Pokemon Yellow

Pokemon Yellow reworks the original Kanto adventure to follow the anime more closely — instead of picking one of the three starters, every player begins with a stubborn Pikachu that walks behind them on the overworld and refuses to evolve into Raichu unless you choose to trade for a Thunder Stone evolution manually. Trainer teams and a handful of encounters were also adjusted to better match the show's early episodes.

Yellow still lets you pick up Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle later in the game from a rival encounter, so you're not locked out of the other starters permanently. Sprite work throughout the game was upgraded slightly over Red and Blue, and several trainers use teams that better reflect the anime's Gym Leaders, including a tougher Brock and Misty early on.

This page hosts the verified Pokemon Yellow ROM, built for Delta Emulator on iPhone — load it directly with no BIOS file or extra setup required.