exceed 30 million units.
==Plot==
Illustrating the original Pokémon gameplay concepts, the (canonically known as ) begins his game in Pallet Town, a small town in the Kanto region, on the same day as his former best friend and now . After meeting up with Professor Oak while trying to leave for , both the player and their rival are asked by Oak to choose a first partner Pokémon—, , or —from the desk near him. Oak allows the player to choose first and the rival quickly gets jealous, chooses the first partner Pokémon whose type is super effective against the player's first partner Pokémon, then challenges the player to a .
After the battle, Oak allows the two new Trainers to leave for their across Kanto. Stopping in Viridian City's Poké Mart, the player will find that a package has come in for the professor, and the clerk asks that it be delivered to him. After this has been completed the professor gives one Pokédex to the player and one to the rival, and sends them on their way. Viridian City has a Gym; however, it is locked.
From here, the player has his first encounter with other Trainers, on and in Viridian Forest, and his first encounter with a Gym Leader: Brock the Gym Leader of Pewter City. After his defeat, journeying along and through Mt. Moon brings the player face to face with the regional villainous team, Team Rocket, who are attempting to extract rare Fossils from the cave. Their defeat allows the player to continue through the cave, obtain the Dome Fossil or Helix Fossil which can be regenerated into and , and continue onto , which leads directly into Cerulean City, where another Gym is. This one, however, is run by Misty, and specializes in Pokémon. To the north, as well, there are two routes leading up to Bill's cottage. On the way, the player is confronted with a trainer who tries to persuade him to join Team Rocket. When the player reaches Bill's cottage and frees him of his transformation into a Pokémon, he will give the player a ticket for the S.S. Anne, a luxury ship moored in and filled with Trainers. Taking a shortcut through a house burglarized by Team Rocket, the player finally arrives at .
After traveling down Routes 5 and , using the to bypass Saffron City, the player finally arrives in . This city is home to another Pokémon Gym; however, the way to it is blocked by a small tree. The only thing to do is to show the ticket to the guarding the harbor, allowing entry into the S.S. Anne. It is here, after assisting the captain with his seasickness, that the player will obtain the first of the five Hidden Machines available in the game, containing . With this, and the , the tree blocking the way to Vermilion Gym can be easily cut through, and Lt. Surge, a Gym Leader specializing in s, can be challenged. From here, beckons, as does Diglett's Cave, through which is the only way to get back to , and a second HM, containing held by one of Professor Oak's aides on . The player takes a brief detour to Pewter City's museum's back entrance which was previously blocked due to a Cut-able tree, which can now easily be bypassed. The player obtains the Old Amber in the museum. Heading back to Diglett's Cave, and to Vermilion, the player must go to Cerulean and to the east, onto and towards the Rock Tunnel.
Rock Tunnel, a still undeveloped natural tunnel between the sections of , is pitch black inside; for this reason, is recommended, but not required, for navigation of it. Finally reaching Lavender Town, the only town in Kanto without a Pokémon Gym besides Pallet, there is not much to do; the local Pokémon Tower is haunted. From here, leads to Saffron City, but it again must be bypassed by way of another , which has its other entrance on , on the west side of Saffron. Celadon City, the home of the fourth Gym which specializes in Pokémon, is just a short walk further. Like the Vermilion Gym, the Celadon Gym also has a small tree blocking the way to its entrance, and an old man outside.
The Rocket Game Corner in Celadon is not what it appears to be. In fact, the Game Corner itself is merely the above-ground portion of a sprawling underground complex: the Rocket Hideout. The Team Rocket boss, Giovanni, appears for the first time here, and after his defeat, flees, leaving behind a Silph Scope. A Silph Scope is required to fully navigate the Pokémon Tower inside of Lavender Town that the player encountered earlier.
After this, the Pokémon Tower can be navigated, and the ghosts haunting it are revealed to be and . In front of the stairs to the final floor, blocking the way, is also a final spirit, that of a deceased that was killed by Team Rocket when they captured her child. Making it all the way to the top reveals Mr. Fuji held hostage by Team Rocket grunts, who will leave when they are defeated. Fuji gives away the Poké Flute, and with that, the blocking and can finally be moved away. Another HM, containing , can be obtained easily by cutting away a tree blocking the northern section of Route 16.
