FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — For nearly three decades, “Pokémania” has existed in many forms as the media titan Pokémon has become one of the most recognizable pieces of entertainment around.
While 2026 will mark the 30-year anniversary of the franchise’s true debut in Japan, Pokémon first arrived in the U.S. in 1998. An animated TV series came stateside in early September, with the first video games, Pokémon Red and Blue, launching Sept. 28, 1998. The trading card game (TCG) launched in the U.S. early the following year.
Christian Martin, an employee at Mega Replay who grew up in Fort Wayne, did not start playing Pokémon video games and other media until his early teens. However, he said he remembered the craze of Pokémania as a young kid in the late 1990s.
“I can remember all the wild collaborations, when there was Campbell’s soup, cereals … I think there was a Pokémon Heinz ketchup or something,” Martin said…