1989–1995: Development of Red and Green

Further information: Pokémon Red and Blue § Development

Two original Game Boys connected with a Game

Link Cable

Tajiri started to think of what was to become Pokémon while

completing Quinty, and before he officially founded Game Freak. Around this
time, Nintendo announced the upcoming release of the Game Boy, a
handheld console that would revolutionize the gaming industry. Tajiri learned
that the device would have a link port, and with the corresponding Game
Link Cable, two Game Boys could be linked together.[69] Sometime later, Tajiri
remembered an incident while playing Dragon Quest II (1987), a role-playing
game (RPG) for the Famicom (NES). The game features randomly appearing
items of varying rarity, including an extremely rare item called Mysterious
Hat.[e] Tajiri did not encounter any, while Ken Sugimori, who was also playing
the game, encountered two. Upon recalling this experience, Tajiri realized
that the cable now made it possible to transfer things from one cartridge to
another.[IV] He noted that, until then, the Game Link Cable was only used for
competing, but not for something else.[74] Combining this inspiration with his
memories of catching insects and other small species, Tajiri's idea would
eventually evolve into a virtual recreation of his boyhood experiences, [75] and
an attempt to "regain the world that he had lost". [76] He would later state that
the game represents "the story of a boy's summer day". [77]

Gashapon capsules have been cited as an

inspiration for Pokemon.
Tajiri and his Game Freak staff began pondering over a game centered on
capturing creatures of differing rarity. Since the Game Boy is a portable
device, these creatures could then be exchanged with other players in real
life using the link cable. Once the player has caught a creature in-game, it
was to be stored in miniaturized form in a special capsule. This facet of the
game was inspired by Ultraseven, a tokusatsu show that Tajiri had enjoyed as
a child.[78] The series' titular character owns a number of capsules containing
miniaturized kaiju (monsters), which come out and return to their original
sizes when the capsule is thrown into mid-air. Kaiju media in general were an
important influence on Pokemon, as many Game Freak staff members had
grown up with them.[71][79] Other influences that have been cited by Tajiri
include: gashapon, capsules with toy figures in them that can be drawn from
vending machines;[80][81] collectible cards, such as baseball
cards, Ultraman cards and menko;[V] The Final Fantasy Legend (1989), the
first RPG for the Game Boy;[86] and petting in Japan, with Tajiri noting that
having Pokemon is similar to having pets.[87] Tajiri initially named his
project Capsule Monsters, which GF's staff commonly shortened to Capumon.
[88]
However, it later turned out that the term Capsule Monsters could not be
trademarked, and it was subsequently decided to call the game Pocket
Monsters, which became Pokemon. According to Tomisawa (2000), the
phrase "Capsule Monsters" was already registered. [88] According to
Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000), the word "capsule" could not be used in the
trademark.[89] Tomisawa (2000) states that the Game Freak staff then came
up with several alternatives, before someone within the team suggested
"Pocket Monsters".[88]

In March 1989, Nintendo co-founded Ape, Inc. with Itoi. Ape's principal work
was Mother (1989), a role-playing game written by Itoi, but it was also
founded with the intent to give outside talent a chance to pitch new,
innovative games.[52][57] At the time, Ape was housed in the same Kanda-
Sudachō office building as Nintendo, located in Tokyo. [90] Ishihara, a friend of
both Itoi and Tajiri, was involved with Ape's management (and would become
its vice-president in 1991).[52][55] Tajiri's relationship with Ishihara prompted
Tajiri to present his idea for Pocket Monsters at Ape's office.[91][92] Present
during Tajiri's pitch was Takashi Kawaguchi, who worked at Nintendo's
General Affairs Department and was also a manager at Ape. [57][93] Kawaguchi
brought the idea to Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, who reportedly
said: "This is it. This is the idea I've been waiting for." [94] By pure coincidence,
Ishihara had come up with an idea for a game similar to that of Tajiri, and
around the same time was discussing it with Ape. This game, Toto, involved
"using the Game Boy as an insect cage". Ishihara emphasized, however, that
the idea of trading creatures with the link cable was Tajiri's. GF and Ape
agreed to merge their projects together.[95] According to Tajiri, the two teams
initially collaborated on the game, but the work proved difficult, one of the
reasons being that Ape was busy developing EarthBound.[96][97] Tajiri
eventually figured that "rather than working with Ape, we had to do
something on our own, or the project would never get finished". [96] Ape, Inc.
is not credited on the final product.

