Which company was originally founded as Pokémon Center Co., Ltd.?

The Pokémon Company was originally founded as Pokémon Center Co., Ltd.

The organization was established in 1998 to manage Pokémon Center stores and related business operations. It was later restructured and renamed The Pokémon Company in 2000. The company coordinates licensing, branding, merchandise, publishing, and other parts of the Pokémon business.

Its corporate history is easy to confuse with the franchise’s three principal corporate stakeholders: Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Those companies jointly shaped and owned major parts of the property, while The Pokémon Company was created to manage the growing commercial ecosystem around it.

The company’s international arm, The Pokémon Company International, handles operations outside Asia. Pokémon Center stores, games, animation, cards, toys, and licensed products therefore connect to a broader management structure than the original Game Boy games alone suggest. The 1998 founding date places this corporate development shortly after Pokémon became a major international phenomenon.