The answer is an absolute 'yes'. It was Red, then Blue, then Yellow. Bulbasaur served me well as my first partner, then Squirtle in Blue, then, of course, all of em in Yellow. I was ten, the spring air was gusty, but sweet when it wasn't. Sakura may have bloomed, but not where I lived. It was a series of adventures that I vaguely recall. I can always replay them, with even more fantastic results, with the addition of Gameshark.
Yeah, I'm not as much of an expert as an adult that played the old games when they came out, who have decent understanding of what they were doing, but waaay more experience than all the kids out there who were 10 when Rb/S/E came out. For us retro junkies, R/B/Y will always remain true.