Now the player is presented with a choice of how to get to Fuchsia City. Traveling down either way the Snorlax are blocking, a faster way via Routes 16, , and on Cycling Road, or down the of Routes , , , and , inevitably brings one to the southernmost city in continental Kanto, Fuchsia City, home of Koga of the ous Fuchsia Gym and the Kanto Safari Zone. The Safari Zone is currently running a contest: the person to reach a specific rest house first will win yet another HM, containing . Finding the Safari Zone Warden's Gold Teeth also will have him reward the player with the final of Kanto's HMs, containing .
The player then goes back to either Celadon City or Lavender Town, encountering the other on the way back. After stopping off at the Celadon Department Store and buying a drink at a vending machine, Saffron City can finally be entered. However, Team Rocket is guarding almost every door in the city, including that of the local Pokémon Gym! One of the open buildings, however, is the unofficial Fighting-type Pokémon Gym. After the player defeats the Fighting Dojo, he is entitled to either a or a . The city's centerpiece building, Silph Co.'s headquarters, has also been infiltrated by the organization, and at the top, waiting in the boardroom, is the Team Rocket Boss, Giovanni, appearing for a second time, demanding that the president give him the Master Ball that the company had developed. After his defeat, he flees.
After Team Rocket clears out of Saffron City, all buildings previously blocked are now open, as well as the Gym. The Gym Leader, Sabrina, specializes in s. The floor, as well, is covered in warp tiles that make it difficult to navigate. After Sabrina's defeat, the player makes his way back to Fuchsia City again and heads out to obtain the rest of the Badges.
With six Badges in hand, and five HMs in the bag, finally the player can adventure onto the open sea of Routes and . A short way across them, of course, is a minor obstacle: the Seafoam Islands. After they have been navigated through, the player can continue on Route 20 to Cinnabar Island, home of Blaine's Gym. There are also several more facilities on the island, including one that actually revives Pokémon Fossils. After Blaine's defeat, only the final Gym, that of Viridian City, remains.
Finally unlocked, the Gym, whose leader specializes in s, is revealed to be none other than the boss of Team Rocket himself, Giovanni! After his defeat, he vows to disband Team Rocket and disappears. Now with eight Badges, all that lies ahead is the Pokémon League at Indigo Plateau, conveniently at the end of .
The Elite Four await challengers, those who have proven themselves worthy by getting all eight Badges and making it through will face them, in order. Lorelei, who Pokémon is first, followed by Bruno, whose specialty is , Agatha, whose specialty is , and finally Lance, who specializes in s. After defeating these four, the reigning Pokémon Champion challenges the player to a final battle, and the Champion is none other than the player's own rival! After his defeat, Oak arrives and tells the player that he won because he cares better for his Pokémon, and the player's current party are added to the Hall of Fame.
After the credits roll, the player is back in Pallet Town. The previously closed Cerulean Cave is now open, and the powerful can be found inside.
==Blurb==
You've finally been granted your Pokémon Trainer's license. Now, it's time to head out to become the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer. It's going to take all you've got to collect in this enormous world. Catch and train monsters like the shockingly-cute . Face off against 's torrential water cannons. Stand strong when facing 's stormy . Trade with friends and watch your Pokémon evolve. Important—no single Pokémon can win at all. Can you develop the ultimate Pokémon strategy to defeat the eight Gym Leaders and become the greatest Pokémon Master of all time?
==Features==
===Gyms===
Players are introduced to the first eight Pokémon Gyms of the series, each with their own type affiliation, led by Brock (), Misty (), Lt. Surge (), Erika (), Koga (), Sabrina (), Blaine () and Giovanni ().
===Elite Four===
The Elite Four of Kanto are a step above the rest, all located at Indigo Plateau and ready to take on all challengers. In order, they are Lorelei (), Bruno (), Agatha () and Lance (). The final battle is against the Pokémon Champion, , who does not have a type specialization.
===Pokémon===
Each game contains pre-recorded data on 151 different species of Pokémon, including , a Pokémon unavailable to players of either game under normal conditions. Despite this, 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. Mew is the only Pokémon in these games that must be acquired through attending either a Nintendo sponsored event, a glitch, or cheating.
===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 of Generation I or Generation II which has that Pokémon available.
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==Connectivity==
Players may trade Pokémon between two cartridges or battle with another cartridge using a Game Boy Game 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 the Pokédex. The games can trade and battle with Western versions of Red, Blue, and . They can also trade with Western versions of via the Time Capsule. Red and Blue are completely incompatible with games from Generation 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 fully both and the (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.
