As of March 2024, Pokémon had sold over 480 million copies of its game. That’s 28 years after the company released the first Pokémon games, Pocket Monsters Red and Green, in Japan.

You’d think that there were high expectations, or a grand vision, that drove the movement that would earn the name Pokémania—but art director Ken Sugimori says that wasn’t the case at all. 

In fact, Pokémon’s main inspiration was much plainer than you’d think—it was the Game Boy’s Link Cable. The creators mention it in the introduction of their planning document, “Once my friends and I come to an agreement, we connect our Game Boys via Link Cable and then we can use it to trade monsters.” The creators didn’t know it at the time, but the vision would come true.

Not many people think about the Gameboy or the Link Cable any more, but many people continue to tell and engage with the story of Pokémon.

It’s admirable how people took an ordinary inspiration and made such an extraordinary piece of work out of it. For me, the takeaway is this: you don’t need the perfect inspiration—or circumstances—to get started. As artist Chuck Close says, “I could paint anywhere. I made big paintings in the tiniest bedrooms, garages, you name it. You know, once I have my back to the room, I could be anywhere. I could care less.”

You don’t need to be precious about it. A regular effort can often take you further than you think.