What If Pokémon Was Never Created?

The Actual History

In February 1996, Japanese video game company Nintendo released "Pocket Monsters Red and Green" (later known internationally as Pokémon Red and Blue) for their Game Boy handheld system. The games were the culmination of a six-year development process led by game designer Satoshi Tajiri and his small company Game Freak. Tajiri, inspired by his childhood hobby of collecting insects, envisioned a game where players could capture, collect, and battle with various creatures. The development process was arduous—Game Freak nearly went bankrupt multiple times, and Nintendo's faith in the project wavered as the Game Boy neared the end of its commercial lifecycle.

Despite these challenges, Pokémon launched to modest initial sales that gradually built into phenomenal success through word-of-mouth. The game's innovative features—including 151 collectible creatures, trading functionality requiring two Game Boy units, and engaging RPG mechanics—resonated with Japanese children. By the end of 1996, the companion "Blue" version was released, and the franchise expanded with a trading card game and manga adaptations.

The global expansion of Pokémon began in 1997 with the premiere of the anime series in Japan. The following year, the franchise made its international debut, with the games, anime, and trading cards all arriving in North America to unprecedented success. The anime quickly became one of the highest-rated children's television programs, while the games sold millions of copies, breathing new life into Nintendo's aging Game Boy platform.

Over the subsequent decades, Pokémon evolved into one of the highest-grossing media franchises in history. As of 2025, the core video game series has sold over 440 million units across nine generations of titles. The trading card game has shipped over 43 billion cards globally. The anime series has run continuously for nearly 30 years with over 1,200 episodes. The franchise has expanded to include 23 animated films, numerous spin-off games, a successful mobile phenomenon in Pokémon GO (which brought augmented reality gaming to the mainstream in 2016), merchandise, theme park attractions, and the live-action film "Detective Pikachu" in 2019.

Financially, Pokémon has generated estimated revenue exceeding $118 billion, making it the highest-grossing entertainment franchise of all time, surpassing even Star Wars, Marvel, and Hello Kitty. Beyond commercial success, Pokémon profoundly influenced global pop culture, helping to mainstream Japanese animation and games internationally during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It pioneered social gaming concepts—using technology to connect players for trading and battling—long before online gaming became commonplace.

The franchise has maintained remarkable cultural relevance across generational boundaries, with parents who grew up with the original games now sharing new Pokémon experiences with their children. The brand has also demonstrated unusual versatility, successfully expanding from its Game Boy origins to home consoles, smartphones, augmented reality platforms, and diverse merchandise categories, all while maintaining its core appeal of collecting, training, and battling with fantastical creatures.

The Point of Divergence

What if Pokémon was never created? In this alternate timeline, we explore a scenario where Satoshi Tajiri either pursued a different creative path or his vision for Pocket Monsters failed to materialize into a finished product.

Several plausible divergence points could have prevented Pokémon's creation:

The most likely divergence occurs in the late 1980s, when Tajiri first conceived the Pocket Monsters concept. An avid bug collector in his youth, Tajiri was inspired to create a game that captured the experience of collecting creatures when he saw two children using the Game Boy Link Cable to trade. In our alternate timeline, perhaps Tajiri never witnessed this pivotal moment, or interpreted it differently, directing his creative energies elsewhere.

Alternatively, the divergence might have happened during Pokémon's troubled development period (1990-1995). Game Freak was a small, financially unstable company during this time, and development of Pokémon stretched well beyond initial projections. In this timeline, Game Freak might have faced an insurmountable financial crisis around 1992-1993, forcing the project's cancellation before completion.

A third possibility involves Nintendo's support. Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario) served as a mentor to Tajiri and advocated for the Pokémon project within Nintendo despite its protracted development. In our alternate timeline, Miyamoto might have been less enthusiastic about the concept, or corporate pressures at Nintendo—which was focusing on its newer Super Nintendo and impending Nintendo 64 systems—could have led to the cancellation of what seemed like a risky project for the aging Game Boy.

The most dramatic divergence scenario involves Tajiri's early career path. Before founding Game Freak, Tajiri wrote for gaming magazines. In this timeline, he might have continued in gaming journalism rather than game development, or focused Game Freak's efforts on different types of games that aligned more with immediate market trends of the early 1990s.

