Pokemon seems like one of those franchises that has always existed. Part of that comes from the fact it debuted on the Game Boy, Nintendo's first handheld system; however, Red and Blue arrived very late into that console's life cycle. They debuted in 1996 in Japan, and they did not make their way to North America until 1998. In fact, they became available in Western countries roughly two months before Nintendo launched the Game Boy Color. By the time the Game Boy Advance was released, Pokemon had been around for less than three years, at least when it comes to games in North America.