Red and Blue are compatible with Pokémon Stadium and . While link battles are not possible directly between Pokémon Red and Blue and the Generation II games, a player may challenge a Generation II game using Pokémon Stadium 2.
===Virtual Console===
The Nintendo 3DS Virtual 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.
Using Poké Transporter, the entirety of Box 1 can be sent from the Generation I core series games to Pokémon Bank (regardless of language), from where they can be withdrawn in the Generation VII core series games.
==Localization changes==
* The first pair of games in Japan was , followed by Blue as the third core series game, which included a graphics and sound upgrade, as well as the removal of several known glitches that had been found in the original pair. In the localizations, the first pair of games was Red and Blue, which had the same version-exclusive Pokémon available as Pokémon Red and Green, and also kept the improvements from the Japanese Pokémon Blue.
* Because Pokémon Red and Blue's script is based on a translation of the script of but use the in-game trades from , two translation errors related to these trades occur.
** The man who trades the an on Cinnabar Island claims that the he received "went and evolved". As Raichu does not have an evolved form, this is not possible. In the context of Japanese Pokémon Blue, it makes sense as the player trades away a , which evolves through trade, for a .
** The old man who trades the player a in Cerulean City claims that the he received "went and evolved". As Poliwhirl cannot evolve via trade in Generation I, this is not possible. In the context of Japanese Pokémon Blue, the old man trades away a for a , which does evolve through trade.
* In the localized versions of Pokémon Red and Blue, the Pokédex entries were taken from the Japanese Pokémon Blue. The earlier Pokédex entries shared by Japanese Red and Green were left untranslated until they were reused in later games.
** In Japanese Pokémon Blue, two Pokédex entries use the term "Mythical Pokémon" (Japanese: まぼろしの ポケモン Mirage Pokémon), stating that is currently considered one and used to be considered one as well. In the English version, the word "mythical" is used referring to Dratini but "mirage" instead referring to Mew.
** In Japanese Pokémon Blue, Mew's entry has no mention of "many experts". This wording was added in the translation, as seen in: "still said to be a mirage by many experts".
** In Japanese Pokémon Blue, Mew's entry mentions that few people have seen it in the entire country (). In the English version, this was changed to mention the world instead of a country: "few people have seen it worldwide".
** In the localized versions of Pokémon Red and Blue, 's weight (132.3 lbs; 60.0 kg) and 's weight (44.1 lbs; 20.0 kg) are correctly taken from Japanese Blue, instead of using the lower incorrect values from Japanese Red and Green (6.0 kg for Nidoqueen and 2.0 kg for Geodude).
* In the player's bedroom, the video game console is a Famicom in the Japanese Red, Green, and Blue. This video game is a SNES in the localizations of all Generation I games.
* In the international Red and Blue, it is possible to buy HP Up in the Celadon Department Store, which was also true in the Japanese Blue but not in Japanese Red and Green.
* In the international Red and Blue, the Cerulean Cave uses the layout from Japanese Blue instead of the layout from Japanese Red and Green.
===Localization changes shared by Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow===
* In the player's story as seen in the Japanese game manuals, the player and rival have a different name in each game. This story is present in the English manuals as well, except their names are absent, the player character being referred to "you" and the rival character as "your rival".
** In Japanese, the player is named according to the current game: , , , or (Red, Green, Blue, or Yellow).
** In Japanese, the rival is named according to another game: , , or (Green, Red or Blue).
* In all languages of the Generation I games except French, the TV in the player's house is showing a movie involving four boys walking on railroad tracks, a reference to .(July 2000). 田尻智さん（ゲームフリーク）ＶＳ石原恒和さん（クリーチャーズ）対談 (ページｄ)。 Nintendo Online Magazine (N.O.M). No.23.
** The TV in the French version shows an animated cartoon featuring a boy with a monkey tail (French: "Un dessin animé! Un petit garçon avec une queue de singe."), possibly a reference to young Son Goku from , or alternatively, young Son Gohan from the sequel .
* In the localized versions of Generation I games, a in states: "The 3 legendary Pokémon are all birds of prey." However, in the Japanese dialogue, he simply says that they are three birds.
* In the Japanese version of the , the names of all Gym Leaders are written above their faces (each Japanese name consisting of exactly three katakana characters), except Giovanni's name is written as "---". In the international versions, the Gym Leader names are not written on the Trainer Card, possibly owing to the longer English names.
