Who created the original Pokémon concept and designed the first games?

Satoshi Tajiri created the original Pokémon concept and designed the first games.

Tajiri founded Game Freak, which began as a video-game magazine before becoming a development studio. His childhood interest in collecting insects helped inspire the idea of finding, collecting, and exchanging creatures in a game world.

Tajiri proposed the project to Nintendo, and development of Pocket Monsters began for the Game Boy. The system’s Game Link Cable suggested a way for players to trade creatures between separate cartridges, turning a hardware feature into a central part of Pokémon’s identity.

Other important creators are sometimes mistakenly credited as the sole originator. Ken Sugimori created much of the original Pokémon artwork, while Junichi Masuda worked as a programmer and composer and later became a major director. Tajiri, however, is recognized as the franchise’s creator.