What was the original Japanese title of the Pokémon game series launched in 1996?

The original Japanese title of the Pokémon game series launched in 1996 was Pocket Monsters.

In Japan, the first role-playing games were titled Pocket Monsters Red and Green. The franchise name was commonly shortened to Pokémon, a contraction of the Japanese romanization Poketto Monsutā. The accented é in the international spelling helped guide pronunciation.

The title reflects the series’ central premise: portable creatures that can be collected and carried by Trainers. The Game Boy made that idea especially fitting because players could take their teams with them and connect two systems using a Game Link Cable.

Outside Japan, Nintendo used Pokémon rather than translating the full original title. This helped create a single recognizable international brand across the games, anime, cards, films, merchandise, and later mobile applications.