* In the Japanese version, the Pokémon's level is repeated in the first and second stats screens. In other language versions, the level is only shown in the first screen.
* Localization changes concerning the Town Map:
** In the Japanese version, there is a border around the map, and the place name is displayed on a short blank space at the top-left corner outside that border. In the international versions, that border was removed, and the place name is displayed on a blank line above the map, leaving more space for longer place names.
** In the Japanese version, the Town Map has a limit of 9 characters for the displayed place name. This would be enough to display the full Japanese name of all the places available on the map other than Silph Co.. However, some words are not used on the Town Map: シティ (City), タウン (Town), しま (Island, as seen in Cinnabar Island), こうげん (Plateau, as seen in Indigo Plateau), and カンパニー (Company, as seen in Silph Co.). For instance, while the Town Map displays the full name "Cerulean City" in English, this place is displayed as ハナダ (Hanada) instead of ハナダシティ (Hanada City) in Japanese. Silph Co. is displayed on the Town Map as シルフほんしゃビル ( Main Office Building), which may be a shortening of シルフ カンパニー ほんしゃ ビル ( Company Main Office Building).
** In the Japanese version, the only in-game mention of the Kanto region appears if the player interacts with the Town Map in 's house prior to obtaining it. However, the name "Kanto" was removed from this game quote in the international versions, rendering the region unnamed in-game.
* When encountering a Pokémon using a fishing rod, the game says "The hooked <POKÉMON> attacked!" In the Spanish localization, this was erroneously translated to "¡El malvado <POKéMON> atacó!". The word "malvado" translates roughly to "wicked" or "evil."
* In the Japanese versions of all Generation I games, the girl who gives the in exchange for a Soda Pop states that this move can sometimes cause the enemy to faint (Japanese: たまに あいてを きぜつ させる).
** In the English version of Pokémon Red and Blue, she makes no reference to fainting, but instead says Rock Slide can "spook the target sometimes". This may be a reference to flinching, even though the move could not cause flinching until Generation II.
** The the English version of Pokémon Yellow, this quote is absent.
* The acronym for TM in the French localization of the games is CT. It is used incorrectly in one area of the game. When the player exchanged Lemonade for CT49, the text reads "TM49... TRIPLATTAQUE!".
* In the Spanish and Italian localizations of the games, both versions erroneously refer to Squirtle's shell as "concha" and "conchiglia" which translates to "seashell" in Spanish and Italian respectively.
* In the Japanese versions of Generation I games (as well as in all versions of Generation II games and Pokémon Stadium series games), the moves , , , and always fail if the target is behind a . In the localized versions of Generation I games, these moves always hit if the target is behind a substitute (except Dream Eater, which will fail if the target is not sleeping).Swift (Speed Star) in Japanese 1st Gen - Glitch City Laboratories ForumsPokemon Red substitute/swift/drain bugs - Pastebin
** Both the original effect (always miss when behind a substitute) and the localized Generation I effect (always hit behind a substitute) were likely unintended. The change in effect for localized games likely is a side-effect from a fix that was meant to prevent to always hit a target behind a substitute (even if the target is in the semi-invulnerable turn of or ).
* In the Japanese version, there are butsudan (Buddhist shrines) in some Celadon City buildings, but they were changed to sculptures of in the English version. They return the text "ぶつだん だ……" (It's a butsudan...) in Japanese, but "It's a sculpture of DIGLETT." in English. 
* In the Japanese version, the PC storage system has 8 boxes with 30 Pokémon each instead of 12 boxes with 20 Pokémon each.
* In the Japanese version, the name of the non-player character always precedes the quote said when they are defeated in . After the character's name, there is a corner bracket character (『) and then the quote starts. The names of Trainer classes are abbreviated, such as ミニスカ (Miniski) instead of ミニスカート (Miniskirt) for .
** In the international versions of Generation I games, the opponent's name is not automatically added in the end battle quotes like this.
* In the Japanese versions of the handheld games, has 30% chance to freeze. The chance was lowered to 10% for 's Colosseum 2, the Stadium games, and all international Generation I games.
* In the Japanese versions of the Generation I handheld games, functions as a 100% accuracy move due to a glitch, unless the opponent is behind a . In all international games, Swift bypasses checks to always hit.
* The American staff in charge of localizing the games tried to change the designs, but Tsunekazu Ishihara turned down the proposal.
