2024 marks the 28th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise, as it all began in 1996 with the Japanese versions of Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green, later turned Pokemon Red and Blue for international release. Pokemon Yellow followed shortly after, in 1999, and it was a huge departure from the original titles thanks to a non-selectable starter that couldn't even evolve - Pikachu. All mainline games in the series before and after Pokemon Yellow made players choose their desired starter between three critters. Even though Pokemon Yellow's unique starter approach didn't stick around, a long-standing tradition did - one that affects all Pokemon media.