Chronological release order for the first Pokémon games?

[*Laurelindo*]

Does anyone know exactly in which order the Pokémon games were first released in Japan in 1996?
I've heard that Pokémon Red and Blue were released first, but it seems like the names for the very first games are based on the colours of the first Pokémon monsters, so shouldn't that technically mean that the first game was named Pokémon Green, since that's the colour of Bulbasaur (Pokémon no. #1)?
This would also make sense since there is a Leaf Green remake.

[ljkkjlcm9]

Red and green were the first two in Japan. Due to popularity, they enhanced portions and released blue. When moved to America they also enhanced red and just released red and blue.

THE JACKEL

[*Laurelindo*]

Thank you.

One more question, by the way:
why exactly did Pikachu end up being the whole series' mascot?
I mean, he seems like a random Pokémon in the bunch to me, and you would expect that Bulbasaur should be the real mascot, since he's no. #1 and appeared as one of the very first monsters in the first games.
Sure, he's cute and adorable and everything, but so are lots of other Pokémons (like Jigglypuff, for instance).

[Jiro]

That probably boils down to whatever the creators of the tv show were thinking. Probably lucky guess, maybe there was some fan feedback. Who knows?

[Fynn]

It was supposed to be Clefairy, but Pikachu proved much more popular with the fans.

[Bolivar]

That Pikachu thing is pretty interesting, since it's actually not a really prevalent monster in the game. Guessing they did some focus testing...

[Loony BoB]

They probably opted pretty quickly to not have it be one of the starter choices from the game, which to me is a sensible decision. From there, they would have had to look at all the others - some would be considered too large, some too rare, some too weak, some not cute enough, some too cute. I think Pikachu is basically a healthy balance.

They made the right choice, however they came to it - Pikachu is a fantastic 'character' for the anime series and it obviously has done very well.

I don't think Pikachu is a 'mascot' of the games, though, Yellow excepted. Just the TV series.

[*Laurelindo*]

Yeah that's true, I do remember that Pikachu was a central character in the animes, which would obviously give him a lot of limelight.

But since the anime series started around two years after the first Pokémon games came out, I guess Pikachu indeed was "one in the bunch" during 1995 and 1996 and that most people back then thought of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle as "the main Pokémon characters".