From Pallet Town to the World: 30 Years of Catching ’Em All

February 27th of every year marks the official birthday of the wonderful world ofThe Pokémon Company. It celebrates the release of the very first installment to the franchise on the GameBoy, “Pocket Monsters Red and Green” in Japan. The two were then localised in North America as “Pokémon Red and Blue,” and the rest is history. It seems as though the brand as a whole has been a hit since the very beginning, and doesn’t look to be slowing down in the slightest.

This year is a special one for the franchise, celebrating three decades of catching, trading, and battling. Those three years have been nothing short of exciting, with exciting announcements and absolutely memorable moments. To celebrate, let’s take a look back at the history of the monster-taming franchise and how it’s shaped the world of video games and entertainment.

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Where It All Started for Pokémon

Way back in the 90’s, arcade game fanatic Satoshi Tajiri and his artist friend, Ken Sugimori, banded together to work on a fanzine that the former dubbed “Game Freak.” After pitching an arcade game to Namco, the fanzine turned into a game studio, and “Mendel Palace” was released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990.

After the development of a few other games, including “Pulseman” for the Sega Mega Drive, the two landed a hit with “Pokémon Red and Green” in Japan. Two years later, the games were localized in North America as “Pokémon Red and Blue,” with a third version titled “Pokémon Yellow” to better pair with the newly released anime.

During this time, Game Freak partnered with Creatures Inc to develop the “Pokémon Trading Card Game,” a game completely separate from the video games, but using the same principle and monsters. Now, players were engaged in trading card battles in school yards and cafeterias across the world, with the idea of officially-sanctioned and informal worldwide tournaments not far behind.

Things really escalated for the brand after the release of “Pokémon Gold and Silver” in 1999 and “Pokémon Crystal” in 2000, with what the world called “Pokemania.” Things died down a bit by 2002, but there was no denying that “Pokémon” had now become ingrained in popular culture. Even the first three films released, “Pokémon: The First Movie,” “Pokémon the Movie 2000,” and “Pokémon 3: The Movie,” were met with great commercial success.

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Pokémon Go Brings on Another Craze

With the release of “Pokémon Diamond and Pearl” in 2006, the “Pokémon” games officially transitioned to increased visuals and even 3D graphics, taking advantage of the technology available on the then-newly released Nintendo DS. However, with every mainline release and spin-off, fans clamored for more. With the rise of smartphones in the 2010s, that’s exactly what The Pokémon Company did.

What originated as a prank made up by Tsunekazu Ishihara (the president and CEO of The Pokémon Company) and Satoru Iwata (the then president of Nintendo) dubbed the “Google Maps Pokémon Challenge” in 2014, the idea was reimagined into Pokémon Go in 2016, developed by Niantic.

This spurred a second worldwide fad with the augmented reality game, creating a subculture of players within the franchise to a brand new way to enjoy the game. Players were able to install “Pokémon Go” on their phones, create an avatar, and then catch Pokémon according to their location on the game map, which doubled as a GPS. With every real-world movement the player made, rewards were provided to them in-game alongside the ability to catch rare Pokémon.

This fad stretched to people who had never even heard of the franchise before, becoming more of a social media phenomenon than simply an entry in the series. Even businesses were taking advantage of being close to a PokeStop as in-game events became more prevalent and players swarmed through.

While the excitement has definitely died down, “Pokémon Go” is still played worldwide and has even spawned content creators whose videos focus solely on attending international events for the game.

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Here’s to Another 30 Years

After nine generations, 1,025 monsters, 23 animated films, ten different shows, over 35 mainline installments, and over 200 officially licensed video games and products, “Pokémon” is here to stay. With the release of the “Legends” video game series, it seems that the franchise is expecting to dive deeper into its story, introducing players to past locations, characters, and gameplay features.

Just looking back at history, the franchise is likely gearing up for another wave of worldwide acclaim, but we’ll just have to wait and see what The Pokémon Company has in store. It seems like no matter what gets announced, it is sure to resonate with everyone, from those whose first game was “Pokémon Legends: Arceus” to the fan who’s been immersed in the franchise since ’98.

Happy Anniversary, “Pokémon!”