The Pokémon Company CEO wants Pokémon to reach 100th anniversary

But he knows that to reach that celebration, Pokémon has to remain popular.

Yesterday was Pokémon Day, a celebration of all things pocket monsters, and while the day's dedicated livestream may have left a little to be desired, The Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara has big plans for the future of the IP.

Speaking to the BBC, Ishihara dodged confirming anything about the upcoming 30th anniversary of the games, and instead chose to speak about the far future. "If we continue focusing on our mission, Pokémon can probably continue to its 50th or 100th anniversary," he said. "But if we become complacent and go with the flow, that's when Pokémon will go downhill."

Pokémon has a lot riding on its popularity. As a private company, it is allowed to focus solely on Pokémon, but that means that if the hype around pocket monsters dies off, it could be in trouble. "Pokémon is the only thing we do at the Pokémon Company," said Ishihara. "So whatever profit we make from Pokémon gets reinvested in Pokémon...We'll go bust when Pokémon is no longer popular, I don't think [shareholders would] like that."

Still, Pokémon remains incredibly popular to this day, and love for the games and other hobbies has grown over generations. Perhaps there is a day when people move onto something else, but we can't see it happening anytime soon.