Pokémon Turns 30

Happy birthday, Pikachu! This year, Pokémon celebrates its 30th anniversary. It has become the world’s most valuable media franchise, per Guinness World Records.

Pokémon debuted on February 27, 1996, with two video games, in Japan. The basic goal: catching and training fantastical creatures.

Today, millions of kids (and adults) enjoy Pokémon’s video games and apps, in-person events—and, of course, the mega-popular Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG).

Always Evolving

Pokémon anniversary celebrations have been happening all year. The brand has organized in-person gatherings and launched new products, including a TCG expansion with glossy new cards.

Barry Sams, vice president of game development and community engagement at the Pokémon Company International, told TIME for Kids that the brand stays popular by doing what Pokémon do best: evolving. Sams says the company hopes to “keep moving forward.”

Part of that, Sams says, involves making Pokémon more accessible. For example, in 2025, the Pokémon TCG became available in Latin American Spanish for the first time. The game is now available in 16 languages.

Catch ‘Em All

From August 28 to 30, more than 50,000 Pokémon fans gathered at the Moscone Center, in San Francisco, California, for the 2026 Pokémon World Championships. Many hours of competitive TCG battles took place between some of the world’s best players.

TFK Kid Reporter Adam Sadi was on the scene. (Read his first-person account here.) Adam spoke with Haruki Okunishi. Haruki is a top youth player who traveled from Malaysia for the event. “I just practice and practice,” he told Adam, emphasizing that all that practice is a lot of fun.

POKÉSCHOOL TFK Kid Reporter Adam Sadi (right) learns from a Pokémon Professor at the World Championships on August 29.

Another championship attendee told Adam that Pokémon “brings together people of all backgrounds and all ages.”