===Localization changes shared by Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen===
* In 's bedroom, there is Super Famicom in the Japanese version or a Super Nintendo Entertainment System in other languages.
** In most language versions, the game being played features with a bucket on his head. This is a reference to the Japan-exclusive game , also developed by Game Freak. In the German version, Mario is mentioned but not his bucket. In the French version, a plumber is mentioned but is not named.
* In the English version, a (named Cue Ball Luke in Generation III) on the area of the Cycling Road calls the player a "little mouse" before the battle and a "little rat" when defeated. Those references to real-life animals were added in the localization and are not present in the Japanese version.
** This dialogue is not present in the Generation VII remakes.
===Localization changes shared by Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen, Let's Go, Pikachu!, and Let's Go, Eevee!===
* Poké Center and Poké Mart signs were altered between regional releases
* In the Japanese version, the passed out drunk at the start of the game, hence why he blocks the way out of Viridian City at the start of the game. In the English version, he is grumpy due to not having had his coffee yet.
* Lt. Surge often uses katakana versions of English words in his Japanese dialogue. This is not addressed in the English game dialogue.
* In the Japanese version, at the Celadon Department Store 3F, the boy who receives Haunter in a trade calls himself Haunter Maniac (Japanese: ゴーストマニア Ghost Maniac). This name is not mentioned in the English versions.
** In Generation I only, the two boys trade a for a , and it is implied that Haunter evolves by trade into . In the localized versions, they trade for Kangaskhan instead.
* In the Japanese version, a on states that the Seafoam Islands used to be two islands, implying that they are currently considered a single island. However, in the English versions, the Jr. Trainer♀ instead states that the Seafoam Islands used to be a single island.
* In the Japanese version, the characters Erik and Sara (Japanese: コージ Kōji and アツコ Atsuko) may be cameos of Kōji Nishino and Atsuko Nishida.
** Their Japanese dialogue involves some wordplay using the word 「とり」 ("tori"). They failed to meet each other due to a misunderstanding: Erik used a bird Pokémon to arrive at Fuchsia City (とりポケモン "tori Pokémon" means bird Pokémon), while Sara is waiting for him inside the Safari Zone or GO Park where they would be able to obtain Pokémon (ポケモンとり "Pokémon tori" means obtain Pokémon). This wordplay is not mentioned in the English version.
* The Japanese version of the Pokémon Mansion journals use a singular "わたし" (watashi, "I" pronoun), implying that only one person was involved in discovering and creating . The English localization changed this pronoun to "we"; this happens to be consistent with the events of Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, in which a group of scientists created Mewtwo.
==Differences in the Virtual Console release==
The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console releases can link with other Virtual Console Generation I and II core series games via Nintendo 3DS wireless communication, simulating the Game Link Cable. When initiating a link, the Virtual Console menu on the touch screen replaces the Cable Club attendant's dialogue.
Using Poké Transporter, Pokémon can be sent from the Generation I core series games to Pokémon Bank, from which they can be withdrawn in the Generation VII core series games.
The moves , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and had their animations changed slightly to tone down the flashing.
==Development==
:This section is about general development info. For development leftovers and unused content, see Pokémon Red and Green beta.
===As Red, Green, and Blue===
====Release date====
The games were originally scheduled for a December 21, 1995 release, according to an old Nintendo of Japan flyer.すばらしきポケットモンスター赤緑（表側）の広告 This could explain the copyright year of 1995 that appears in the games' introductory sequence, and all subsequent games and official merchandise.
====No Mew present====
According to the interview by Satoru Iwata with Tsunekazu Ishihara and Shigeki Morimoto about the release of , localized as Iwata Asks, they admitted that after the tools were removed, they added in the remaining space on the . Nintendo thought that this would have been risky because altering the internal data after completing the testing period meant that any new and/or es created by adding data without referring to debugging tools would have been much harder to fix. Standard practices usually discourage altering the and not testing it just before releasing the to the customer.Iwata Asks | 1. Just Making The Last Train | Iwata Asks - Pokémon HeartGold Version & SoulSilver Version | Nintendo
====Poké Balls====
Some concept art depicts Poké Balls on the ground, in two pieces. This is most likely just a carryover from when Pokémon was still the concept of Capsule Monsters. Strangely, the original Poké Ball sprites from lack the button in the center of the Poké Ball.
