At this point, we're all fully aware that buying anything Pokemon-related, and especially anything TCG-related, is easier said than done. Scalping has ruined what should have been a fun experience, turning even mundane things like collaborating with Pop Tarts into a difficult experience.
So far, solutions have ranged from online queues and purchase limits to membership requirements, with varying degrees of success. But it looks like The Pokemon Company has one last ace up its sleeve that it's currently considering.
I've been playing Pokemon Pokopia for weeks and I haven't left the first area
I am unable to leave work unfinished.
A government ID is required, at least in Japan.
The Pokemon Company is currently thinking about a big need
First spotted by Nintendo Life and relayed by Automaton Media , a new statement published online by the Pokemon Company appears to hint at the possibility of some sort of ID system for purchasing specific products.
The system, as Automaton Media writes, will rely on Japan's My Number Cards, the equivalent of state IDs. This product will be applicable for lotteries, some Pokemon Center products and some competitions held in Japan.
“We plan to use an external service to read the IC chip on your My Number card with your smartphone and authenticate your Players Club account,” a machine-translated version of the statement outlined.
The initiative promises not to store anyone's My Number data, though it hasn't said how it protects such information.
“We will announce specific implementation dates, target products and events, authentication methods, and age-based operational rules as soon as details are finalized,” the statement said, pointing to an August 2026 rollout as the final goal.
Whether that's enough to overcome the massive amount of scalping present in the fandom remains to be seen. It's clear that The Pokemon Company, like its customers, is on the receiving end of trying to figure things out, and it needs a rather aggressive response for there to be any significant change.
- Release date
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1997 – 2023
- network
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TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC
- directors
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Shigeru Omachi, Koji Ogawa, Fumihiro Ueno, Hideki Hiroshima, Maki Kodaira, Makoto Oga, Ayumi Moriyama, Keitaro Motonaga, Shigeru Ueda, Fumihiro Yoshimura, Minoru Ohara, Yoshitaka Makino, Kiyoshi Egami, Makotoi, Murki, Makotoi, Murkoi, Nako, Hey Nishida, Tomoe Makino, Masahiko Watanabe, Hiroaki Takagi, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Ryohei Horiuchi, Yoshihiro Oda, Hiromichi Matano
- The authors
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Junki Takegami, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hideki Sonoda, Yukiyoshi Ohashi, Yuka Miyata, Takeshi Shudo, Shouji Yonemura, Shinzo Fujita, Michihiro Tsuchiya, Deko Akao, Reiko Yoshida, Aya Matsui, Junichi Fujisaku
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Rika Matsumoto
Satoshi (voice)
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Ikue Otani
Pikachu (voice)
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