Pokémon (ポケモン/poh-kay-mon) is a media franchise owned by The Pokémon Company, which is run by the GameFreak company. The games based on it are powered on Nintendo devices. It was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995. It is centered around fictional creatures called "Pokémon", which humans capture and train to fight each other for sport.
The franchise celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2006. Cumulative sales of the video games (including home console games, such as Hey You, Pikachu! for the Nintendo 64) have reached more than 200 million copies. In November 2005, 4Kids Entertainment, which had managed the non-game related licensing of Pokémon, announced that it had agreed not to renew the Pokémon representation agreement. Pokémon USA Inc. (now The Pokémon Company International), a subsidiary of Japan's Pokémon Co., now oversees all Pokémon licensing outside of Asia. As of 2013, the Pokémon media franchise has grossed revenues of ¥4 trillion worldwide (equivalent to US $40.98 billion)
Relation to Cryptozoology
Many Pokémon were actually inspired by Japanese kami/cryptozoology.
Two classic examples of Pokémon inspired by Japanese kami include Dunsparce: a Pokémon based on the Tsuchinoko, and Exeggutor: a Pokémon based on the Jinmenju..
Other notable Pokémon influenced Abomasnow: based on the Yeti, Lapras: based on the Loch Ness Monster, and Zapdos: based on the Thunderbird.
Gallery
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