At some point in your life, you’ve probably encountered Pokémon — whether you played the games, watched the anime, collected the cards, or just absorbed it through cultural osmosis.
When the original Pokémon games launched in 1996, they sparked a global phenomenon. What followed was an avalanche of spinoffs: a long-running animated series, a massively popular trading card game, mountains of merchandise, and decades of new mainline and experimental titles. Nearly 30 years later, Pokémon hasn’t just endured — it’s thrived.
