What working title did Pokémon have before it became Pocket Monsters?

The early working title for Pokémon was Capsule Monsters. Satoshi Tajiri and the Game Freak team first imagined a creature-collecting game under that name before settling on Pocket Monsters.

The capsule idea reflected a core feature of the concept: creatures would be stored in compact containers and released for play or battle. Tajiri also drew inspiration from Japanese monster shows, including the use of capsules to contain miniature creatures.

The name Capsule Monsters presented trademark problems, so the project was renamed Pocket Monsters. In Japan, the franchise launched under the Japanese title Poketto Monsutā. For international markets, the shortened form Pokémon was used, with an acute accent over the e.

The final name also connected to the franchise's central idea of carrying creatures in a portable game. The naming history is easy to confuse with later terms such as Poké Ball, but Capsule Monsters was the project's early working title, not the name of a released game.