The franchise was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995, and is centered on fictional creatures called "Pokémon". Pokémon Trainers catch and train Pokémon to battle other Pokémon for sport. There are currently 898 Pokémon species. The franchise began with Pocket Monsters: Red and Green (AKA Pokémon Red and Blue), a pair of video games published by Nintendo in February 1996. The franchise then adapted into various different media. Games, shows and other works within the franchise are set in the Pokémon universe.
The original video game series is the second-best-selling video game franchise with more than 380 million copies sold and one billion mobile downloads, and it spawned an anime television series with over 20 seasons and 1,000 episodes in 169 countries. In addition, the Pokémon franchise includes the world's top-selling toy brand, the top-selling trading card game, an anime film series, a live-action film, books, manga comics, music, merchandise, and a temporary theme park.
Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar are the eight main regions featured in the main series games. Each of the main series' eight generations focuses on a different area. Every area has a number of cities and towns that the player must visit in order to conquer a variety of various difficulties like as Gyms, Contests, and villain teams. The player can locate many varieties of Pokémon, as well as useful objects and personalities, in various spots throughout each region.
The main Pokémon video games and their spin-offs, the anime, manga, and trading card game are all updated with new properties each time a generation begins. Any new Pokémon, characters, and gameplay concepts, that sequel to the previous video game is considered the start of a new generation of the franchise.