====Rebattling Trainers====
In an interview with Shōko Nakagawa in her book Shōko Nakagawa: Pokémon Taught Me The Meaning of Life, Tsunekazu Ishihara revealed that originally, the game was programmed to trigger a battle with each Trainer any time the player walked by them, even if the player had already defeated them in battle previously. The wild Pokémon encounter rate was also significantly higher originally. The Trainer rebattling was omitted from the final release and the wild Pokémon encounter rate was significantly reduced.Dogasu's Backpack: Nakagawa Shouko "Pokemon Taught Me the Meaning of Life"
====Prerelease border====
On page 153 of the December 1995 book New Game Design by Game Freak is a summary of 's final plot. Two screenshots of the game are shown which use an unseen border resembling a Super Game Boy border. In it, "POCKET MONSTERS!" is written in a different size. The border has more Pokémon on it than the Super Game Boy borders from the final game. and are included, suggesting the screenshot may be from Japanese Red. does not appear in the border.
NGD border 2.png|Title screen screenshot from New Game Design.
NGD border 1.png|Battle screen screenshot from New Game Design.
Japanese RedTitle SGB.png|Final game's Super Game Boy border for comparison.
====Concept art====
During a gaming exhibition called , early concept art of Capsule Monsters by Ken Sugimori was featured, along with pre-release material from . The concept art depicts rough versions of various concepts that made it into the final releases of the Generation I games. They seem to include various s, the , riding on a , a , Celadon City, Silph Co., and a town with a fountain which could have been reworked into Celadon City. Some other are identifiable in a raw or semi-normal form, such as , and others are prototypical of an entire class of Pokémon, such as a basic .
====GameCenter CX====
A Japan-exclusive special Pokémon episode of , known as Retro Game Master outside of Japan, included an interview with Satoshi Tajiri, where he revealed early character profiles of , and . Notably, they are given a National Pokédex number which matches their internal index number, rather than their final Kanto Pokédex number. Nidoking, for instance, is noted as being #007, rather than #034, either suggesting that there was another method of ordering the Pokémon proposed, or that they reflect their ordering in the internal data. The latter is supported by interviews with Ken Sugimori, which verify that , which has an index number of 001, was the first Pokémon ever created, and early sketches from Capsule Monsters featuring Rhydon. Nidoking is also referred to as マイコー♂ Maikō♂, indicating that there were either placeholders or alternate names for Pokémon before the development of had finished.
====Sprites====
Different front sprites of were planned for , notably the ones for , , , and . These were featured in the November 1996 issue of CoroCoro, which published general information about the game.
===As Red and Blue===
====Pokémon names====
During the promotional period that preceded the English release of both the and Pokémon Red and Blue, a large amount of were shown with different names from those they had in the final releases. Some of these names were similar to their final names, but some were quite close to their Japanese names, and others were completely different from any current Pokémon name.
In addition to promotional materials distributed before the games' English releases, the book Pokémon Trainer's Survival Guide, one of the earliest player's guides available in North America, erroneously refers to Haunter as Spectre, its pre-release name.
# 	 	Final name	Early name 	Japanese name
006	 	 	 	Lizardon
010	 	 	 	Caterpie
014	 	 	Kokoon 	Cocoon
015	 	 	Beedril 	Spear
016	 	 	Pidge 	Poppo
018	 	 	Pidgeott 	Pigeot
019	 	 	Rattatak 	Koratta
023	 	 	/Arbo 	Arbo
024	 	 	Nagaasp 	Arbok
028	 	 	Sandstorm 	Sandpan
035	 	 	Aria 	Pippi
036	 	 	Ariala 	Pixy
037	 	 	Foxfire 	Rokon
038	 	 	/Nine Tales 	Kyukon
039	 	 	Pudding 	Purin
040	 	 	Custard 	Pukurin
