The idea for Pokémon originated with Satoshi Tajiri, a man with a deep interest and love for nature. Satoshi Tajiri spent his youth catching and studying insects.
Tajiri's vision was to give children a virtual experience similar to his own childhood, where they could catch and train creatures. With this idea, he began working with Ken Sugimori, an artist and designer, to bring the first Pokémon creations to life.
In 1996, the very first Pokémon games were launched: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green (later known internationally as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue). These games were developed by Game Freak, a company founded by Satoshi Tajiri and Junichi Masuda. Gamefreak is now part of Nintendo.
The games were a huge success and soon expanded into other media; an animated series, movies and a card game. The card game, in particular, became a worldwide phenomenon and brought a new dimension to the Pokémon experience with the internet. Pokémon fans could create and share strategies and compete in tournaments.
In 2016, Pokémon GO was launched into the world. Pokémon GO gave trainers the opportunity to encounter Pokémon in the 'wild' all over the world and catch them on their mobile phones. Pokémon trainers walked the streets all over the world to catch the strongest and best Pokémon.
Today, Pokémon is still extremely popular. New games are still released regularly and the cards are still collected fanatically. Several times a year, new sets of Pokémon cards are released with the most unique illustrations.