Regardless of the specific mechanism, in this alternate timeline, February 1996 passes without the release of Pocket Monsters in Japan. The Game Boy, already in its seventh year on the market, continues its gradual commercial decline without the unexpected late-lifecycle boost that Pokémon provided. And the world of entertainment, gaming, and Japanese cultural exports takes a dramatically different path.

Immediate Aftermath

Nintendo's Altered Trajectory

The immediate impact of Pokémon's absence would have been most acutely felt by Nintendo, which in our timeline received an extraordinary and unexpected boost from the franchise's success.

Game Boy's Accelerated Decline: Without Pokémon, the original Game Boy system would likely have seen a much steeper decline in sales from 1996-1998. In our timeline, Pokémon breathed new life into the aging hardware, extending its commercial viability by several crucial years. In this alternate world, Nintendo might have rushed the Game Boy Color to market earlier than its actual 1998 release, or potentially abandoned the handheld market sooner to focus on home consoles.

Financial Performance: Nintendo's financial results for fiscal years 1996-1999 would have been significantly weaker. In our timeline, Pokémon contributed billions in revenue during this period through game sales, licensing, and hardware sales driven by the games. Without this revenue stream, Nintendo might have faced increased pressure from shareholders and potentially made more conservative decisions regarding their next major console, the GameCube (2001).

Alternative Focus: Without Pokémon commanding resources and attention, Nintendo likely would have doubled down on its established franchises. Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong titles might have received even greater investment, possibly resulting in additional games in these series between 1996-2000.

Game Freak's Fate

For Game Freak, Pokémon's absence would have been existentially significant:

Company Survival Challenges: Without its flagship title, Game Freak would have faced severe financial difficulties. The company might have been acquired by a larger publisher, dissolved entirely, or remained a small development studio working on modest projects. Satoshi Tajiri, lacking the success and influence that Pokémon brought him, might have become a less prominent figure in the gaming industry or shifted to a different creative field.

Alternative Projects: In this timeline, Game Freak likely would have continued developing smaller titles for various platforms. Their pre-Pokémon work included games like "Yoshi" (1991) and "Pulseman" (1994), suggesting they might have continued creating platform games or experimental titles for Nintendo or other publishers.

Children's Entertainment Landscape

The children's entertainment ecosystem of the late 1990s would have developed along a markedly different path without Pokémon's massive influence:

The Trading Card Game Void: The phenomenal success of the Pokémon Trading Card Game created a massive boom in collectible card games aimed at children. Without Pokémon cards' ubiquity in schoolyards worldwide, other trading card games like Magic: The Gathering might have made greater inroads with younger players, or alternative collectible franchises might have emerged to fill the gap.

Television Animation: The after-school and Saturday morning animation blocks would have featured different content without the Pokémon anime. In Japan, other monster-collecting anime might have gained greater prominence, while in Western markets, the absence of Pokémon's success might have delayed the mainstream breakthrough of anime by several years. Networks like Kids' WB, which heavily leveraged Pokémon for ratings in our timeline, would have built their programming around different properties.

The "Collect-them-all" Trend: Pokémon perfected and popularized the "gotta catch 'em all" collection mechanic that influenced countless products through the late 1990s and beyond. Without this template, children's entertainment might have developed along different lines, perhaps with greater emphasis on individual character development rather than collecting large rosters of characters.

Japanese Cultural Exports

The late 1990s marked a significant period for Japanese cultural exports, with Pokémon serving as a spearhead for broader acceptance:

Delayed Anime Mainstreaming: While Japanese animation had made inroads in Western markets before Pokémon, the franchise's overwhelming success significantly accelerated anime's acceptance in mainstream Western pop culture. Without Pokémon, this process likely would have been more gradual, potentially delaying the anime boom by several years.

Video Game Market Effects: Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) received a significant boost from Pokémon's success, which familiarized a generation of Western children with Japanese RPG mechanics. In this alternate timeline, the JRPG genre might have remained more niche in Western markets through the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Long-term Impact

The Evolution of Nintendo's Business Model

Without Pokémon, Nintendo's long-term strategic positioning would likely have developed along significantly different lines:

Altered Hardware Strategy

Handheld Dominance Questioned: In our timeline, Pokémon cemented Nintendo's dominance in the handheld gaming market, providing a reliable revenue stream and competitive advantage that persisted through the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and 3DS eras. Without this cornerstone franchise, Nintendo's commitment to handheld systems might have wavered when faced with increased competition from Sony's PSP (2004) and later mobile gaming.