The development contract was signed at the beginning of 1990, with a

planned delivery of the game in October.[98] Tajiri directed the project,
working under Ishihara.[99] Ishihara was the producer – he managed the
budget, staff, and work schedule, monitored the game's overall progress,
and served as a liaison between Game Freak and Nintendo. [95][100] Ishihara
also contributed ideas to the development, [58] and helped with debugging.[101]
[102]
Sugimori was in charge of the graphics and character design. [103] Masuda
created all music and sound effects, and did part of the programming. [104] The
budget that Nintendo granted to Game Freak was low; [98] thus, Pocket
Monsters was initially planned as a small, compact game, based primarily
around Tajiri's core idea of exchanging.[86][105] However, as development
progressed, GF's ideas and ambitions for Pokemon grew.[86] They soon
realized that the game they were beginning to envision would not be easy to
make. Sugimori admitted that, at the time, no one at GF had much
knowledge of RPGs. "We thought we could handle it, but as we began
working, we realized it was going to be tough", he acknowledged. [106] Pocket
Monsters was suspended indefinitely, and GF turned their focus on other
titles (see Game Freak § Games).

After the game's initial development phase in 1990 and 1991, [107] the staff
"tinkered with it from time to time", as Sugimori put it. [108] For instance, by
October 1992, a large number of Pokemon had been designed, and a poll
was held that month among all staff members to gauge the popularity of the
different species. Several more such votes followed to determine collectively
which Pokemon should be included.[109] Still, development had mostly come
to a halt until the summer of 1994, after the release of the platform
game Pulseman, upon which Tajiri decided it was time to make a serious
effort towards finishing Pocket Monsters.[110] By this point, Game Freak's
experience had grown considerably. Over the years, a number of new staff
members had been added to the company. One of them was Atsuko Nishida,
a graphic artist who created Pikachu, among others.[111][112][113] Ishihara used
his knowledge of card games to add more depth to the battle system, and
among other things suggested Pokemon types. Ishihara also came up with
the idea of the Pokedex, a portable encyclopedic device which players can
use to keep track of the Pokemon they caught.[58] Throughout the years, Tajiri
had several conversations with Shigeru Miyamoto,[114] Nintendo's top game
designer who Tajiri described as a mentor figure. [78] Although, in a 2018
retrospect, Miyamoto downplayed his role in advising Tajiri, and stated that
his contributions to Pokemon were in fact limited.[115] Miyamoto did, however,
suggest the use of different colored cartridges for the game, in response to
Tajiri's and Ishihara's musings about making each playthrough slightly
different, as to 'individualize' the player's experience. [116] According to Tajiri,
"five or seven colors" were considered,[117] but they eventually settled on
two: Red and Green. Otherwise identical, each had Pokemon not found in the
other, encouraging players to socialize and trade to complete their
collection.[116]

Ishihara aspired to create video games of his own. [118] As Pocket Monsters
Red and Green were nearing completion, Ishihara founded Creatures, Inc. on
8 November 1995. Upon founding, the company was housed in the same
office building as Nintendo in Tokyo.[119] Co-ownership of
the Pokemon property, which Ishihara helped create, was subsequently
assigned to Creatures. This resulted in Pokemon having three legal owners:
Game Freak, the main developer; Creatures, representing producer Ishihara;
and Nintendo, the publisher. Anne Allison (2006) wrote that Nintendo also
bought the property after Red and Green were finished.[120] Hatakeyama &
Kubo (2000) noted that the ownership structure of Pokemon is uncommon.
[11]
They wrote that "Pokemon is probably the only property in the world
today for which the original rights are not concentrated in a single company",
like The Walt Disney Company does with their IPs.[121] Tajiri and Ishihara did
consider merging Game Freak and Creatures at one point. However, Tajiri
decided against it because he feared it would erase what he had built up
since he was a teenager. "I felt threatened by the idea of changing how
Game Freak was operating, and starting back over with Mr. Ishihara", he said.
"It was an identity problem. If Game Freak ceased to exist, then so would I".
Tajiri noted that, since Game Freak and Creatures both focus on Pokemon, it
sometimes felt more like different departments than different companies. [91]

