The Pokémon Trading Card Game is getting ready to launch a new kind of specialty card.
Sparkling Pokémon cards, according to Comicbook.com, will soon hit stores in Japan as part of the "Battle Legion" set. They will feature powerful, shiny versions of Basic Pokémon (i.e., cards that can be played immediately from one's hand). The Sparkling Pokémon cards have their own unique card texture and reverse holofoil pattern. They also come with their own rarity tier.
The first two video games in the Pokémon multimedia franchise, Pocket Monsters: Red and Green (later rebranded Pokémon Red and Blue) were released in February 1996 for the original Game Boy, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game launched a few months later in October and quickly became a hit. As of March 2021, it has sold over 34.1 billion cards globally.
Notably, the game has been at the center of a scandal involving Logan Paul. The YouTuber made headlines by spending $3.5 million on what was supposedly a box of first-edition cards; however, it was later revealed that the purchase was in fact of scam. In a follow-up video about the incident, Paul explained that he didn't stage the events to garner views and that he is genuinely disappointed, stating, "It's not fake at all. Being in that room that night was incredibly sad. The energy and the tragic feeling in the room was so palpable."
There have been developments in other areas of the Pokémon franchise as well. The latest video game in the series, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, is scheduled to launch exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on Jan. 28, and the game's complete Pokédex was leaked online ahead of the premiere, giving gamers a look at the many new regional variants. These Hisuian versions of fan-favorite Pokémon sport different designs and often, different typing; for example, Hisuian Typhlosion is a Fire/Ghost-type and Goodra is a Dragon/Steel-type.
Moreover, Pokémon fans continue to create impressive works of fan art. One new piece transforms Ciri and Geralt from Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher into trainers and sees them about to have an encounter in the tall grass, and another fuses Snorlax with Cthulhu, mutating the sleepy Pokémon into a creepy but cute cosmic abomination.
The "Battle Legion" set and the Sparkling Pokémon cards will be released in Japan in February; it is currently unclear when they will be available for international players.
Source: Comicbook.com
