Here we look at the global phenomenon known as Pokémon. From the games to the TV series, from religious and scientific impact, to crime and how it has influenced people, we attempt to understand what a massive success it’s been during its explosive release to the present and the time in-between.
Popularity and Cultural Impact
Pokémon – created by bug collector Satoshi Tajiri – has a cultural impact that practically is unparalleled. To say they took the world by storm would still be an understatement, nor is it overreaction to compare South Park’s satirical ‘Chinpokomon’ to an attempt at mind control as older generations were baffled by just how crazy kids went over cute fighting monsters with powers.
It was everywhere. The sides of buses and at bus stops. Toys, TV adverts, pencil cases, t-shirts, crisp packets. Happy meals and fast food toys that presented choking hazards. Magazine covers, you name it, you couldn’t escape it. ‘Pokémania’ as it was identified at the time, swept the nation to the point in one experiment, children were better at identifying Pokémon than wildlife.
Scientists found in an experiment involving 109 primary school kids, aged between 4-11, that by the age of 8 they could name 78% of the first 150 Pokémon and the same age group could only identify half of the animals and plants in pictures shown to them, of things like a deer or a beetle. In another article for Science.org from 29/03/2002, asked if ‘Ecomon’ was the way to help establish children’s links to nature, as they noted conservationists are doing less than the creators of Pokémon at inspiring interest in their subject, in an article also about identifying wildlife and Pokémon .
Kids’ interest in Pokémon was so popular, it’s said that it inspired the first computer virus aimed at children known as the ‘Pikachu Virus’ that lured in victims by saying: “Great Friend! Pikachu from Pokémon Theme have some friendly words to say. Visit Pikachu at http://www.pikachu.com. See you.”
It wasn’t just Christian groups that were cautious of Pokémon. Islamic groups criticised and banned Pokémon on the basis of it being ‘suspiciously Jewish’. Authorities in Saudi Arabia stated in spring 2001, that they would confiscate and destroy evidence of the Pokémon franchise. And would be removed from shops, and banned it as it encouraged gambling as well as carrying symbols not of the Muslim faith.
It was also stated that characters appear based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. And that Sheikh Abdul Aziz when talking about the cards, stated that most of the cards “figure six-pointed stars, a symbol of international Zionism and the state of Israel“
However after seeing what it’s actually about, the Vatican gave its blessing of the video game series, stating it was full of inventive imagination. They said it didn’t have any harmful moral side effects and that it was based on ties of intense friendship.
Said Sat2000, a satellite TV station ran by the Vatican. (Pokémon movie earns Papal blessing | New York Post).
And from religious interaction to scientific involvement. Pokémon has a small impact on the naming or nicknaming of some species. A species of orb-weaver spider – Platythomisus octomaculatus – nicknamed the Pikachu Spider, and its venom is considered medically insignificant posing no serious health risks. There are also beetles, named after Pokémon in Australia, named Binburrum articuno, Binburrum zapdos, Binburrum moltres. Also a bee species was found in the Andes of Chile and named after Charizard. And not just sentient beings are being named. But even proteins and genomes. In science, such things exist as the ‘Pokémon Gene’, and a protein named after Pikachu. “The proto-oncogene Pokémon is typically over expressed in cancers, and the protein Pikachurin is associated with ribbon synapses in the retina.“
Platythomisus octomaculatus
Pokémon 30
A large milestone was reached on the 27th of February 2026 for Pokémon that lead to an array of large announcements. Running up to this, re-releasing Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version on the Switch 2 and having Pokémon featured as Super Bowl LX commercial as it began celebrating Pokémon 30 – 30 years of Pokémon. The event saw a teaser for the next big release titles of their main series and generation 10: Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves. They also announced Pokémon Champions , additions to their trading card game, extra content for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, a new spin off game called Pokémon Pokopia which we cover later, along with other releases from both Nintendo, and other franchises, like Pokémon Lego sets.
The new Winds & Waves series looks tropical and promising, as it seems to improve on graphics based on this graphics difference observed by a fan.
And fans enjoy comparing the new starters, and also praise the artwork of artists that make predictions on what these starters will evolve into. These are predictions by hottersoda
TCG
Base Set Holographics
AI-Generated Pokemon TCG Cards
(Holographic effect inspired by the CSS card techniques of Simon Goellner (@simeydotme). Original concept adapted and recoloured with custom assets.)
