Who created the Pokémon franchise and founded Game Freak?

Satoshi Tajiri created the Pokémon franchise and co-founded Game Freak.

Tajiri grew up collecting insects, and that childhood hobby strongly influenced Pokémon’s central idea of finding, collecting, and exchanging creatures. After seeing the Game Boy and its Link Cable, he imagined a game in which creatures could move between players’ systems.

Tajiri and artist Ken Sugimori had previously worked together on the video-game magazine Game Freak. They turned the magazine into a development company in 1989, and Game Freak eventually pitched the Pokémon concept to Nintendo.

Tajiri directed and designed the original games, while Sugimori led much of the visual development. Shigeru Miyamoto served as an important mentor during production, but he was not the creator of Pokémon. Junichi Masuda later became a major composer, director, and producer in the series.