Pocket Monsters Red and Green were finally finished in December 1995.[122] A
release date of 21 December that year was announced, [123] but missed. After
sufficient cartridges, manuals and packages had been manufactured, the
pair of games ended up being published on 27 February 1996. However, the
property was copyrighted in 1995, and " 1995" is shown on the title
screens[124] and cartridges.[125] This year is since used on the copyright
notice[1] seen on many Pokemon products, even though no
actual Pokemon product was released in 1995.[126]

1996–1998: Rise in Japan

Release of Red and Green

Nintendo had no high expectations of Pocket Monsters Red and Green, and
media largely ignored the game(s).[127] By 1996, the seven-year-old Game
Boy console was considered yesterday's news and near the end of its
lifecycle.[26][128][129] On the other hand, new Game Boys continued to be
manufactured and sold.[130] The console was widespread and, due to its age,
affordable to children.[26][131] Also, the Game Boy had experienced a small
revival in Japan in 1995 due to the success of Mario's Picross. Coincidentally,
this game was directed by Ishihara, and co-developed by Ape. The popularity
of Mario's Picross incited Nintendo to develop the Game Boy Pocket,[132] a
slimmer and improved version of the Game Boy, released in Japan on 21 July
1996.[133] Because of the timing and naming, some were under the
impression that the Game Boy Pocket was made to promote Pocket
Monsters, but this was in fact a coincidence that would end up benefiting
both.[134]

CoroCoro manga, Mew lottery

Two media channels that would play important roles in

the Pokemon franchise were the CoroCoro Comic, released monthly, and its
sister magazine Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic, released bi-monthly.
Both manga magazines are published by Shogakukan, a long-time business
partner of Nintendo, and have featured manga based on Nintendo properties
(e.g. Super Mario-kun, Kirby of the Stars, Donkey Kong). At the time
of Pokemon's release, the main CoroCoro magazine was read by one in four
elementary school students.[135] CoroCoro's deputy editor-in-chief
was Masakazu Kubo [ja]. On Ishihara's suggestion,[136] Kubo commissioned
the creation of a manga adaptation. Written and illustrated by Kosaku
Anakubo [ja], its first chapter was featured in the March/April issue
of Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic, released on 28 February 1996, the day
after Red and Green's release.[137] Shogakukan, which frequently surveys
their target groups, determined that the Pocket Monsters manga was well
received.[138]

To further promote Red and Green, the May issue of CoroCoro, released on
15 April 1996, announced the "Legendary Pokemon Offer", centered around a
mysterious, secret Pokemon called Mew.[139][140] Mew was a last-minute
addition to Red & Green. It is unobtainable in the game(s) through usual
means, and was intended to be used at a later point in some post-launch
activity.[141] To participate in the promotion, CoroCoro readers had to send in a
postcard, and from the entrants, 20 were selected at random. The winners
then had to send in their cartridge so that Mew could be uploaded onto it.
The lottery was a success and increased word-of-mouth.[26][141] By September,
sales of Red and Green had surpassed 1 million units.[142]

Blue Version

After the release of Pokemon Red and Green, Game Freak continued to grow,
and a number of new employees were hired. For training purposes, they
were ordered to study and make bug fixes to the source code of Red &
Green, and to create new sprites for it;[143] the test was later dubbed Pocket
Monsters Blue. It was originally not meant to be sold. Only a small number of
handmade copies were made, intended as a special gift to "20 to 100
people".[144] After Kubo learned of it, he encouraged Tajiri and Ishihara to
allow an official release of Blue. President Hiroshi Yamauchi initially rejected
this, fearing it would confuse people into believing it was an entirely
new Pokemon game. Kawaguchi then suggested an alternative, which
Yamauchi agreed with: Blue would not receive a normal retail release, but
would instead be made available only through mail order for a limited time
as a special offer.[145] It was announced in the November issue of CoroCoro,
which explicitly stated that Blue was not a new game, but rather a special,
limited edition to celebrate 1 million sales of Red and Green.[140] The offer
was a surprisingly big success: 300,000 units were expected to be sold, but
over double was ordered.[146][147]

