•
•
Pokémon originated in Japan. It was conceptualized in the early 1990s by video game developer Satoshi Tajiri and illustrator Ken Sugimori. Tajiri was inspired by his childhood hobby of catching and collecting insects in the forests and ponds around his hometown of Machida, Tokyo.The idea was originally pitched as "Capsule Monsters" before being renamed "Pocket Monsters". The franchise officially debuted with the release of the Pocket Monsters Red and Green video games for the Nintendo Game Boy in Japan on February 27, 1996