Editing Pokémon (section)

====Trading Card Game====
<!-- Ishihara and a few others create the Pokemon Trading Card Game -->
The ''[[Pokemon Trading Card Game]]'' was one of the first [[collectible card game]]s (CCGs) developed in Japan. Its creation was influenced by ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', the first CCG in history.<ref name="Hatakeyama_Kubo_(2000)_p153">{{Harvp|Hatakeyama|Kubo|2000|p=153}}.</ref><ref name="Pokemon_Business_Study_Group_(1998)_p112-117">{{Harvp|Pokemon Business Study Group|1998|p=112-117}}.</ref><ref name="Kimura_2006">{{Harvp|Kimura|2006}}: "香山は続けて岩崎に、米国 WOC 社製「マジック・ザ・ギャザリング」というトレーディングカードゲームが米国で大人気であること、石原たちが開発した「ポケットモンスター カードゲーム」は「マジック・ザ・ギャザリング」をヒントにしているが、純国産のオリジナルトレーディングカードゲームであることを教えた。そして今の所、声をかけた、幾つかの大手卸問屋から取り組みを拒否されていることも岩崎に伝えた。" ("Kayama went on to tell Iwasaki that a trading card game called "Magic the Gathering" made by WOC [Wizards of the Coast] was very popular in the United States, and that the "Pokemon Card Game" developed by Ishihara and his colleagues was inspired by "Magic the Gathering". However, it was a completely original trading card game made in Japan. He also told Iwasaki that, so far, several major wholesalers he had approached had rejected the project.")</ref> Indeed, the ''Pokemon Trading Card Game'' can be considered a simplified version of ''Magic''.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Gilles | last=Brougère | chapter=Pokémon in France | page=197 | editor-first=Joseph | editor-last=Tobin | editor-link=Joseph Tobin | title=Pikachu's Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon | date=5 February 2004 | publisher=[[Duke University Press]] | isbn=978-0822332879 | ref={{harvid|Tobin|2004}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Pyramid Review: Pokemon Trading Card Game | date=29 January 1999 | work=[[Pyramid (magazine)|Pyramid]] | publisher=SJGames.com | url=http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=571 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021223225/http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=571 | archive-date=2020-10-21 | url-status=live}}</ref> First released in the United States in 1993, ''Magic'' had gained popularity not just in North America and Europe, but also in Asia.<ref>{{Harvp|Pokemon Business Study Group|1998|p=113}}.</ref> Ishihara was fond of [[playing card]]s,<ref name="Masuda_2019_interview" /> and had contributed to the development of at least three simple card games designed by [[Shigesato Itoi]] and released through Ape, Inc.{{efn|name=cardgames}} At the time, Ishihara was particularly interested in ''Magic: The Gathering''.<ref name="Hatakeyama_Kubo_(2000)_p153" /> While developing the ''Pokemon'' RPG, he realized that the concept behind it could be adapted into a ''Magic''-like CCG.<ref name="Kawaguchi_interview" /> The ''Pokemon Trading Card Game'' was designed by Ishihara,<ref>{{Cite AV media | title=#Pokemon20: The Pokémon Company's Tsunekazu Ishihara | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7S_b5BxaB0&t=54s | publisher=The Official Pokémon YouTube channel | via=YouTube | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124100022/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7S_b5BxaB0 | archive-date=24 January 2024 | url-status=live | time=00:56 | quote=I was working really hard on its development at the time. That really takes me back.}}</ref> Akihiko Miura, Kōichi Ōyama, and Takumi Akabane.<ref>[https://www.mobygames.com/game/4707/pokemon-trading-card-game/credits/gameboy-color/ Pokémon Trading Card Game Credits], ''[[MobyGames]]''.</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.mobygames.com/game/6676/earthbound/credits/snes/ EarthBound credits], ''MobyGames''.</ref>

<!-- Nintendo manufactures the cards, Media Factory becomes their distributor -->
While card games [[Karuta|have a long history in Japan]], a collectible card game was a relatively new concept there, and at the time not widely known.<ref>{{Harvp|Hatakeyama|Kubo|2000|p=226}}.</ref> 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.<ref>{{Harvp|Hatakeyama|Kubo|2000|p=233-234}}.</ref> 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.<ref>{{Harvp|Pokemon Business Study Group|1998|p=118-119}}.</ref>

<!-- The card game is launched in Japan -->
''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''.<ref>{{Harvp|Kimura|2006}}: "ポケモンカードゲームの全容は、10 月 15 日発売の月刊コロコロコミック 11 月号で初めて誌上公開された。(...) この号は、青バージョンの誌上通販を開始したのと同じ号であった。" ("The Pokemon card game was first revealed in the November issue of the monthly ''CoroCoro Comic'', released on October 15. (...) This issue was the same one that announced the magazine's mail order of the ''Blue'' version.")</ref> 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.<ref>{{Harvp|Hatakeyama|Kubo|2000|p=239}}.</ref> On 20 October 1996, the first card set was released.<ref>{{Harvp|Hatakeyama|Kubo|2000|p=225}}.</ref> [[Booster pack]]s were launched the same day, containing 10 randomly inserted cards.<ref>{{Cite web | title=カードリスト {{pipe}} ポケットモンスターカードゲーム {{pipe}} 拡張パック第1弾 | trans-title=Card List {{pipe}} Pokemon Card Game {{pipe}} Expansion Pack Vol.1 | website=nazonobasho.com | date=22 December 2020 | url=https://nazonobasho.com/cardlist-pmcg01/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521220714/https://nazonobasho.com/cardlist-pmcg01/ | archive-date=21 May 2022 | url-status=live}}</ref> In the West, the booster packs contained 11 cards.{{efn|name=boosters|From the original [[List of Pokémon Trading Card Game sets#Pokémon Base Set|Base Set]] to the [[List of Pokémon Trading Card Game sets#Neo Destiny|Neo Destiny sets]], the booster packs contained 11 cards. After that and throughout the [[List of Pokémon Trading Card Game sets#Third Generation Sets|third generation 'EX' sets]], the booster packs contained 9 cards. From the [[List of Pokémon Trading Card Game sets#Fourth Generation Sets|fourth generation ''Diamond and Pearl'' sets]] onwards, the packs contained 10 cards. Since the [[List of Pokémon Trading Card Game sets#Seventh Generation Sets|seventh generation ''Sun and Moon'' sets]], the packs have again contained 11 cards.}} The original set would be titled the [[List of Pokémon Trading Card Game sets#Pokémon Base Set|Base Set]] in English. Many more sets would follow. Despite being ignored by the media, except for ''CoroCoro'',<ref>{{Harvp|Hatakeyama|Kubo|2000|p=225-226 + 239}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Hatakeyama_Kubo_(2000)_p246-247">{{Harvp|Hatakeyama|Kubo|2000|p=246-247}}.</ref>