Who created the original Pokémon game concept that launched the Pokémon franchise?

Satoshi Tajiri created the original Pokémon game concept that launched the Pokémon franchise.

Tajiri grew up collecting insects and other small creatures near Machida, Tokyo. That childhood interest later shaped Pokémon’s central idea: finding, collecting, and exchanging creatures. He imagined how the Game Boy’s link cable could let players trade creatures between systems.

Tajiri founded Game Freak, first as a video-game magazine and later as a development company with illustrator Ken Sugimori. He pitched the creature-collecting role-playing game to Nintendo, where Shigeru Miyamoto helped guide the project during its long development.

A common mix-up is crediting Nintendo alone with creating Pokémon. Nintendo published the games and supplied major support, but the original concept came from Tajiri, while Game Freak developed the software and Sugimori helped define the visual identity.