043	 	 	Ladish 	Nazonokusa
046	 	 	Parasyte 	Paras
050	 	 	Digda 	Digda
058	 	 	Flamie 	Gardie
059	 	 	Blaze 	Windie
060	 	 	Aqua 	Nyoromo
061	 	 	/Polihirl 	Nyorozo
062	 	 	 	Nyorobon
063	 	 	Hocus 	Casey
064	 	 	Pocus 	Yungerer
066	 	 	Karate/Kara-tee 	Wanriky
067	 	 	Kungfo/Kung-foo 	Goriky
068	 	 	Judoh/Ju-doh 	Kairiky
072	 	 	Jilly 	Menokurage
073	 	 	Manowar/Man O War	Dokukurage
078	 	 	Gallop 	Gallop
079	 	 	Slowmo 	Yadon
081	 	 	Coil 	Coil
082	 	 	Recoil 	Rarecoil
083	 	 	Fowler 	Kamonegi
084	 	 	Dodo 	Dodo
087	 	 	Manaty 	Jugon
092	 	 	Spirit 	Ghos
093	 	 	Spectre 	Ghost
094	 	 	Phantom 	Gangar
096	 	 	Sleeper 	Sleepe
099	 	 	Kingle 	Kingler
102	 	 	 	Tamatama
103	 	 	 	Nassy
104	 	 	Orphon 	Karakara
105	 	 	Guardia 	Garagara
106	 	 	Lee 	Sawamular
107	 	 	Chan 	Ebiwalar
108	 	 	Tonguetyd 	Beroringa
109	 	 	Ny 	Dogars
110	 	 	La 	Matadogas
113	 	 	Lucky 	Lucky
114	 	 	Medusa/Meduza 	Monjara
118	 	 	Goldy 	Tosakinto
119	 	 	Neptune 	Azumao
122	 	 	Mrmime 	Barrierd
123	 	 	Stryke 	Strike
130	 	 	Skulkraken 	Gyarados
131	 	 	Ness 	Laplace
132	 	 	Morpho 	Metamon
133	 	 	Eon 	Eievui
137	 	 	Poregon 	Porygon
138	 	 	Ess 	Omnite
139	 	 	Kargo 	Omstar
140	 	 	Att 	Kabuto
141	 	 	Lantis 	Kabutops
142	 	 	Ptera 	Ptera
147	 	 	Dragoon 	Miniryu
148	 	 	Dragyn 	Hakuryu
====Text====
Before the English releases of , screenshots were released of a with the where the text string "The <sc>Blue</sc> wants to fight!" was used. While this text would work with a typical , such as "The <sc>Lass</sc> wants to fight!" or "The <sc>Hiker</sc> wants to fight!", as they were not given personal names until Generation II, it would cause problems with Gym Leader, Elite Four, rival, and link battles, causing them to read "The <sc>Misty</sc> wants to fight!" or "The <sc>Lance</sc> wants to fight!", as these Trainers did not at the time have titles, only their names. Because of this, the The was dropped in the final releases, leading to the somewhat odd sentence style in Generation I of:
* "{Trainer's class or name} wants to fight!"
A screenshot in the instruction manual and player's guide of English Red and Blue still contains the text "The <sc>Brock</sc> wants to fight!", possibly suggesting a late removal. The instruction manual also mentions Pokémon Leaders instead of Gym Leaders.
A slightly different grammar was also going to be used for other text strings.
* "{Player} sent {Pokémon} out!" instead of "{Player} sent out {Pokémon}!"
* "A wild {Pokémon} appeared!" became just "Wild {Pokémon} appeared!" (this change would be reverted in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, where it has been kept since then)
** Similarly, "The enemy {Pokémon} fainted!" became simply "Enemy {Pokémon} fainted!" (also reverted in XD as the The was reinstated)
==Reception==
The games received positive reviews from the press, receiving a perfect 10/10 "Masterful" rating from IGN.IGN: Pokemon Blue Version (Pokemon Blue) (retrieved December 21, 2009) The games received an average score of about 89% on GameRankings,Pokemon Red Version for Game Boy - GameRankings (retrieved December 21, 2009) the second highest on the site for a core series Pokémon game, and the 3rd and 4th best score for a Game Boy title.Reviews and News Articles - GameRankings (retrieved December 21, 2009) Video Game Canon ranks Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen as five of the best games of all time.Video Game Canon (retrieved 2023 June 26)
===Criticism===
Though they brought Pokémon to international fame following the success of the Japanese Red and Green, Pokémon Red and Blue have retrospectively been met with criticism, especially compared to later releases in the series. Many Pokémon look very little like their appearance in the , which premiered nearly simultaneous with the games' North American release, or later games, which improved on several other aspects as well as the graphics. Some have also accused the Kanto region itself and the Pokémon in it of being blander or less detailed than later regions and regional Pokédexes.
