Pokémon’s original trading card game set debuted in Japan in 1996.
The first Japanese release was the 1st Starter & Expansion Pack, issued on October 20, 1996. It formed the foundation of the Pokémon Trading Card Game and was based on the creatures and concepts introduced by the Game Boy games.
The earliest set depicted the original Pokémon species and included starter products as well as expansion cards. Its Japanese release came only months after the first Pokémon video games, helping the franchise expand quickly from software into a collectible tabletop game.
The English-language market followed later. Wizards of the Coast released the Pokémon TCG Base Set in the United States on January 9, 1999. Because of that gap, some fans mistakenly associate the card game’s beginning with 1999 rather than its original Japanese debut in 1996.