The original cards and the overall trading card game are a very big deal as well. Fans love seeing the old art works on the cards and getting an injection of nostalgia or seeing the latest and the odds and reactions of what cards are drawn from packs.
Pokémon trading cards have created a whole entertainment sector that involves not just showing how the game is played, but also pack opening challenges and even charity events. In a 24 hour live stream, Streamers from across Europe unwrapped over 20,000 cards to break The Guinness World Record for the longest unboxing livestream. They had then donated their cards in protectors to children's charities across Europe.
Shortly after Pokémon cards were introduced to children, it did not take long for school boards across the country in the United Kingdom and other countries to unify and ban them. Despite some outlets describing Pokémon as having 'effortless learning' such as the Los Angeles Times as it said children learn negotiation skills.
About this time of schools banning Pokémon cards, Pokémon related crimes were becoming more common. In Swindon, Wiltshire, two boys held another boy at knifepoint on a railway footbridge, and stole his cards estimated to be worth £200. Other times children were smashing through shop windows trying to get the Pokémon cards. Though today shop lifting and ransacking of Pokémon cards is still an issue collectors and vendors face and fear. Trove in Bournemouth, posted on social media late at night on March 4th, 2026, thieves had broken in and stolen £30,000 worth of trading cards amongst other stock.
The banning of Pokémon cards, not just because of school fights, and not just because of the 'kiddy lotto' collecting the cards as whatever cards inside the packs are not certain, but also as financial relief for the parents that are under pressure to feed their children's habit. In one instance during a radio phone-in, even had an 8 year old boy trying to swap his 10 month old sister for a holographic Vaporeon card.
The Pokémon trading card game has evolved from being a game to an investment. With certain Subreddits dedicated like r/PokeInvesting that as of writing sees 465K weekly visitors, and 14K weekly contributions, dedicated to making money from the cards. The card industry frequents popular online discussion in the form of rejecting scalpers. Scalping is a controversial free market sales strategy of artificial scarcity by buying the market from the seller and then selling at a higher price - sometimes by 200% - for the hobby which then becomes pricing kids out. Sometimes these scalpers will even fight each other on the shop floor. This behavior had caught the attention of other popular content creators like that of the dark humour cartoonist, Meat Canyon. And so much so that some are choosing to invest in Pokémon cards over stocks. Articles popping up related to investing in Pokémon cards, like 'Why I Chose Pokémon Cards Over Stocks As My Next Investment - Business Insider'. And 'A Pokémon card sold for £12m last month - is it now time to classify the hobby as a serious investment?'
And it could be then that Pokémon cards have become what 'NFT's' couldn't be. A kind of currency, based on a picture?
Another huge trading card based world record was broken in terms of card value recently. Logan Paul's Pikachu Illustrator card, a PSA graded mint condition 10, one of only 39 copies, designed by Atsuko Nishida, the original designer of Pikachu. Along with this card was a $75,000 diamond necklace worn during Logan Paul's WWE debut at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. The card was awarded to winners of a 1998 illustration contest held by CoroCoro Comic in Japan - originally made in the late 1990's that set a world record at the time of Paul's purchase, for $5.275 million in July 2021, sold at Goldin Auctions during a 42 day auction to venture capitalist AJ Scaramucci son of financier and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci for $16,492,000 (that includes 'buyer's premium') as the auction closed on Monday 16th February. Logan had described his profits as 'absolutely insane'.
The card reads:
Title:
ポケモンイラストレーター
“Pokémon Illustrator”
Main text:
ポケモンカードゲームイラストコンテストにおいて、あなたのイラストは、優秀であることが認められました。
そこで、あなたをポケモンカード公式認定イラストレーターと認め、その栄誉をたたえます。
Translation:
“In the Pokémon Card Game Illustration Contest, your artwork has been recognized as outstanding.
Therefore, we officially recognize you as a certified Pokémon Card illustrator and honor your achievement.”
Illustration credit:
Illus. Atsuko Nishida(Translated by GPT 5.2)
Illustrator Pikachu
Promo CoroCoro Comic · 1998
Hover for holographic effect
(Holographic effect inspired by the CSS card techniques of Simon Goellner (@simeydotme). Original concept adapted and recoloured with custom assets.)
