I know Pokemon is short for Pocket monsters.But why dont they call it pocket monsters here?
Because n America there was a show and a game called Monsters in my pocket. They couldnt lunch a game named Pocket Monster(copyright stuff) so they too pocket and made it poke, they took monsters and made it mon. poke+mon=Pokemon. Here is a link to a Monsters in my Pocket episode. Also here is a video of monsters in my pokcket video game for NES
I think Pocket Monsters is the japanese translation, and they just shortened it to pokemon here in the US.