Generation I

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Generation I
Pokémon Green Version
Title screen of Pokémon Green Version
Debut EN September 28, 1998
JA February 27, 1996
Pokémon 151
Main games Red, Green, and Blue, Yellow
Region(s) introduced Kanto
Battle arena games Stadium
End EN October 15, 2000 (748 days)
JA November 21, 1999 (1363 days)

The first generation of Pokémon games, known among older fans as the color generation or the chromatic generation due to the names of the versions released, is the initial set of four Pokémon games released.

Beginning with Pokémon Red and Green, and later joined by third version Blue and special edition Yellow in Japan, the Generation I games were developed beginning as early as 1990 from an idea that Satoshi Tajiri had thought of and pitched to Nintendo with the help of Shigeru Miyamoto. The inspiration for many of the key mechanics introduced in this generation came from Tajiri's childhood interest in bug collecting, with the trading system between two Game Boys being thought of when he imagined a caterpillar crawling across the link cable between two systems.

This generation was localized into English, with initial attempts to keep the Pocket Monsters name for international use blocked due to the Monster in My Pocket franchise leading to the release as "Pokémon". Further alterations made in the localization included the combination of Red, Green, and Blue into the English versions of Pokémon Red and Blue, using Red and Green's wild Pokémon encounter lists but Blue's slightly improved graphics. Despite this, the simultaneous release of the games and anime led to an almost-overnight surge in popularity that raised some parental concern, often dubious, and cemented the Pokémon franchise firmly as a Nintendo mainstay alongside Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda.

Two battle arena games were released in this generation: the mostly-incomplete Pokémon Stadium (Japanese), which went unreleased outside of Japan and only allowed use of 42 Pokémon, and the improved Pokémon Stadium, which featured several special battle modes and a Gym Leader Castle where players could take their fully-trained teams for matches against the Kanto Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champion.

The storyline of the Kanto region is contemporaneous with the Hoenn story of Generation III, as revealed by details in both the Hoenn-based games as well as the later remakes of Generation I. The storylines of the Generation II and Generation IV games occur three years after this generation, with details about this link explicitly noted throughout the Johto-based games.

Gameplay

Generation I introduced the key Pokémon gameplay elements which have remained to this day, as well as a system of game releases now considered by fans to be the "standard formula". While many of the features enjoyed in the more recent generations are later additions to the series, the following have their origins in Generation I:

  • The player has a party of up to six Pokémon with them, which can be used in battle against opponent Pokémon Trainers or wild Pokémon.
  • A PC-based Pokémon Storage System, made up of 12 boxes of 20 Pokémon each and developed by Bill, a Pokémaniac, is available to store reserve Pokémon not in the party (up to 240 total).
  • 151 species of Pokémon, with many related to each other by way of evolution.
  • A complex battle system, including:
    • Five stats—HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special—which each Pokémon has. Different Pokémon have different stats, even among the same species.
    • 15 different types, which each Pokémon species has inherent to itself.
    • 165 unique moves, restricted to four per Pokémon, each with its own type, accuracy, and base power.
  • The Pokémon League challenge, consisting of Kanto's eight Pokémon Gyms, scattered across the region with each specializing in a different type, and the Elite Four and Pokémon Champion, awaiting challengers at Indigo Plateau.
  • A linked trade and battle system between two Game Boy systems, allowing players to exchange Pokémon they caught for a Pokémon owned by another person or to battle against each other to test their skills. Some Pokémon have to be traded so that they can evolve.

Regions

Kanto

Kanto
Main article: Kanto

Generation I introduced the first region to the Pokémon series, which, though unnamed in the original English games, is named in Japanese as Kanto, after the region of Japan it is based on. The name has since passed into English, first being used in Super Smash Bros., and subsequently being noted in all games since.

Starter Pokémon

At the outset of the player's journey, he will have no Pokémon on hand, and venturing outside of Pallet Town is impossible, as Professor Oak will stop him and bring him back to his lab, where three Pokémon await both the player and his rival.

The starters of the Kanto region began the three-type trio that is still followed in Generation VI of Grass, Fire, and Water, with the player's choice being between Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. Much as in later generations as well, the rival will choose whichever of the three has the type that is super effective against that of the player.

