Pokémon 25th Anniversary
The Pokémon franchise began as "Pocket Monsters Red" and "Green" (later released outside of Japan as "Pokémon Red" and "Blue") for the Game Boy, developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, on February 27, 1996. The "Pokémon" franchise is divided into groupings known as generations. In each new generation, a new set of Pokémon and a new region are introduced for the first time. The first generation began in Japan with the release of "Pocket Monsters Red" and "Green" on February 27, 1996. As of 2021, there are currently eight generations of main series video games. "Pokémon" has since become the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, with $90 billion in total franchise revenue. The video game series is the second-best-selling video game franchise (behind Nintendo's own "Mario" franchise, which had recently celebrated its 35th anniversary) with more than 368 million copies sold and one billion mobile downloads, and it spawned a hit anime series that has become the most successful video game adaptation with over 20 seasons and 1,000 episodes in 169 countries. In addition, the "Pokémon" franchise includes the world's top-selling toy brand, the top-selling trading card game with over 30.4 billion cards sold, an anime film series, a live-action film, books, manga comics, music, merchandise, and a theme park. The first official mention of the anniversary celebration was on November 26, 2020, at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Pokémon Company presented the logo for the anniversary in front of a giant balloon of Pikachu, who has made a regular appearance at the parade since 2001. This was followed by news that Pokémon would be collaborating with Japanese Space Exploration Agency, JAXA to celebrate the new year. The collaboration involved seeing Pokémon in augmented reality aboard the International Space Station. From March (the full month right after Pokémon Day), each region of the Pokemon world had been celebrated by the official Pokémon international social media accounts. During each month, an online exhibit had been opened on the official Pokémon website. All the regions are arranged in generation reverse order.
Background
The Pokémon" 25th anniversary (Japanese: ポケモン" 25周年), officially branded as Pokémon25, was an ongoing celebration that went for the entire year of 2021 in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the "Pokémon" franchise, which began with the original Japanese release of "Pocket Monsters Red and Green" for the Game Boy on February 27, 1996. The franchise was celebrated through various media of the franchise including video games, the anime, the manga, toys, clothing, music and events.