Normally, when a beloved card game releases a new set, it’s usually met with fanfare and celebration. This time around, however, it appears all is not well for Pokemon Pocket’s latest expansion, Wisdom of Sea and Sky.
TPCi’s Official Post:
In a social media post on X, TPCi (The Pokemon Company International) announced that a kerfuffle occurred during the production process for the art of Pokemon Pocket’s latest expansion.
After an internal review, it appears that some reference material was mislabelled as official documents before being handed over to TPCi’s illustrators.
This production issue affected the Immersive Rare versions of Ho-Oh ex and Lugia ex. Because of this, TPCi has replaced the current versions of the said Immersive Rares with placeholders while they (TPCi) get the situation sorted out.
Potential Source
The reason behind TPCi’s sudden move wasn’t officially explained. Thanks to some YouTube content creators, like spragels Pocket, who did the initial legwork, however, more light has been shed on this development.
Reportedly, an artist going by the online handle of lanjiujiu noticed that the artwork used for the Immersive Rare Ho-Oh ex had looked strikingly similar to a commissioned art piece they had done in 2021.
This prompted the artist to flip the official art used for the digital card and overlay it over their own work. To the untrained eye, the official art for the Ho-Oh ex Immersive Rare looks to be a 1:1 replica of lanjiujiu’s commissioned art.
We won’t delve more into specifics as we’re not legal experts nor trained artists, but whatever the case may be, the minds behind Pokemon Pocket have taken some steps to address this development.
Current Happenings:
In the official post above, TPCi had announced that placeholders had been implemented for the Immersive Rares for both Ho-Oh ex and Lugia ex.
TPCi has even offered apologies for the recent development, both in-game and on their official website.
We have no official word on how long these placeholders will last, but in the meantime, we have to hand it to TPCi for valuing integrity and the respect it has for its community members.