The Pokémon franchise was created by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori. Satoshi Tajiri came up with the idea for the franchise while growing up in rural Japan and playing video games as a hobby.He wanted to create a game that would capture the feeling of collecting insects, which he enjoyed as a child, and combined that with elements of role-playing games.

Ken Sugimori was brought on board as the lead artist and designed the iconic look of the Pokémon creatures. Together, they founded Game Freak and developed the first Pokémon video game, “Pocket Monsters Red and Green,” which was released in Japan in 1996.

In 1998, the game was released in North America as “Pokémon Red and Blue” for the Game Boy and became a worldwide phenomenon, spawning multiple sequels, a trading card game, anime series, and numerous merchandise.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game started in Japan in October 1996, a few months after the release of the original Pokémon video games. The game was created and produced by Media Factory and was an immediate success in Japan.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game was later introduced to international markets, including North America, in 1999, and it quickly became a hit among fans of the franchise. The game continues to be popular to this day and has seen numerous expansions and updates.

The concept of collecting, training, and battling creatures known as Pokémon, along with the game’s addictive gameplay and accessibility, helped to fuel the Pokémon craze and establish it as one of the most successful multimedia franchises of all time.