Earlier this year, The Pokemon Company International began revealing its plans for a Pokemon trading card game as the franchise turns 30. It unveiled three sets of promos featuring the starters Kanto: Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, Sinnoh: Turtwig, Chimchar, and Ropletula, and Piletola: Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, Sinnoh: Turtwig, Chimchar, and Lipletola. Popplio.
Now, as predicted by our own Josh Coulson, the second wave of cards has been revealed in China, and they feature starters from Zohoto, Anova, and Galar.
The first batch of these promos is a hot item. First Partner Illustration Collections are some of the hardest Pokemon TCG products to get hold of, and at a time when buying anything is a nightmare, that's saying something. Sets for Kanto starters, which are of course the most expensive, are selling for around $100, to give you an idea of how hard they are to come by.
Now, thanks to Pokemon China, we've got our first look at the second batch of cards, and they're just as good as the first.
The first set includes Pokémon Gold and Silver's Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile, complete with a range of famous memorabilia and items from the game. There are Rainbow Feathers and Silver Feathers, Squirt Bottles, used to awaken Sudowoodo, and a range of berries making their debut in the game.
Second, there are Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott from Black and White's Unova region. While not as good as the Johto cards (in my humble opinion), this trio is again punctuated by a range of game landmarks and gym badges.
Finally, Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble are there to represent Sword and Shield's Galar Region, on cards adorned with scenes made famous by the Nintendo Switch Pokemon games.
This is another amazing set of promos, and one that will likely be hard to come by. It's worth noting that, at this point, The Pokemon Company hasn't confirmed when or how these will make their way into the English-language version of the TCG, if at all, but you have to assume that this collection will be part of the next set of boxes.
Based on earlier theory, three waves of these cards will feature starters from Hoenn, Kalos, and Paldea. That means Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly are next. There's also room for Pokemon's 30th anniversary to give three new starters from Winds and Waves, Browt, Pombon, and Gequa their first TCG cards.
This will be a great piece of cross-promotion, and the number of first partner promos will reach 30.
- Original release date
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October 20, 1996
- Count the players
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2
- Age recommendation
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6+
- Length per game
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variable
- Franchise Name
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Pokemon
