In the history of Pokémon games and animations, there are approximately around nine hundred Pokémon in total. Even if Takayuki has a good memory, he can't remember all of them. Especially in the later generations of Pokémon, there are quite a few Pokémon that are just there, becoming increasingly indistinct, making it difficult for people to remember them all.
Of course, the main ones are still remembered very clearly.
As for the rest, it's naturally left to the people of this world to figure out a way to create them.
Originally, the people of this world were basically not lacking in creativity.
When Takayuki provided the company's dedicated artists with the setting, they were full of interest. This kind of creation, based on their own imagination and then adding certain restrictions, gave them a lot of creative space.
Three or four artists could come up with two or three unique characters every day, which made Takayuki feel that if there were such creative artists in the future, Pokémon could continue to be popular for decades.
In Takayuki's memory, the total number of Pokémon released on the GB was 151 in the first generation of Pokémon. Of course, there were officially only 150 Pokémon, and the other one was slightly special, essentially a hidden Pokémon.
If players with that kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder want to collect them all, they have to use all their tricks.
And because of bugs in the game itself, this last unlisted Pokémon only appeared in a few cartridges, adding more extra fun to the game.
Takayuki also didn't intend to destroy this special fun. Even though this was a bit coincidental, Takayuki also planned to replicate this coincidence.
So, Takayuki also set one hundred and fifty officially listed Pokémon for the artists to draw, as well as one specially drawn hidden Pokémon, Mirage. And he also planned to replicate the tricky operation of the first-generation Pokémon from the previous life, making Mirage's existence discoverable only in certain cartridges.
However, to achieve this function in mass-produced game cartridges, they couldn't rely on bugs anymore.
Takayuki simply wrote a random code so that cartridges matching this code could activate the hidden Pokémon, namely the capture condition for Mirage.
If players really wanted to obtain this last Pokémon, they either had to buy more cartridges or find a way to trade with other players who had also obtained Mirage.
But Takayuki added another condition: that this unlisted Mirage could only be captured once per cartridge. Once caught, it would be impossible to discover the next Mirage, increasing the rarity of this Pokémon.
When the programmers listened to Takayuki's explanation, they were a little confused.
They thought, can you really play like this? Increase the rarity in the game to sell more?
Quite an eye-opener.
When the artists had almost finished with the 150 characters, they moved on to the final development of the game.
At the same time, the hype for the anime of the same name was also underway.
Thanks to the initial promotion by Tamagotchi, there was also quite a bit of interest among girls in the Pokémon series.
According to previous polls, thirty percent of the girls who owned Tamagotchi's product would consider watching the Pokémon anime and also consider buying Pokémon games.
This time, Takayuki maximized the pre-release effect of the game.
Before the game was even released, the children's expectations were already very high.
In the game, Takayuki emphasized the promotion of Pokémon interaction through wired connections, following the development trajectory of the previous life.
Collecting, restocking, adventuring, and trading.
These are the main elements of the Pokémon series.
However, Takayuki didn't believe that this alone would guarantee widespread popularity.
So he decided to maximize the promotion of Pokémon from the beginning.
From subway posters to various large billboards, and even TV commercials.
Just to promote Pokémon, more than one billion yen was spent, which can be said to be really going all out.
"150 creatures, including insects, small animals, large creatures, and inorganic creatures, fully satisfy players' exploration and collection fun! Please always pay attention to the latest Pokémon news!"
One advertisement after another directly hit everyone's faces.
Adults were relatively dismissive of this.
They prefer games that bring them more direct stimulation. They haven't developed the fun of collection, so they're not interested.
Of course, Takayuki wasn't making games for adults in this era; he was harvesting the future.
Now that these kids are taken care of, in the future, when they grow up, they will be 'cash cows' for decades.
Even if the company that makes Pokémon games in the future makes a lousy game, millions of players will still buy it every year, and often buy two copies at once.
To be honest, no other game series plays with rarity like the Pokémon series does, and no other IP can reach the status of Pokémon.
Even that mouse from the United States can't compare.
And to highlight the professionalism of Pokémon, Takayuki even invited a zoologist and an entomologist as consultants.
They would provide help in certain specific areas, helping the artists and the programmers making the settings to make the world-building more perfect.
This move puzzled the employees a bit; they felt it wasn't necessary. Isn't it enough for electronic games to be fun? Why do we need to be so professional?
But Takayuki was the boss, and they couldn't say anything. Many employees even thought that Takayuki was influenced by the public questioning after the last baseball incident and started thinking about moving toward professionalism.
In fact, Takayuki just wanted to make the Pokémon world view more believable, blending and integrating the world view of the modern world, which would make it easier for players to immerse themselves in it, and this was also the most important part of the game.
This is like online novels in Huaxia; writing about cities is always easier to get readers to engage with. Writing in other categories requires setting up a worldview first, and then finding a way to keep readers interested and engaged.
Takayuki saw this as very important.
Takayuki almost tracked the entire production process of Pokémon, ensuring that every aspect was as perfect as possible, so that this first generation could harvest enough children and prepare for the future.
And time, unknowingly, finally came to the day when the Pokémon game was officially released and the day when the Pokémon anime was officially broadcast on Tokyo TV.
Interested children were already queuing up to buy the game with money, while others were planning to watch the anime first.
As for other companies, they were watching from the sidelines, waiting to see how this new type of game would turn out.
If the results looked good, some companies would immediately plan to follow suit.