Who conceived the main idea for the Pokémon franchise?

Satoshi Tajiri conceived the main idea for the Pokémon franchise.

Tajiri grew up collecting insects around Machida, Tokyo, and later connected that childhood interest with the communication abilities of the Game Boy. His concept imagined players collecting creatures and exchanging them through the Game Boy Link Cable.

Tajiri had already founded Game Freak, initially a video-game magazine and later a development company, with illustrator Ken Sugimori. He presented the creature-collecting idea to Nintendo, where Shigeru Miyamoto became an important mentor during development.

The first Pokémon games, Pocket Monsters Red and Green, took about six years to complete and were released in Japan in 1996. Tajiri directed the original games and later moved into an executive-producer role. A common mix-up is crediting Miyamoto as Pokémon's creator: Miyamoto helped guide development, but Tajiri is credited with conceiving the franchise's central idea.