The concept of the Pokemon universe, in both the video games and the general fictional world of Pokemon, stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime which Pokemon executive director Satoshi Tajiri-Oniwa had enjoyed as a child. Players of the games are designated as Pokemon Trainers, and the two general goals (in most Pokemon games) for such Trainers are: to complete the Pokedex by collecting all of the available Pokemon species found in the fictional region where that game takes place; and to train a team of powerful Pokemon from those they have caught to compete against teams owned by other Trainers, and eventually become the strongest Trainer, the Pokemon Master. These themes of collecting, training, and battling are present in almost every version of the Pokemon franchise, including the video games, the anime and manga series, and the Pokemon Trading Card Game.
