Hi, I came upon this board while learning the art of Pokemon game hacking, which is one of my current recreational obsessions atm.
My first game was Red (which happens to be my fav color) and I started with Bulbasaur, because the guide book told me to! But I liked Charmander much better, so I started over. It was the only game I leveled up my starters to 100. I think I might have got my Yellow starters up to that level, too, because I was able to speed my way through battling the Elite Four using Stadium. I've played the other games, but not with as much interest as the originals.