Pokemon is one of the most successful franchises in the world, but it all started off with a man and an idea. Satoshi Tajiri was fascinated with small creatures like tadpoles and insects, and wanted to bring the joy of catching creatures to another thing he loved: video games. Tajiri and his friend Ken Sugimori, an illustrator, came together to bring Tajiri's vision to life. Tajiri and Sugimori pitched Pocket Monsters to Nintendo in 1990.
The first Pocket Monster video games were released for Gameboy devices in 1996. There were two versions: a red version and a green version. The games were only released in Japan. If players wanted to trade, they had to use a cable to connect their Gameboys. The games were released in the US and UK in 1998, but this time with a red and a blue version and with a new, shorter name: Pokemon.
Because the Pokemon games were so successful, a series of trading cards was produced shortly after the first set of games were launched in Japan. The first series of Pokemon cards had 102 different species of Pokemon and were illustrated by Sugimori, Keiji Kinebuchi, and Mitsuhiro Arita. Now there are over 1,000 different species of Pokemon spanning over nine generations so far!
If you're interested in learning more about the history of Pokemon, you can check out the BBC's article about the first 25 years of Pokemon. Interested in learning more about recent Pokemon games and trading cards? You've come to the right place. This website will explore starter Pokemon, recent Pokemon games, trading cards, and memes. Sit back, relax, and take some time to look around and learn about how you can catch 'em all.