Earlier Mobile Adaptation: Lacking the buffer of Pokémon's success in the dedicated handheld market, Nintendo might have been forced to confront the rise of smartphone gaming more directly and earlier. This could have accelerated Nintendo's eventual move into mobile gaming, which in our timeline didn't occur until 2016 with Miitomo and Super Mario Run.

Console Differentiation: Nintendo's home console strategy has often emphasized unique gameplay experiences rather than technological horsepower. Without Pokémon's demonstration that gameplay concepts could triumph over technology, Nintendo might have engaged in more direct technological competition with Sony and Microsoft in the console space, potentially developing more technologically advanced systems but losing some of their distinctive identity.

Financial and Creative Repercussions

Revenue Diversification: Pokémon accounts for an estimated 30% of Nintendo's historical revenue. Without this pillar, Nintendo would have needed to develop or acquire other significant intellectual properties to maintain growth. This might have led to more aggressive acquisition strategies or riskier internal development initiatives.

Third-Party Relationships: Nintendo has maintained a unique position with third-party developers, often operating as a more closed ecosystem than its competitors. Pokémon's success provided Nintendo leverage in these relationships. Without it, economic necessity might have pushed Nintendo toward more open platforms and accommodating policies for third-party developers earlier in its history.

The RPG Genre's Different Evolution

Pokémon revolutionized role-playing games by making the genre accessible to younger players and emphasizing collection and social interaction. Its absence would have significantly altered the genre's development:

Monster Collection Games

Genre Development: Without Pokémon establishing the monster-collection RPG as a mainstream genre, similar concepts might have remained niche or developed along different lines. Games like Dragon Quest Monsters (1998), which followed Pokémon's lead, might have instead become the template for the subgenre, establishing different conventions and expectations.

Social Gaming Evolution: Pokémon pioneered social gaming through its trading mechanic, which required players to connect their Game Boy systems and interact. Without this influential model, social gaming might have evolved more slowly, with different mechanisms for player interaction taking prominence.

Broader RPG Impact

Accessibility Revolution Delayed: Pokémon demonstrated that complex RPG systems could be made accessible to younger audiences without sacrificing depth. Without this example, RPGs might have maintained their reputation as a more complex, niche genre for longer, potentially delaying innovations in accessibility.

Mechanics Diffusion: Many of Pokémon's mechanics—team building with different character types, elemental strengths and weaknesses, collecting and evolving characters—have been absorbed into countless games across genres. In this alternate timeline, these mechanics might have remained more confined to traditional RPGs or developed along different lines.

Anime and Japanese Cultural Exports

Pokémon served as a gateway to Japanese pop culture for millions of Western consumers. Its absence would have substantially altered the global perception and penetration of Japanese media:

Anime's Global Position

Delayed Western Acceptance: While anime had cult followings in the West before Pokémon, the franchise dramatically accelerated mainstream acceptance. Without Pokémon, anime's growth in Western markets would likely have continued but at a slower pace, perhaps not achieving mainstream status until several years later.

Different Standard-Bearers: In Pokémon's absence, other anime properties would have emerged as the entry points for Western audiences. Series like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, or Gundam might have taken on even more prominent roles as cultural ambassadors, potentially leading to different perceptions of what constitutes "typical" anime among casual Western viewers.

Japanese Gaming's International Profile

Altered Gaming Demographics: Pokémon brought millions of younger players and more female players into gaming. Without this influence, the gaming demographic might have remained narrower for longer, affecting game development priorities industry-wide.

Different Localization Approaches: Pokémon's success encouraged more extensive localization of Japanese games for Western markets. In its absence, Japanese game publishers might have been more conservative about localization investments, leading to fewer Japanese titles reaching Western audiences intact.

The Mobile Gaming Revolution

Pokémon's influence extended dramatically into the mobile era, particularly with Pokémon GO in 2016. This alternate timeline would have seen a substantially different mobile gaming ecosystem:

Augmented Reality Gaming

AR Development Trajectory: Pokémon GO represented the first truly mainstream augmented reality application, introducing the concept to hundreds of millions of users. Without this breakthrough title, AR gaming would likely have developed more gradually, with different applications potentially taking the lead in normalizing the technology.

Location-Based Gaming: Pokémon GO popularized location-based gaming on an unprecedented scale. In this timeline, location-based games might have remained more niche, or different applications—perhaps focused more on fitness or social networking rather than collection—might have pioneered the space.

