Pokemon was originally called "Capsule Monsters" but was renamed as the creators had trouble trademarking the name. They also tried to trademark "Capumon" and then "Pocked Monsters". Capsule Monsters was put on hold so Game Freak could develop Yoshi for the NES and Game Boy. The success of Yoshi helped Game Freak acquire the resources they needed to continue work on Pokemon, and could even be the reason we have Pokemon today. The name "Capsule Monsters" is inspired by Japanese gashapon machines. It appears PokeMarts were supposed to sell the capsules, as indicated by this concept art.