Trading Card Game

The Pokemon Trading Card Game was one of the first collectible card
games (CCGs) developed in Japan. Its creation was influenced by Magic: The
Gathering, the first CCG in history.[148][149][150] Indeed, the Pokemon Trading
Card Game can be considered a simplified version of Magic.[151][152] First
released in the United States in 1993, Magic had gained popularity not just in
North America and Europe, but also in Asia. [153] Ishihara was fond of playing
cards,[58] and had contributed to the development of at least three simple
card games designed by Shigesato Itoi and released through Ape, Inc.[d] At
the time, Ishihara was particularly interested in Magic: The Gathering.
[148]
While developing the Pokemon RPG, he realized that the concept behind
it could be adapted into a Magic-like CCG.[57] The Pokemon Trading Card
Game was designed by Ishihara,[154] Akihiko Miura, Kōichi Ōyama, and Takumi
Akabane.[155] All were former staff members of Ape and had previously
worked on EarthBound (1994): Miura was the game's main designer, Ōyama
was its art director, and Akabane was one of its chief debuggers. [156]

While card games have a long history in Japan, a collectible card game was a
relatively new concept there, and at the time not widely known. [157] Because
of this, Ishihara had difficulties finding distributors. Sometime in 1995,
Ishihara pitched the card game to Nintendo. They agreed to have the cards
manufactured, subcontracting an unidentified printing company. However,
Nintendo did not want the hassle of having to develop a distribution system
from the ground up, i.e. finding retailers willing to sell a CCG. [158] Ishihara was
then contacted by Satoshi Kayama, director of a small firm called Media
Factory. Like Ishihara, Kayama was a fan of card games. He felt that CCGs
would soon rise to prominence in Japan, and had been gathering information
on the possibility of developing such a game in some form. When Kayama
heard that Creatures had developed a CCG, he contacted Ishihara and
offered to distribute it, signing the contract near the end of 1995. [159]

CoroCoro again proved a valuable information channel. The Trading Card

Game was first announced in the November issue, the same one that
announced Pokemon Blue.[160] The issue came bundled with two promo cards:
one of Purin (Jigglypuff) and one of Pikachu. Surveys showed that they were
respectively the most and second-most popular Pokemon at the time. [161] On
20 October 1996, the first card set was released.[162] Booster packs were
launched the same day, containing 10 randomly inserted cards. [163] In the
West, the booster packs contained 11 cards.[f] The original set would be titled
the Base Set in English. Many more sets would follow. Despite being ignored
by the media, except for CoroCoro,[164] the cards became an instant success
upon release. 87 million Pokemon cards were shipped by the end of March
1997, six months after its launch, and one month before the debut of the
next big installment of the franchise: the Pokemon anime. The success of the
TV series would cause the cards' sales figure to explode: by March 1998, a
total of 499 million cards had been produced in Japan. [165]

Anime production launches

By August 1996, Kubo had become convinced of Pokemon's potential, and

believed Shogakukan should create an anime adaptation.[166] Nintendo was
hesitant, noting that if the anime would flop, it would negatively affect the
popularity of the game.[167] Ishihara initially opposed the idea, because he
thought it would overly hasten the 'consumption' of the property: he feared
that if the series would end, people would assume that Pokemon has ended,
and move on to the next thing.[168] At the time, Creatures and Game Freak
were planning the sequel(s) to Red and Green, Pokemon Gold and Silver, and
Ishihara did not want the anime to end before they could release their new
games.[169][170] Kubo was ultimately able to resolve the concerns of all parties
involved. An important aspect of Kubo's bargaining power was the then-
ongoing Mini 4WD craze and its accompanying hit series Bakusō Kyōdai Let's
& Go!!. Kubo had an important role in the creation of both, which impressed
the stakeholders.[171] To appease Ishihara, Kubo promised him that the anime
would last for at least a year and a half. This was unusually long for a
debuting anime, and required a big investment. [169][172] Kubo's proposal
for Pocket Monsters was officially approved on 26 September 1996.[173] For
Nintendo of Japan, it was the first time they licensed a TV series. [174] Kubo
assigned independent producer Choji Yoshikawa [ja] to lead the project.[175]

Shogakukan Productions, commonly called ShoPro, was Shogakukan's

production company. The animation company they commissioned was OLM,
Inc. (Oriental Light and Magic), on Kubo's suggestion. [176] Kunihiko Yuyama,
one of OLM's founding members, became the anime's director. ShoPro
assembled a team of five writers, plus two supporting writers. [177] All key
people involved with the production of Pokemon were well-experienced and
had proven track records within Japan's anime industry. Yoshikawa felt that
the team got lucky. "The probability of so many great people coming
together at the same time is very low", he said. [178] Per Tajiri's explicit
condition,[179] every anime team member had to play the game extensively,
including the illustrators and voice actors. [178] The anime staff "unanimously
agreed that the game was interesting"[180] and "felt connected with each
other through the world of Pokemon",[178] feeling positively challenged to
make an anime that would match the game's quality. [181]

A boy hugging a Pikachu-costumed performer.