Free-to-Play Ecosystem

Alternative Revenue Models: Pokémon GO's enormous success with a relatively gentle free-to-play model influenced subsequent mobile game monetization strategies. Without this example, more aggressive monetization approaches might have remained dominant in the mobile space for longer.

Mainstream Mobile Gaming: Pokémon helped legitimize mobile gaming among traditional console and PC gamers who might otherwise have dismissed the platform. Its absence might have prolonged the perception divide between "real gaming" and mobile gaming.

Merchandising and Licensing Paradigms

Pokémon established new standards for transmedia franchises and merchandising strategies. Without its example, these business models would have evolved differently:

Integrated Media Strategies

Transmedia Development: Pokémon pioneered simultaneous development across games, cards, animation, and merchandise with unprecedented coordination. Without this model, entertainment franchises might have maintained more traditional, sequential approaches to media expansion.

Evergreen vs. Fad Management: Pokémon demonstrated how to maintain a children's brand as an evergreen property rather than a passing fad. In its absence, the industry might have continued with more boom-and-bust cycles for children's properties, lacking Pokémon's example of sustained brand management across decades.

Global Toy and Licensing Industry

Licensing Scale: Pokémon's licensing program, with over 400 licensees globally, redefined expectations for entertainment properties. Without this precedent, licensing programs might have remained more limited in scope and ambition.

Collector Culture: Pokémon significantly influenced collector culture across demographics, normalizing collecting behavior among children and maintaining it as they aged into adults. This alternate timeline might have seen different collecting trends emerge, perhaps more focused on limited editions rather than comprehensive collections.

By 2025 in this alternate timeline, the entertainment landscape would be dramatically different. Nintendo, while likely still successful, would be a fundamentally different company with different priorities. The boundaries between Japanese and Western entertainment might remain more distinct. And generations of consumers would have found their gateway experiences into gaming, collecting, and community through entirely different properties, reshaping the cultural touchstones of millions worldwide.

Expert Opinions

Dr. Mika Tanaka, Professor of Contemporary Japanese Culture at Tokyo University, offers this perspective: "Pokémon represented what we call a 'perfect storm' in cultural diffusion—arriving at precisely the right moment with the right combination of interactive play, collecting mechanics, and cross-media integration. Without Pokémon opening Western markets to Japanese cultural products in the late 1990s, I believe we would have eventually seen other Japanese properties achieve international success, but the process would have been more gradual. The absence of Pokémon would have likely delayed the mainstream Western acceptance of anime and manga by at least 5-7 years, and the specific aesthetic sensibilities that Pokémon normalized—cute monsters with special powers existing alongside humans—might have remained more niche. The broader implication is that the cultural exchange between East and West might have remained more asymmetrical for longer, with Western properties continuing to dominate global entertainment while Japanese content remained largely regional."

James Chen, Gaming Industry Analyst and former Executive Director at NetEase Games, provides a different angle: "Nintendo without Pokémon is almost unimaginable given how central the franchise became to their business model. Without Pokémon's reliable revenue stream and its ability to sell hardware, Nintendo might have been forced into more direct competition with Sony and Microsoft, potentially abandoning their 'blue ocean' strategy of unique, often less technologically advanced gaming experiences. The company might have shifted to a software-focused business model earlier, similar to Sega's transition after the Dreamcast. The absence of Pokémon would have created a massive opportunity in the monster-collecting genre, likely leading to multiple competitors vying to establish the dominant franchise. While some might have achieved success, I doubt any single property would have replicated Pokémon's unique cultural and commercial footprint, which combined accessible gameplay, compelling collecting mechanics, and character designs that balanced cute and cool aesthetic elements in a nearly perfect formula."

Dr. Sarah Williams, Historian of Children's Media at the University of California, Los Angeles, notes: "Pokémon arrived at a pivotal moment in children's media consumption patterns, effectively bridging analog and digital play in unprecedented ways. Without Pokémon demonstrating how a property could seamlessly exist across video games, physical cards, television, and merchandise, I suspect we would have seen a more fragmented children's entertainment landscape throughout the 2000s. What's particularly notable about Pokémon was how it created legitimate intergenerational appeal—something few children's properties achieve. Parents engaged with Pokémon alongside their children rather than merely tolerating it. This blueprint for family engagement across media platforms would likely have developed more slowly and through different properties in Pokémon's absence. The children of the late 1990s would have found different cultural touchstones, potentially more rooted in regional properties rather than a truly global phenomenon."