Learning Objective: Students will follow the sequence of events as they learn about the history of Pokémon.
Do you know Pikachu, Charizard, or Bulbasaur? They were some of the first Pokémon! But where did they come from?
It started with a boy in Japan. His name was Satoshi Tajiri. He loved video games and bugs. When he grew up, he wanted to combine his interests.
Pocket Monsters
THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL
Pikachu
Tajiri decided to make a video game. In the game, you could collect creatures. He called it Poketto Monsuta in Japanese, or Pocket Monsters in English. Then he shortened the name to Pokémon.
In 1990, Tajiri brought his idea to the game company Nintendo. Nintendo agreed to make it!
The First Game
THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL
Mew
In 1996, the Pokémon game came out in Japan. At first, not a lot of people bought it.
But Tajiri’s team had hidden something in the game that people started talking about. They had concealed a Pokémon called Mew.
Mew was hard to find. People wanted to buy the game to find this rare creature. Suddenly, everyone was playing Pokémon!
Pokémon in the U.S.
Next, it was time to bring Pokémon to the U.S.
Nintendo wanted a slogan to help sell the game there. It wanted a fun sentence that told people what the game was about. Nintendo chose the slogan “Gotta catch ’em all!”
In 1998, the first Pokémon games were released in the U.S. Americans loved Pokémon! They also loved the Pokémon trading cards. Newspapers and magazines said everyone had “Pokémania!”
Pokémon in the World
Today, there are more than 100 Pokémon games. There are TV shows and movies. There are more than 1,000 species of Pokémon. Catch ’em if you can!
Pokémon Timeline
THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL (PSYDUCK, BULBASAUR); INTERFOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (GAME BOY); ARCADEIMAGES/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (TITLE SCREEN); EVAN AGOSTINI/GETTY IMAGES (CARDS); SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (ALL OTHER IMAGES)
1990: Early Pokémon
1996: First Pokémon game on Game Boy
1998: Pokémania
Today: Pokémon everywhere!
