(an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. The franchise was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996, and is centered around fictional creatures called "Pokémon". In Pokémon, Pokémon Trainers are people who catch, train, care for, and battle with Pokémon. The English slogan for the franchise is "Gotta Catch ‘Em All!". There are currently 1008 Pokémon species. The franchise began as Pocket Monsters: Red and Green (later released outside of Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue), a pair of video games for the original Game Boy handheld system that were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in February 1996. Pokémon soon became a media mix franchise adapted into various different media. Pokémon is one of the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. The Pokémon video game series is the third best-selling video game franchise of all time with more than copies sold and onebillion mobile downloads. The Pokémon video game series spawned an anime television series that has become the most successful video game adaptation of all time with over 20 seasons and 1,000 episodes in 192 countries. The Pokémon Trading Card Game is the highest-selling trading card game of all time with over 43.2billion cards sold. In addition, the Pokémon franchise includes the world's top-selling toy brand, an anime film series, a live-action film (Detective Pikachu), books, manga comics, music, merchandise, and a temporary theme park. The franchise is also represented in other Nintendo media, such as the Super Smash Bros. series, where various Pokémon characters are playable. History The Pokémon franchise began as Pocket Monsters: Red and Green (later released outside of Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue), a pair of video games for the original Game Boy handheld system that were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in February 1996. Pokémon soon became a media mix franchise adapted into various different media, with the Pokémon Trading Card Game released in October 1996, the Pokémon Adventures manga first released in Japan in March 1997, and the Pocket Monsters: Original Series released in April 1997. Pocket Pikachu was released in Japan in March 1998, with the July 18: with the first ever Pokémon film, Pokémon: The First Movie, first released in Japan in July 1998. In 1998, Nintendo spent $25 million promoting Pokémon in the United States in partnership with Hasbro,