Back when the Pokémon series debuted in the mid-90’s, it quickly escalated to a worldwide phenomenon.

However, The Pokémon Company’s CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, never really expected the franchise to become such a global success. Talking to The Wall Street Journal in a recent interview, Ishihara even admitted he didn’t think Pikachu, the franchise’s mascot, would ever reach the popularity status it has.

“None of us really thought Pikachu was particularly special,” Ishihara said.

In regards to the smartphone app Pokémon GO, Ishihara remarked that an important element in the game’s success was keeping everything simple. However, when asked if there was any future plans in making one of the main series games playable for smartphone, Ishihara had the following to say:

“The chance of finding success in taking a product made for one platform and bringing it over to another is quite low.”

In addition, the Pokémon CEO also mentioned having a special fondness for Exeggutor, a Pokémon that joined him whilst he checked the programming of the original games. Now with Exeggutor having gained a lot of attention from fans with its new Alolan form in the upcoming Pokémon Sun & Moon, Ishihara expressed his delight saying, “My dream is finally a reality. I’m glad to see what Exeggutor has become.”

To read the entire interview with Tsunezaku Ishihara, you can go here.

Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon will release for the Nintendo 3DS on November 18th worldwide and November 23rd in Europe.