Who created the Pokémon franchise, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026?

Satoshi Tajiri created the Pokémon franchise, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026.

Tajiri conceived Pokémon after seeing the communication link cable for the Game Boy. He imagined players trading creatures between systems, drawing on his childhood interest in collecting insects. His original concept became the role-playing games Pokémon Red and Green.

Tajiri founded Game Freak, the studio that developed the first Pokémon games, with illustrator Ken Sugimori. Nintendo supported the project, while Shigeru Miyamoto served as an important mentor during development. The games took several years to complete and were released in Japan in 1996.

A common mix-up is to credit Nintendo alone as Pokémon’s creator. Nintendo was the publisher and a major business partner, but the original concept is specifically credited to Tajiri. Sugimori created much of the early artwork, and Junichi Masuda composed music and later became a major creative leader.