Shigeru Ohmori

Shigeru Ohmori (Japanese: 大森茂 Ōmori Shigeru; born February 29, 1980^[1]) is a game designer and director who has worked at Game Freak since 2001.^[2] He is known for planning, designing, and directing several Pokémon games since Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, and is one of the designers of the Pokéwalker system.

Ohmori in 2024

Work with Pokémon

Ohmori was the Product Development planner who led the team for Diamond and Pearl. He was interviewed for Nintendo Power in May 2007, where he talked about the new cross-generational Evolutions and Wi-Fi features available for Diamond and Pearl. Ohmori revealed that he was the one who developed the Underground feature and also participated in the creation of Evolutions for Generation IV, stating that he planned to give new Evolutions to old Pokémon that players would not expect.

He also appeared in a video message for gamescom on August 14, 2014, in which he and Junichi Masuda talked about the upcoming games Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and announced Mega Audino for said games.

On November 27, 2014, Ohmori, together with Masuda, was in Milan to celebrate the launch of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. After the presentation, there was a photo and autograph session with fans.

Shigeru Ohmori was the director of Pokémon Sun and Moon, being the first director of a new generation of games other than Satoshi Tajiri or Junichi Masuda. When interviewed following the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon in 2017, he revealed that he was the one that came up with Inkay's Method of Evolution into Malamar for Pokémon X and Y. He found the idea of a player discovering it by turning their console on accident to be amusing.^[3]

Ohmori has since gone on to become the director of the next few Pokémon main series games, such as Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. For Sword and Shield, Ohmori went to the United Kingdom — the basis of the games' Galar region — for media interviews ahead of Pokémon Sun and Moon's release, and drew sketches based on places he saw in the UK, which would later serve as concepts for places found in Galar.^[4]

Ohmori's role as director for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was initially revealed ahead of any official announcement by Toby Fox on August 11, 2022, when Fox tweeted about composing a battle theme to be used in Tera Raid Battles.^[5] During the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2022 ceremony, Ohmori explained via a written message that the character of Arven, a main character in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, was based on his personal experience of losing his parents at a young age.^[6]

Game credits

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (2002) - Game Designer, Map Designer
Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphire (2003) - Planning
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (2004) - Game Designer, Map Designer
Pokémon Emerald (2004) - Game Designer, Map Designer
Drill Dozer (2005) - Game Design, Additional Tuning
Pokémon Ranger (2006) - Game Design Adviser
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (2006) - Game Design Leader, Plot Scenario, Map Designer
Pokémon Platinum (2008) - Game Design, Plot Scenario, Map Design
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver (2009) - Game Design, Pokéwalker: Game Design
Pokémon Black and White (2010) - Game Design of Special Elements (Lead), Map Design, Survey Radar & Tag Mode Design
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (2012) - Pokémon Black Version and White Version Game Design
HarmoKnight (2012) - Game Design
Pokémon X and Y (2013) - Planning Director, Pokémon Design Coordination
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (2014) - Director, Concept & Plot
Pokémon Sun and Moon (2016) - Director, Planning Director
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon (2017) - Producer
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! (2018) - General Producer
Pokémon Sword and Shield (2019) - Director, Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield Concept
Pokémon Legends: Arceus (2022) - Producer, Pokémon Creation Group Manager
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (2022) - Director, Concept

Artwork

Official artwork

This is a collection of official Pokémon artwork drawn by Ohmori.

Pokémon Sword and Shield concept art

These concept sketches for Pokémon Sword and Shield were drawn by Ohmori while traveling to the United Kingdom for media interviews ahead of Pokémon Sun and Moon's release.^[4]