Pokemon

Pokémon ,is a multi-billion dollar media franchise controlled by video game giant Nintendo, and created by Satoshi Tajiri around 1995. The original Game Boy video games have since been merchandised into anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books, and other media. The name, Pokémon, is the romanized contraction of the Japanese brand, 'Pocket Monsters', as such contractions are very common in Japan.

The concept of the Pokémon universe, stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime which Pokémon's creator Satoshi Tajiri had enjoyed as a child. Players of the games are designated as Pokémon Trainers, and the two general goals are: to complete the Pokédex by collecting all of the available Pokémon species found in the fictional region where that game takes place; and to train a team of powerful Pokémon from those they have caught to compete against teams owned by other Trainers, and eventually become the strongest Trainer, the Pokémon Master.