Who conceived the Pokémon franchise before Game Freak developed its games?

Satoshi Tajiri conceived the Pokémon franchise before Game Freak developed its games.

Tajiri grew up in Machida, Tokyo, where he enjoyed collecting insects and exploring natural spaces. Those childhood interests later influenced Pokémon’s central idea: finding, collecting, and studying unusual creatures.

He founded Game Freak as a video-game magazine in 1983, and the publication eventually became a development company. Tajiri pitched the idea that became Pocket Monsters to Nintendo around 1990, using the Game Boy’s link cable as a way for players to trade creatures.

Tajiri is often called Pokémon’s creator, but the franchise was a collaborative achievement. Ken Sugimori handled much of the original artwork, Junichi Masuda composed music and worked on programming, and Nintendo helped publish and support the games.