The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン, Kabushiki-gaisha Pokemon) is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the Pokémon franchise, which consists of video game software, a trading card game, anime television series, films, manga, home entertainment products, merchandise, and other ventures. It was established through a joint investment by the three companies holding the copyright of Pokémon: Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. It was founded on April 23, 1998, originally to operate the Pokémon Center stores in Japan before expanding to the entire franchise in October 2000 as it rebranded to its current name. The company is headquartered in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo.
The company has separate subsidiaries that handle operations in different parts of the world, with the Pokémon Company International supporting the territories outside Asia and being responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website on the territories outside Asia.
The Pokémon Company also handles the publishing of all Pokémon video games since 2001 alongside Nintendo. The Pokémon Company is mostly responsible for marketing and funding, while Nintendo handles the distribution of the titles in Japan and outside it. Both companies work together in localization, production, QA, and other aspects. The company is solely responsible for publishing and licensing mobile Pokémon titles, unlike console titles where it has help from Nintendo.
