Today Is Pokémon's 21st Anniversary

Can you believe it? On February 27, 1996, the first games in the Pokémon series were released in Japan. The world has never been the same.

In Japanese, the games were titled Pokémon Red Version and Green Version, and the series hit North American two years later in 1998. The trading card game wasn’t released in Japan until that October.

Online in Japan, a hashtag (#ポケモン21周年, which means Pokémon’s 21st Anniversary) has been a way for fans to celebrate the day.