Who created the Pokémon franchise and originated its core video-game concept?

Satoshi Tajiri created the Pokémon franchise and originated its core video-game concept. His childhood interest in insect collecting inspired the idea of finding, collecting, and exchanging creatures.

Tajiri founded Game Freak, first as a video-game fanzine and later as a development company. He worked closely with artist Ken Sugimori, who became the illustrator for the Pokémon project, and composer Junichi Masuda, who joined Game Freak during its early game-development period.

The original project was called Pocket Monsters. Tajiri presented the concept to Nintendo, and Game Freak eventually developed Pocket Monsters Red and Green for the Game Boy. The games introduced the central ideas of catching, training, battling, and trading creatures.

Tajiri is the franchise creator, while Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures became its principal corporate stakeholders. Ken Sugimori is often associated with Pokémon because he illustrated the original species, but he was not the person who originated the franchise.