Films and Animated TV Series
The first Pokémon film: Mewtwo Strikes Back, featured the powerful genetically engineered Mewtwo that questions its existence to then invite strong trainers to a private island, with the intention of cloning their Pokémon and then having the clones fight against the original forms to see who is stronger to answer his questions. Its conclusion is: "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." A strong message about appreciating life and rejecting biological determinism.
Pokémon: The First Movie broke box office records in the US earning more than $52 million in its first five days, as the most successful opening for a cartoon. And at the time, became the biggest Wednesday opening for an animated film in history that includes beating The Lion King. As the film was coming into cinemas, the switchboard at Warner Brothers had been overloaded with 70,000 calls a minute, of people trying to book cinema tickets. As for its live action movie:The film Detective Pikachu had a world wide gross of $433,305,346, from their budget $150,000,000. The film went onto become the highest-grossing video game movie of all time, at the time July 2019. A record it had kept, until February of 2025, when that title was claimed by Sonic 3.
As of 25 April 2025, the Pokémon: The Series, held The Guinness World Record for The longest-running anime series based on a videogame. It first aired in Japan on 1 April 1997. Though the show had its fair share of controversies.
Nationwide seizure effects on the air date of December 16, 1997 in episode 38 of Season 1 named Dennō Senshi Porygon and creating the suspicious result named 'Pokémon Contagion'.
An outbreak involving more than 12,000 Japanese children who had various signs and symptoms of illness after watching the famous Porygon episode that was not dubbed or aired in the west. "In all, millions watched the program. In one city, Toyohashi, more than 70% of the 24,000 elementary school students and 35% of the 13,000 junior high school students watched the program, for a total of more than 21,000 viewers in Toyohashi alone." "At 6:51 PM, the flashing lights of Pikachu's "attack" appeared on television screens. By 7:30 PM, according to Japan's Fire-Defense Agency, 618 children had been taken to hospitals complaining of various symptoms. News of the illnesses spread rapidly throughout Japan and became the subject of media reports later that evening. During the coverage, several stations replayed the flashing sequence, whereupon even more children fell ill and sought medical attention. The number affected by this "second wave" is unknown. Reported symptoms included convulsions, altered levels of consciousness, headaches, breathlessness, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, and general malaise." Over 600 people, most of whom were children, taken to hospital for flashing lights induced epileptic seizures.
Other such attention has been caught by groups like Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) that frequent criticism and also comparisons using Pokémon claiming things like "The amount of time that Pokémon spend stuffed in Pokéballs is akin to how elephants are chained up in train carts along with parody games based on Pokémon.
Despite how over reacting Peta appears to be with their attempts to reopen the 'do video games cause violence' debate by saying they're comparable is quite dated. On the contrary, instilled in the animated Pokémon series are some messages that are vegan philosophically orientated. Take this example from Professor Oak. Claiming that if we cared and had respect for Pokémon like all living beings, we'd have peace:
The main anime series starring Ash Ketchum ran for a few days short of 26 years, started with 'Pokémon - I Choose You!' that aired on the 1st of April 1997 and finished on episode 1,232 titled: 'The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!' airing in Japan on the 24th of March 2023. A newer Pokémon anime now airs, Pokémon Horizons: The Series starting from the 14th of April, 2023. Other shows and shorts are made, including Pokémon Generations in the run up to the release of their Sun and Moon titles along with Pokémon Origins that retells the original game series of Red fulfilling Professor Oak's lifelong dream of completing Pokédex in just over a day.
Pokémon Go
With the launch of Pokémon GO - released on the 6th of July 2016 and so coming up for 10 years - and with the craze of augmented reality, Pokemon's relevance in society was increased further, and wasn't just seen as something to be played on a Nintendo device, and even had a politician mentioning to encourage voters to vote in America. In another case, busy inner-city areas were shut down in some parts of the world, when word got out that a collection of pixels were granted temporary GPS co-ordinates leading fans to rush to whatever location that could even cause a small stampede in 2016.
The impact of Pokémon Go opened a lot of discussion, as it was really the first major successful augmented reality game. It was hailed as a success not just as a game, but the fact it got people out of the house doing light exercising. But with this new style of gaming came new challenges as problems to address arose.
Studies done on Pokémon Go players indicate a positive result. One such, called 'Impact of Pokémon Go on Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis' Concluding 'Playing Pokémon Go was associated with a statistically significant but clinically modest increase in the number of daily steps taken among game players.'
