What Game Boy feature inspired Pokémon’s collection-and-trading concept?

The Game Boy’s Game Link Cable inspired Pokémon’s collection-and-trading concept.

Satoshi Tajiri saw that two Game Boy systems could communicate through the cable. He connected that technology with his childhood fascination with collecting insects and imagined creatures moving between players’ handhelds.

This idea became one of Pokémon’s defining features. The original games used the cable for both trading Pokémon and battling another player, making cooperation and exchange central to completing the Pokédex.

The cable is sometimes mistaken for a wireless feature because later Pokémon games use infrared communication, local wireless, or online services. The original 1996 games, however, required a physical Game Link Cable and two compatible Game Boy systems for player-to-player exchanges.