

Good thinking!
Microprose MTG came out in 1997, one year after Pokemon in 1996, but that was in Japan as Pokemon Red/Green.
Pokemon Red/Blue was released in the US in 1998.
So in the US technically, Microprose published first.
I have no idea who owns Microprose’s IP these days.


The re-releases sometimes come with improvements, such as the ability to save mid-game, or networked multiplayer, that would have been impossible with the original release, e.g. a standup arcade game.