And for other papers, like this review paper titled: 'Effects of Pokémon GO on Physical Activity and Psychological and Social Outcomes: A Systematic Review' wrote not only did it increase the amount of walking, but also "improved mood and social interaction, and some aspects of cognitive ability, including memory, attention, and concentration."
But other bodies claimed Pokémon Go was handled poorly in terms how big a game was and what it encouraged, against this new genre of gaming and the risks that became apparent.
It was released with the charity NSPCC - National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children -expressed disapproval for its release in the UK without any safety warnings. “It’s deeply troubling that the app’s owners have ignored many warning signals and well documented child safety concerns”
Another such article, titled 'Pokémon Go and augmented virtual reality games: a cautionary commentary for parents and pediatricians' writes of negative effects, including negative effects include increased risk of injury, abduction, trespassing, violence, and cost. With News.com.au reporting an alarming one in 20 schoolchildren have almost been hit by a car while playing Pokémon Go.
It's not just the distraction of AR against surrounding environmental dangers that are involved. There are also aspects inside the game that cause interaction. Some of that has been used for other ideals. A Church used Pokémon Go to spread the word of The Lord and Savior as the church on the map is used as a 'gym' in Pokémon Go and thusly put a sign up to say 'Jesus Cares About Pokemon Gamers'.
But other times Pokémon Go had caused people to be somewhat of a nuisance. From light hearted incidents like police having to ask players to stop trying to catch Sandshrew in Darwin police station as The Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services wrote on Facebook: “For those budding Pokémon Trainers out there using Pokémon Go - whilst the Darwin Police Station may feature as a Pokéstop, please be advised that you don't actually have to step inside in order to gain the Pokéballs.” Whilst other places such as Auschwitz had to remind players it's 'disrespectful' to play Pokémon Go at the former Nazi death camp.
It's a dangerous chance to lure in unsuspecting distracted children. Armed criminals have even used 'PokéStops' to target game players who were not paying attention to their surroundings. Other such results include having to remind people to look where they are going as to not fall, and not to use apps whilst driving.
As for its financial success. Even just Pokémon Go itself has generated billions in revenue. For starts, when the app first came out, bugs made it difficult to throw Pokéballs accurately, and about that time the developer's CEO John Hanke had his Twitter account hacked by the hacking group Our Mine. Despite these issues, the company estimated the AR app had earned more than $200 million in worldwide net revenue on the App Store and Google Play during its first month of release.
[ Pokémon GO revenue worldwide 2025| Statista ]. According to Business of Apps citing both Niantic, the company that developed and released Pokémon Go and Sensor Tower, that analyses performance metrics of mobile apps ( Pokémon Go Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026) - Business of Apps ) writes that whilst profits have declined in recent years. The revenue from the launch near, and the pandemic year of 2020 has exceeded over 1 billion.
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Niantic, the previous owners of the Pokémon Go game, were purchased by Scopely Inc. They have announced on their website May 29, 2025. And said this in a statement. "Scopely Inc. (“Scopely”), the #1 mobile games company in the United States and a wholly-owned entity of Savvy Games Group (“Savvy”), announced today the successful completion of its acquisition of the games business of Niantic, Inc. (“Niantic”) for $3.5 billion. The deal brings category-leading games “Pokémon GO,” “Pikmin Bloom,” “Monster Hunter Now”". The games collected data from the players, is now being used for training robotics.
GAME SERIES
As of March 2025, the Pokémon Company has sold nearly 500 million units of their game series. For their latest game as of this article, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, released in Oct 16 2025 sold nearly 6 million copies in its first week,according to a statement by the Pokémon Company.
The physical game cartridges fetch a pretty penny. With someone expecting to spend even hundreds for an authentic set. Something they've already probably bought in their youth and are questioning why they should repurchase it, just for an object, to carry software, that can be downloaded directly.
Sometimes going for double for a second hand copy of a cartridge game.
On their website, they have declared their figures to have sold over 75 billion cards. And also with this, showing their video game figures to have sold over 489 million units of their Pokémon-related software.
Leaks, whilst not the most credible of sources, Game Freak have confirmed to have suffered a data breach losing an estimated 2600 pieces of personal data and these leaks do show a unifying trend when it comes to Pokémon's modern budget for their games. From one source, Centro Leaks report:
Pokémon Games Final Budgets (in ¥JPY): - SWSH: 2,498 million - SWSH DLC: 386 million - PLA: 2,175 million - SV: 3,298 million - SV DLC: 1,423 million (way over budget as it was planned to cost 500 million) - PLZA (estimate): 2,000 million - WIWA (early estimate): 3,000 million
Their Pokémon Legends Arceus as of a tweet from Nintendo of America on February 4th, 2022 stated they had 6.5 million 'explorers'. The game released on 28th of Jan 2022. So that's an opening week statement.
