So, I went on a trip with my boss for work the last couple of days, and while hanging out with him I found out some interesting shit about the development of Pokemon as a franchise.
>boss went to high school with Peter Adkinson of WotC fame and was good friends with him
>Peter talked to him about some of the behind the scenes stuff with early Pokemon development
My boss isn't prone to exaggeration, and he literally described the development of Pokemon as 'evil'
>the whole 'le heckin wholesome bugcatching stories from childhood' narrative is bullshit
>nintendo paid for years worth of beta testing and market research for the game
>combat was implemented to appeal mostly to boys
>nurturing and training was implemented to appeal to girls
>'gotta catch 'em all' was coined before Pocket Monsters was even thought up
>nintendo planned to shill the anime to hell and back
Basically, if my boss is to be believed, and frankly I'm inclined to, Pokemon as a phenomenon is incredibly cynical and astroturfed.