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Satoshi Tajiri, Creator of Pokémon
Satoshi Tajiri is the creator of the Pokémon saga. As a child he was fascinated by insects and spent hours collecting them in the Japanese countryside. That memory later inspired the catching and collecting concept at the heart of the games.
Founder of Game Freak, which started out as a fanzine about arcade games, he worked for nearly six years on Pocket Monsters with his friend Ken Sugimori, who illustrated the creatures. Trading Pokémon through the Game Boy link cable was his signature idea.
The hero Ash carries his first name in the Japanese version (Satoshi), while his rival Gary is named Shigeru, a tribute to Shigeru Miyamoto.