Pikachu became a popular character among both boys and girls. [182]
A production council was formed to produce the anime. Different people
appeared at different meetings, but four individuals usually present were
Ishihara of Creatures, Sugimori of Game Freak, Yuyama of OLM, and
independent producer Yoshikawa. Yoshikawa had the final say. The council
decided on the anime's worldview, characters, general storyline, and various
important details. The early meetings, which were also attended by Tajiri,
usually started with a Q&A session in which Tajiri and Ishihara were asked
about the Pokemon universe.[183] The council was careful to have the anime
be in concordance with the video game. Inevitably, there had to be
differences between the two, but all agreed that the overall worldview as
envisioned by Tajiri should not be disturbed. [184] At the start of the video
game, the player has to choose one of three starter Pokemon: Fushigidane,
Hitokage, or Zenigame (Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle). The council
didn't want to unfairly popularize any of them, and wanted the protagonist to
start out with a different Pokemon.[185][186] Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000) wrote
that, by coincidence, three people independently suggested to the council
that a Pikachu should be a main character in the anime: Kubo, Yuyama, and
Keisuke Iwata of TV Tokyo's Film Department.[187] In the end, all council
members agreed that Pikachu should be one of Pocket Monsters' central
icons, as they expected Pikachu to appeal to both boys and girls, as well as
their mothers. This would expand its audience, which was considered a core
objective of the anime.[188][189]

During the council's first meeting, Yoshikawa brought up the issue on

whether the Pokemon in the anime could talk, and if not, how they could
communicate. In the video games, each has a specific cry.
In Anakubo's CoroCoro manga, most could speak. At first, the council
believed there should be a mixture of Pokemon that could talk and some that
could not. However, this idea was eventually discarded: the Pokemon had to
make a specific cry. The council agreed that Pokemon were like animals, and
while they and humans should be able to understand each other in the
series, they should not speak each other's language. [190] It was decided that
Pikachu would repeatedly say its own name in various intonations. The role
of Pikachu was given to Ikue Otani. During try-outs, Yuyama had Otani voice
Pikachu in normal Japanese, as well as in 'Pikachu talk', in which it only said
the syllables of its name. Yuyama realized that, even in the latter style of
limited communication, Otani was experienced enough to still convey the
messages and emotions needed.[191]

ShoPro paid half of the production cost of Pokemon. TV Tokyo paid the other
half and was granted co-ownership of the anime. [192] The ads during the
show's commercial breaks were managed by advertisement agency JR
Kikaku [ja], which was in turn paid by sponsors buying advertisement space.
[193]
In negotiating with TV Tokyo, Kubo managed to secure the 19:00 – 19:30
timeslot on Tuesdays.[194] Pocket Monsters premiered on 1 April 1997. By
November, it had become the highest-rated program on TV Tokyo. [195] The
anime succeeded in its goal of widening Pokemon's audience. Although the
video games and the cards remained mostly of interest to boys, the anime
also got more girls interested in the franchise, and girls' purchases
of Pokemon products increased.[182] This has been partly credited to Pikachu,
who gained widespread popularity among both boys and girls. [196] The
success of this character would later lead to the game Pocket Monsters
Pikachu (Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition), released in Japan on 12
September 1998.[197][198] An adaptation of Pokemon Blue, this version was
made to resemble the TV series more.[199]

Copyright council formed, merchandising expands

In the early months of the franchise, Nintendo was the contractual

representative for Pokemon, and thus the central contact point for
all Pokemon-related licensing (the approval of branded products).[200] Around
the time that planning of the anime begun, licensing requests
for Pokemon started to increase, which Nintendo had difficulties handling
due to a lack of (experienced) staff.[201] Nintendo consequently granted
ShoPro exclusive licensor rights. This was the first time that Nintendo of
Japan (NoJ) granted licensor rights to another company, aside from its
overseas subsidiaries Nintendo of America (NoA) and Nintendo of Europe
(NoE).[202]

