According to Pokemon president Tsunekazu Ishihara, it was the late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata who brought the success of Pokemon game series to America and the West. Satoru died in 2014 at the age of 55.
The beginning of Pokemon Red and Green development made some decisions including whether the video games could also sell outside Japan, particularly in America according to Game Spot. The idea of bringing Pokemon video game series was not even thought to begin with.
The late Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi said that, at first, selling the Pokemon video game series need to go outside Japan as well. But the whole team gave up the idea.
One day, Iwata said that he had an idea on how to make the initial plan to happen. A programmer himself, Iwata started having the source code for Pokemon Red and Green. Ishihara added in the report that by getting and studying the source code, he made a foreign version of the franchise.
It became a big hit in the United States, becoming popular and started to have multiple Pokemon franchise in the country, including North America and Europe.
Pokemon mania, being a popular video game which started in Japan, may not be happened without Iwata's contribution and innovation, said Ishihara. Iwata had focused on the development of the game instead of Iwata's executive duties, according to Gamasutra. The development of Pokemon as video game becomes a personal commitment of Iwata.
Watch the YouTube video below about reasons to miss the late Iwata: