In what month and year did Pokémon Center Co. rebrand as The Pokémon Company?

Pokémon Center Co. rebranded as The Pokémon Company in October 2000.

Pokémon Center Co. was originally established in April 1998 to manage Pokémon Center merchandise stores in Japan. As the franchise expanded into games, cards, animation, films, publishing and licensing, the company’s responsibilities grew far beyond retail.

In October 2000, it changed its name to The Pokémon Company and broadened its role to centralize management of the entire Pokémon brand. This is different from Pokémon USA, which was established in February 2001 to handle operations in the United States. The Pokémon Company International was also created later for markets outside Asia.

The company does not develop every Pokémon product itself. Game Freak commonly develops mainline video games, while Nintendo publishes or distributes many titles and Creatures contributes to games, cards and other projects. The Pokémon Company coordinates brand management, licensing, marketing and publishing across these partners.