The two games are also notorious for having several drastic glitches, among them MissingNo., Glitch City, and the Mew glitch. The battle system also features numerous glitches and oversights, such as the Badge boost glitch, the 1/256 miss glitch, and Psychic's unintended immunity to Ghost (which was corrected to be a weakness from Generation II onwards). On the other hand, many players have found that these oddities make Red and Blue unique from other games in the series, and have praised such errors either as opportunities for exploration or exploitation (e.g., as a way to get Mew), or as interesting alternative battle mechanics (e.g., among challenge runners who exploit Badge boosts).
 	
Koffing's Red and Blue sprite	Koffing's Generation V sprite
==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack release for also applies to Pokémon Red and Blue.
==Staff==
==Gallery==
===Title screens===
File:RedTitle GBC.png|Red title screen (Game Boy Color)
File:BlueTitle GBC.png|Blue title screen (Game Boy Color)
File:RedTitle SGB.png|Red title screen (Super Game Boy)
File:BlueTitle SGB.png|Blue title screen (Super Game Boy)
File:RedTitle 3DS VC.png|Red title screen (Virtual Console)
File:RedTitle 3DS VC Secret.png|Red Secret title screen (Virtual Console)
===Virtual Console icons===
Red VC icon.png|Red Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console icon
Blue VC icon.png|Blue Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console icon
==Trivia==
* The names Red and Blue were selected because it was believed that these colors would better appeal to Americans due to the being red, white, and blue.GAME FREAK | POCKEMON JOURNAL (archive)
** Despite the containing red and green but not blue, the games were still localized as Pokémon Versione Rossa e Blu instead of Pokémon Versione Rossa e Verde
* The blurb on the back of the boxes states that 139 different can be obtained in each game without trading. This, however, includes all Pokémon that the must choose between (i.e., both the and families are counted). Therefore, the true total of different Pokémon obtainable in one adventure without trading is 124, which excludes the two unchosen first partner Pokémon families, one Fossil family, two Eeveelutions, one of Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, and the four Pokémon that only evolve when traded.
** This obtainable is based on the Caught status in the Pokédex. However, if one of each Pokémon is counted to be on your Box, this will further go down to 120. This excludes the first two stages of the chosen first partner Pokémon, the first stage of the Fossil chosen, and Eevee.
* According to the Pokémon Pokédex Collector's Edition (Prima's Official Pokémon Guide), Red and Blue were developed by a team of nine members.
* Prior to the Virtual Console release announcement, Pokémon.com listed Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow with a PEGI rating of 3.Pokémon™ Red Version and Pokémon™ Blue Version | Video Games | Pokemon.com (archive) When PEGI rated the game for its Virtual Console release, it received a rating of 12, due to gambling.
* An error made during development causes the depicted during Professor Oak's introductory lecture to be a but with the cry of a . This error was inherited from the Japanese Red, Green, and Blue games.
* The box arts for Pokémon Red, , and are the only three instances where the English Pokémon logo is shown partially covered by some element (in this case, Charizard's head).
* In the Canadian French manual for Pokémon Blue, Pokémon is often misspelled as "Pokémons".
* Several official sources, such as Pokémon.comPokémon™ Red Version and Pokémon™ Blue Version | Video Games | Pokemon.com (UK) and Iwata Asks interview,Iwata Asks | 2. Pokémon Born Anew | Iwata Asks in Motion: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y | Nintendo incorrectly state that these games were released in Europe on June 10, 1999. This error appears to have come from the confusion of American and European date formats (the game was released in different parts of Europe on different days from October 5 to 8).
* The opening of Pokémon Red features a battling a , like in the original Japanese Red and Green versions, while the opening of Pokémon Blue features Gengar battling a instead as in the Japanese Blue.
** Due to an oversight, Jigglypuff appears purple (instead of pink) in this battle against Gengar. This is a leftover from the earlier battle between two purple Pokémon (Gengar vs. Nidorino).
* The title screen of international Pokémon Red and Blue features the same 16 Pokémon appearing one-on-one together with as in Japanese Red and Blue, respectively. This starts with Charmander in Red and Squirtle in Blue. However, since there is no international game named Pokémon Green, the list of 16 Pokémon from Japanese Green is not seen in the international games.
==In other languages==
==External links==
* Miiverse - Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Version Community
==References==
==Related articles==
* Pokémon Red and Blue walkthrough
Category:Game Boy games
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Category:Virtual Console games
Category:Nintendo 3DS games
de:Pokémon Rote Edition und Blaue Edition
es:Pokémon Rojo y Pokémon Azul
fr:Pokémon Versions Rouge et Bleue
it:Pokémon Rosso e Blu