What was the early working title of the Pokémon game project?

The early working title of the Pokémon game project was Capsule Monsters.

Satoshi Tajiri and the Game Freak team imagined creatures that could be captured, stored, and exchanged. The capsule idea reflected the fictional containers used to carry creatures, while also connecting with Japanese capsule-toy culture and monster shows that influenced the project.

The team commonly shortened the title to “Capumon” during development. However, “Capsule Monsters” proved difficult to trademark, so the name changed to “Pocket Monsters,” which became “Pokémon” in its shortened form.

The working title is often confused with the final Japanese name. “Pocket Monsters” was the public franchise title, while “Capsule Monsters” belonged to the earlier development stage. The name change happened before the 1996 release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green.