What was the original Japanese name of the franchise later known worldwide as Pokémon?

The original Japanese name of the franchise later known worldwide as Pokémon was Pocket Monsters.

The Japanese video games were titled Pocket Monsters Red and Green, and the anime and related media initially used the same branding. The shortened name Pokémon became the international form of the franchise title.

“Pokémon” is a contraction of “Pocket Monsters,” using an accented é to help indicate how the word should be pronounced. The name refers to creatures that can be carried, collected, trained, and used in battles.

The title is sometimes confused with the names of other monster-collecting series. Pokémon’s identity, however, began with the Japanese Pocket Monsters games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in 1996.