The Complete History of Pokémon

Gotta catch 'em all!

Pokémon, originally called Capsule Monsters and Pocket Monsters, is one of the world’s most beloved and far-reaching franchises in the history of beloved and far-reaching franchises. With undeniable staying (and playing) power since its creation 17 years ago, it has since become the second-most successful and lucrative video game-based media franchises in the world, behind only Nintendo's own Mario empire.

And Pikachu isn’t showing any signs of slowing down — Nintendo will release the latest versions of its video game, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y Saturday.

At this rate, even our children’s children will train to become Pokémon masters. In the gallery above, see how far Pokémon has come since the simpler, forgotten era of just 150 monsters.

Homepage image: Stand Honda/AFP/Getty Images