The choice of a starter can make the beginning few Gyms change in difficulty, but it does not affect much in the long run aside from the rival's party. Bulbasaur is known by many to be the easiest to start with, as its Grass-type weakens the first two Gyms and resists the attacks of the third. Squirtle is known as the second easiest, as Water types also weaken the first Gym; however, it can prove difficult mid-game if the player has not caught a Pokémon that can resist the later Gyms. Charmander is widely regarded as the hardest of the trio, as Fire-type moves do little damage against the first two Gyms' Pokémon, and there are few opportunities to capture a Pokémon that can counterbalance its weaknesses against the first several Gyms.

In Pokémon Yellow, instead of the normal trio found in Red, Green, and Blue, players can only start with the Electric-type Pikachu, which likewise has difficulty with the first Gym. The rival will take Oak's Eevee and evolve it into one of its three stone-based evolutions depending on the results of the player's battles against him.

Gym Leaders

The eight Kanto Gym Leaders each specialize in a different type of Pokémon. Each gives out a Badge and a TM on their defeat.

Indigo League
Gym Leader
Japanese
Location
Japanese
Type Badge
{{{size}}}
Brock
タケシ Takeshi
Pewter City
ニビシティ
Nibi City
Rock Boulder Badge.png
Boulder Badge
{{{size}}}
Misty
カスミ Kasumi
Cerulean City
ハナダシティ
Hanada City
Water Cascade Badge.png
Cascade Badge
{{{size}}}
Lt. Surge
マチス Matis
Vermilion City
クチバシティ
Kuchiba City
Electric Thunder Badge.png
Thunder Badge
{{{size}}}
Erika
エリカ Erika
Celadon City
タマムシシティ
Tamamushi City
Grass Rainbow Badge.png
Rainbow Badge
{{{size}}}
Koga
キョウ Kyō
Fuchsia City
セキチクシティ
Sekichiku City
Poison Soul Badge.png
Soul Badge
{{{size}}}
Sabrina
ナツメ Natsume
Saffron City
ヤマブキシティ
Yamabuki City
Psychic Marsh Badge.png
Marsh Badge
{{{size}}}
Blaine
カツラ Katsura
Cinnabar Island
グレンじま
Guren Island
Fire Volcano Badge.png
Volcano Badge
{{{size}}}
Giovanni
サカキ Sakaki
Viridian City
トキワシティ
Tokiwa City
Ground Earth Badge.png
Earth Badge


Discussion of Generation I

0572Minccino.png This section does not yet meet the quality standards of Bulbapedia. Please feel free to edit this section to make it conform to Bulbapedia norms and conventions.

When the games were first released, despite their inferior graphics and sound compared to other games of the time, they were revolutionary, firmly rooting the Pokémon series as one of Nintendo's mainstays alongside Mario and The Legend of Zelda.

Throughout the six generations so far, Pokémon has continued to build on the successes of Generation I's system, while addressing the drawbacks and errors made in the development of the games. Many of the Pokémon world's standards were set in the first generation, including the first five HMs, all of which, with the exception of Flash, remain tools required for the game's completion in Generation V.

Not only were gameplay aspects of the world set in Generation I, but also the storyline aspects. Each region since Kanto has had a local Pokémon Professor named after a tree who gives the player a starter Pokémon, an evil team whose goal is to rule the world, and many other things that are now integral to being a core series game.

The games proved popular enough that, eight years after their original release, they received remakes in the form of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, as the original versions are incompatible with Generation III and onward.

