Pokémon is a series of electronic games in which players capture fantastic monsters, train them, and command them in duels. When the creatures are not fighting, game characters keep them in pocket-sized balls. The term Pokémon is short for pocket monsters. The first Pokémon game was released in 1996 for the Nintendo Game Boy, a popular handheld game system. In addition to numerous video games, Pokémon have featured in card games, comics, and animated television shows and motion pictures. 
In the Pokémon games, the player takes on the role of a Pokémon trainer. The trainer must journey around a fictional world, collecting and training new Pokémon. Each Pokémon has unique abilities and a clever name, such as Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur. Along the way, players must pit their own collections of Pokémon against those of other trainers. They include a team of evil trainers that seeks to take over the world. In the earliest games, players could collect 151 different Pokémon. Players could also trade their Pokémon with other players, using a cable to link their Game Boys. Because each monster has unique strengths and weaknesses, players must use them strategically in duels. With sufficient training, a Pokémon might evolve (change) into a more powerful creature. Later games introduced greater numbers of Pokémon.
In 2016, the software developer Niantic released a version of the game called Pokémon Go. Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game, a game in which computer-generated elements are superimposed over the real world. Pokémon Go enabled players to collect and fight Pokémon on their mobile phones while exploring their surroundings.
The Japanese game designer Satoshi Tajiri created Pokémon. Tajiri grew up in a rural suburb of Tokyo. As a child, he loved nature and collected insects. The thrill and mystery of discovering unique new insects served as inspiration for the game.
See also Augmented reality; Nintendo.