A copyright council was formed, headed by Ishihara. Beginning in April 1997,

the council met every Tuesday, in the conference room of Creatures' office,
at the Nintendo Kanda Building in Sudachō, Tokyo.[119][203][204] Attendees
usually included Ishihara and his secretary, representatives of Nintendo,
Game Freak, ShoPro, TV Tokyo, and JR Kikaku, as well as head of the anime
Yoshikawa.[205] Broadly put, every meeting had three types of agenda items:
discussing Pokemon-related events and basic policies in Japan, discussing
Shogakukan publication plans, and considering merchandise proposals.
[206]
For merchandising, the council set the bar high. Fiercely protective
of Pokemon's brand equity, Ishihara was unwilling to greenlit an item just
because it had a picture of a Pokemon printed on it. To avoid the market
being flooded with low-quality goods, Ishihara put very specific demands on
the products he evaluated.[169][207] Furthermore, in most cases, the council
opted to contract one company for each product category. [208] Because of
this, most merchandise proposals were rejected: of the approximately 7,500
applications submitted in 1997, only about 5% was approved. [209]

By March 1998, 35 companies offered licensed Pokemon goods, and there

were approximately 700 Pokemon products.[133]
[210]
Tomy manufactured Pokemon toy figures and plush dolls.
[211]
Bandai made Pokemon gashapon, dolls and ramune-flavored candy in a
plastic box in the shape of a Game Boy.[212] Meiji
Seika produced Pokemon chocolate snacks and pudding.[133][213] The lucrative
franchise provided a much-needed boost to Japan's economy, which was
stagnating in what would later be called the Lost Decade.[214][215] An example
of a firm that benefited greatly from Pokemon was food
manufacturer Nagatanien [jp]. From May 1997, the company began
selling Pokemon-branded curry, furikake, and baking mixes.[133][216] In
December 1997, Nagatanien was hit hard by the collapse of one of its
biggest sales channels, Toshoku, in what was then the third-largest
bankruptcy in Japan's postwar history.[217][218] Nonetheless, due to
their Pokemon-licensed products, Nagatanien reported net profits in fiscal
years '97 and '98, despite having forecasted losses. [216][217][219]

"Dennō Senshi Porygon" incident

See also: Pokémon episodes removed from rotation

In the evening of 16 December 1997, the Pokemon franchise was hit by a

crisis related to the broadcast of the anime's 38th episode, "Dennō Senshi
Porygon" (Computer Warrior Porygon). It was watched by approximately
4.6 million households.[220] In the episode, the cast is transported into a
virtual world, accompanied by a Porygon, a digital, human-made Pokemon.
While flying through cyberspace, they are attacked by an anti-virus program
which mistakes them for viruses, shooting "vaccine missiles" at the group
resulting in explosions of bright, rapidly swapping red and blue flashes. [221]

The intense stimuli brought about by the episode triggered a variety of

adverse health effects in more than 10,000 viewers,[222] primarily irritated
eyes, headaches, dizziness, and nausea. [223] A small part suffered
a photosensitive epileptic seizure, manifested in loss of conscious and/or
convulsions.[223][224] Hundreds[g] of children were brought to hospitals,
although a part of them had recovered enough upon arrival and did not need
to be hospitalized. No one died. Broadcasting of Pokemon was halted, and
new guidelines were implemented to help prevent similar events from
happening.[230] With the show on hiatus, ShoPro and OLM worked on a
feature Pokemon film. By the time the incident occurred, its script was
already written, and the movie was in the storyboard stage. In mid-January,
the staff resumed creating new episodes.[231] The anime series returned on 16
April 1998.[232] The film, titled Pocket Monsters the Movie: Mewtwo Strikes
Back (Pokémon: The First Movie), premiered on 18 July 1998, and became
the fourth highest grossing film of the year in Japan. [233][234]

Ultimately, the incident did not damage the Pokemon franchise – it in fact
grew further during and after the anime's hiatus. While video rental tapes
were removed from shelves,[235][236] all other Pokemon products continued to
be sold as usual, and customer demand for them remained high. [237]
[238]
Helping matters was a general understanding among businesses that the
anime was not canceled, but rather suspended, and many executives
(correctly) expected the show to be resumed after precautions had been
taken. Supermarkets and other distribution outlets responded calmly to the
crisis, and did not remove Pokemon products from their sales floors.[239]