Balancing issues

The original first-generation games had some game balance issues, mainly due to the limited variety of Pokémon type combinations and movesets. Those that were eventually fixed in Generation II (and are thus exclusive to Generation I) were:

  • Two Pokémon types in the game were matchless:
    • Psychic-type Pokémon had virtually no match because their moves were resisted by no types other than itself and their only weakness was to the Bug type, of which there were only three damaging moves: Leech Life, Pin Missile, and Twineedle. Additionally, most of the Pokémon that learned these moves were part Poison, and therefore weak to Psychic types. Ghost-type moves are also completely ineffective to Psychic types instead of being super-effective, due to what may be a programming bug. This made it easy for the player to catch a Drowzee or Abra relatively early into the game, evolve it, and teach it the powerful move Psychic, allowing it to easily defeat most opponents.
    • Pure Dragon-type Pokémon had literally no weaknesses, as it was only weak to itself. However, since the only damage-dealing Dragon-type move always did a fixed damage of 40HP, there were no moves that were super-effective against pure Dragon types. Since the Dratini evolutionary line was the only series of Dragon-type Pokémon, Dragonite was the only Dragon type with a weakness, as it is also part Flying-type.
  • The Bag only had 20 slots, and each stack of items (including key items) occupied one slot. This forced the player to constantly store obsolete key items, TMs, and HMs into the PC in order to make space for new ones.
  • Except for the Elite Four, there were no Trainers who could be rebattled, meaning that, barring winning expensive TMs at the Game Corner and selling them or using Pay Day many times, the amount of money that a player could earn before reaching Indigo Plateau was limited.
  • The Special stat represented both Special Attack and Special Defense, meaning that a Pokémon with a high Special stat had a decisive edge in battle. For example, Venusaur had a base Special stat of 100, used Grass-type (considered "Special") moves, and was weak to mostly Special types (except for Flying and Bug types).
  • Leech Seed and Toxic went off the same damage calculator when they were stacked alongside each other, allowing Leech Seed to drain twice as much damage.
  • Bad Poisoning would revert to standard poisoning if an inflicted Pokémon was switched out.
  • Critical hit ratios were based off of a Pokémon's speed, allowing fast Pokémon such as Jolteon or Zapdos deal large amounts of critical hits.
    • One-hit KO movess were also based off of speed, making them useless if the user was slower than the target.
  • Due to a glitch, Focus Energy and Dire Hits cut the user's critical hit ratio by 75%, instead of doubling it.
  • Critical hits would ignore stat-ups from both parties rather than just the target. Three Swords Dances would allow the user to do more damage normally than a critical hit from a target, allowing for a wide amount of luck-based victories in battles.
  • Using Agility or Swords Dance while paralyzed or burned (respectively) would negate the status impairments from those effects, then double the enhanced status.
  • Frozen Pokémon are only able to thaw out from an Ice Heal or by being inflicted with Fire-type moves or Haze.
  • Counter can be used in response to Guillotine or Horn Drill to instantly defeat an enemy Pokémon, even if the move hit the user's Substitute.
  • Switching boxes required saving.
  • With the exception of Swift, every attack had at least a 1/256 chance of missing.
  • Wrap, Bind, Fire Spin, and Clamp immobilized the target for 2-5 turns as a side-effect. If a trapped Pokémon switched out, it'd still be considered trapped during that turn.
  • Whirlwind and Roar did absolutely nothing in trainer battles.
  • If Hyper Beam KOs a Pokémon, the user doesn't need to recharge on the succeeding turn.
  • Although Rest acts as a Full Restore with the side-effect of falling asleep, it does not alleviate the status impairments caused by burns or paralysis.
  • Struggle is programmed with Normal-type offensive properties instead of being programmed to ignore them, making it ineffective against Ghost types.
  • When his with a super-effective move, the message that displays only reflects whether or not the move was super-effective against the target's second type.
  • Overusing stat-ups would eventually cause the boosted stats to roll over into absurdly low numbers.
  • Waking up from sleep takes an entire turn all on its own.
  • Substitutes do not defend against status impairments. Hyper Beam also doesn't require a recharge if it destroys the Substitute, and Selfdestructing and Exploding does not make the user faint if it destroys the Substitute.
  • Using Substitute while having 25% or less of one's maximum HP left inadvertently KOs the user.
  • As soon as Rage connects, the user will become disobedient and will be unable to use any other move until it faints. When Rage is used, it only loses the initial 1PP, and if it misses, its accuracy drops to 1/256.
  • Mimic randomly mimics an enemy's move, allowing the user to duplicate the enemy's moveset.
  • Disable randomly disables an enemy's move, and also builds the enemy's rage should it be in effect.
  • If a Bide user is hit with a status move before its second turn, the damage dealt will equal that of the last attack used against it.
  • Blizzard has an absurd accuracy of 90%.
  • If a Pokémon's HP is 255 or 511HP below its maximum, then recovery moves will fail.
  • Multi-hit moves (e.g. Fury Attack or Fury Swipes) deal the same amount of damage for each attack, meaning that if the first move is a critical hit, the next 1-4 turns will be critical hits as well.