According to a statement of one of their latest titles: Z-A sold 5.8 million copies in the first week.
Also according to their website, their titles,
Pokémon Scarlet / Pokémon Violet 27.61 million pcs.
Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield 26.96 million pcs.
And for their 3DS titles. Pokémon X / Pokémon Y sold 16.78 million pieces. Pokémon Sun / Pokémon Moon sold 16.33 million pieces. And Pokémon Omega Ruby / Pokémon Alpha Sapphire sold 14.67 million pieces.
Stats for some of their other titles don't appear to be on their website, like their remade Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond or the 'Let's Go' Pikachu and Eevee games.
Though their highest grossing game is their original series. According to The Guinness World Records, Pokémon Red and Blue are the highest selling Game Boy game, selling an estimated 31.37 million copies worldwide as of March 2018.
Pokemon Pokopia
During the celebrations of Pokémon 30 - 30 years of Pokémon, came Pokémon Pokopia that had its worldwide release on March 5, 2026. It was conceived and directed by Pokémon Scarlet and Violet director Shigeru Ohmori and Developed by Game Freak and Omega Force of Koei Tecmo, then published by The Pokémon Company. Hailed as an Animal Crossing / Minecraft Pokésim. The player plays as the shape shifting Pokémon Ditto, as it becomes humanoid and learns new skills to rebuild Kanto from a mysterious aftermath of destruction. Ditto is identifiable for its silly blank looking face, a concept previously featured in the animated series episode 37. Ditto's Mysterious Mansion as the slime creature cannot perfectly copy another monster's face, and instead retains its own basic face.
The game itself has received all round great reviews, from fans and critics alike. OpenCritic, a 'review aggregator' for video games that collects review data from hundreds of online publications sees Pokopia with gleaming high scores.
Alana Hagues Deputy Editor, Nintendo Life Said: "Pokémon Pokopia is the freshest Pokémon experience in a long time, bursting at the seams with charm and content that rewards both curiosity and creativity." And in Rebekah Valentine's verdict in her review written for IGN, wrote: "Pokémon Pokopia is a real treat: an enjoyable building and town simulator that capitalizes on the charming personalities of its monsters in a way that appeals to both the creative and collector alike"
Another media review index, Meta Critic, that calls itself 'The Gold Standard in Critical Analysis' also shows high amounts of player positive feedback.
The game has performed nicely, with 2.2 million units on its first 4 days on sale. And sees Nintendo's stock value replenish itself according to Bloomberg.
This leads it up to being one of the most successful spin off Pokémon games of all time.
This is despite a potential problem highlighted by Nintendo Life that a tweet from Chris Dring of 'The Game Business' stating that the game's release suffered some supply issues:
Pokémon Pokopia is on sale for the hefty price of £59.99.
Pokémon TCG Pocket
The Rise of TCG Pocket
October 2024 — present · Click any event to expand
Shown by a video of their TCG Pocket app. Success statistics can be found on The Official Pokémon YouTube channel titled: Pokémon TCG Pocket: First Anniversary 🎊 | Official Trailer. Their statistics from the app. 18+ billion number of packs opened, I assume they give packs for free for playing the game. Number of Showcases, 490 million. 96 million trades. 12 billion battles. 150 million downloads, is a crucial stat. 111 billion cards collected. 6 billion Thanks sent. And waow can I just say as someone who hasn't played this APP game, have they mastered that 'opening a pack of trading cards' sensation, and capturing the gleam and shine of the structured artwork.
Final words
You can see how the popularity of Pokémon has changed from its launch compared to today. The franchise has grown and built upon itself, recently celebrating 30 years of Pocket Monsters with the arrival of more adventures announced. It is a monumental series that has become 'the highest grossing media franchise of all time' and doesn't show signs of slowing, nor do the fans tire of it. But judging by the level of success and how the fans appreciate the brand, it looks like Nintendo are set for another 30 years of Pokémon, at least.
Pikachu spider from Mantisden.co.uk
Featured GIF - 1JPS - 1jps GIFs on GIPHY - Be Animated
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