CREDIT: POKÉMON

“Hello there! And welcome to the world of Pokémon, my name is Oak.” For myself and so many others over a decade ago, this badly pixelated but welcoming gentleman was our guide as we took our first steps on our journey to become the very best (like no one ever was).

The grand majority of people that grew up in the '90s, and in every generation to follow, can tell you of some sort of experience that they had with Pokémon as it swept over the world like the world's cutest tsunami. I can still remember the day that I set out into the tall grass for the first time, with my trusty Squirtle by my side, on my quest to conquer the virtual world that I had seen on TV.

Now in its 15th year on North American shores, the Pokémon franchise is preparing for the release of Pokémon X and Y on October 12. This will be the first time that the series is abandoning the traditional top-down mechanics of the game and finally making the transition to 3D. It is set to become one of the biggest video game events of 2013.

Very few media franchises have been able to maintain such a long and continued record of success for so many years, yet Pokémon can boast over 200 million games sold, in addition to 16 feature-length movies and an anime series that is preparing to premiere its 791st English-language episode, making it the most prolific entertainment export that Japan has sent our way. The enduring success of the various adaptations of the games have made a mockery of the popularity of Pokémon's '90s competitors such as Digimon and the Dragon Ball series, both of which were never able to maintain a high level of popularity after the early passion of North America's anime love affair had waned. After over a decade of continued success it can be hard to believe that this series came from the most humble of beginnings, and easily could have been forgotten if not for the efforts of one man.

In 1990, rookie game designer Satoshi Tajiri pitched an idea for a game to legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of franchises such as Mario, Zelda, and essentially the success of the modern gaming industry in human form. This game was to be based on two principles, the first stemming from one of Tajiri's childhood passions, and the second an idea that would lay the foundations to change the way people gamed together forever. Miyamoto took Tajiri under his wing, and after a gruelling six-year development cycle that nearly bankrupted Game Freak, Tajiri's fledgling development company, the partner games Pokémon Red and Green were released in 1996.

Predominantly inspired by its creator's love of insect collecting, the Pokémon games introduced 150 different species of monsters that were available for players to travel the virtual world in an effort to collect each and every one of them. In addition to capturing and cataloguing each Pokémon, players could train these creatures for competition against in-game opponents. Despite Tajiri's initial reluctance to include any sort of violence, he was eventually convinced that the male demographic would be more likely to come to the game if there was a competition aspect available. This formula could have easily seen the games slip into obscurity as another gimmicky RPG, especially considering the Game Boy was fading in popularity, but the second facet of Tajiri's plan saw it not only turn the game into a success, but single-handedly rescued the Game Boy and by extension, handheld gaming as a whole. Using the Link Cable, designed to connect two systems, the two version of the Pokémon games had slight differences as to which monsters were available, encouraging two friends to join together with differing versions, and trade with each other in an effort to complete their collections.

The runaway success of the franchise, in Japan and in North America two years later, has seen Pokémon become the second most successful video game series of all time, only falling behind Mario and the various titles that carry his name. Each and every past incarnation of the Nintendo handheld family has carried its own set of games, and without fail, they have been the highest-selling titles on their respective systems. Keeping the two fundamental aspects of the series — collection and trading — intact, each generation has built upon what came before, adding in new features, improvements to the gameplay, and most importantly, more Pokémon with each and every generation, bringing the number of available monsters to a whopping 649, and with nearly 40 new Pokémon confirmed prior the release of X and Y, it's a safe bet that come October 12 the Pokedex will have at least another 100 spots for trainers to fill.

Next week, I take a closer look at the Pokémon anime, as well as testimonies from some of Fanshawe's resident trainers.