Kanto thematic motif

The first generation of Pokémon games were more directed towards genetics and engineering. The three starters, Bulbasaur (dinosaur-plant hybrid), Charmander (salamander), and Squirtle (turtle), are all reptilian in nature, and take some elements from the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are reptiles, and were one of the most successful groups of animals to exist. Bulbasaur, the most similar to dinosaurs of the three, is the first listed in the Pokédex. Other Pokémon in the generation continue this theme. Eevee is capable of evolving into multiple forms due to its unstable DNA; Voltorb is the result of a Poké Ball experiment gone awry; Porygon is a virtual reality Pokémon. These games also introduce three Fossils, the most introduced of any generation, which can be resurrected into prehistoric Pokémon: Aerodactyl, Kabuto and Omanyte. Finally, out of the five legendaries that appeared, the most powerful was man-made through genetic engineering: Mewtwo. It remains the only legendary Pokémon, apart from Genesect, created through artificial means. The uncatchable legendary, Mew, also has the DNA of every Pokémon in existence.

Bill himself invented the sophisticated PC used in most regions, and accidentally turned himself into a Pokémon. Ditto could also mimic the abilities and structure of any Pokémon it encountered, making it capable of breeding with most Pokémon from Generation II and onwards. The Master Ball is the most powerful Poké Ball in the franchise, and was first engineered by Kanto scientists as well. With this generation the very foundation of the Pokémon franchise, most successors have only expanded upon Kanto's basics such as trading, leveling-up and stone evolution.

Japanese title screens

Pokémon Red Pokémon Blue Pokémon Yellow
Japanese RedTitle.png Japanese BlueTitle.png Japanese YellowTitle.png

Trivia

  • Generation I introduced the most moves to the series, with 165.
  • Excluding FireRed and LeafGreen (as they are remakes), Generation I is the only generation so far whose mascots are non-legendary Pokémon.
  • As far as release dates go, Generation I is the shortest generation in North America, partly due to the fact that Red and Blue were not released until 1998, while in Japan, they were released in 1996, and their successors, Gold and Silver, were released closer together, in 1999 in Japan and 2000 in North America. As the rest of the world's releases are more similar to the North American releases than the Japanese releases, it is also the shortest generation worldwide.
  • Due to being the first and least advanced generation, Generation I has the highest number of glitch Pokémon which are known to be obtainable without the use of an external device.
  • Prior to Generation VI, Generation I had the most extra space in the Pokémon Storage System if the player captures one of each Pokémon, with 240 spots available for 151 Pokémon, leaving 89 extra spots.
  • Generation I is the only generation not to feature the paired versions' mascots on the title screen, but instead includes the first evolution stage of two starter Pokémon.
  • Generation I is the only generation without a playable female character, although evidence of an intended female player character has been discovered.
  • Generation I is the only generation that indexes its Pokémon in order of creation instead of by Pokédex number.


Generation I: Red & GreenBlue (JP)Red & BlueYellow
Generation II: Gold & SilverCrystal
Generation III: Ruby & SapphireFireRed & LeafGreenEmerald
Generation IV: Diamond & PearlPlatinumHeartGold & SoulSilver
Generation V: Black & WhiteBlack 2 & White 2
Generation VI: X & YOmega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
Generation VII: Sun & MoonUltra Sun & Ultra Moon
Let's Go, Pikachu! & Let's Go, Eevee!‎
Generation VIII: Sword & Shield (The Isle of Armor / The Crown Tundra)
Brilliant Diamond & Shining PearlLegends: Arceus
Generation IX: Scarlet & Violet (The Teal Mask / The Indigo Disk)
Legends: Z-A
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