GameStop is giving away a promotional Pokemon card starting on Friday, March 19th. PokeBeach reports that GameStop locations will give a special promotional version of a Flapple Pokemon card to any customer that purchases a minimum of $15 of Pokemon Trading Card Game merchandise. The Flapple card is a promotional variant of the Flapple card included in the “Rebel Clash” expansion released in 2020. However, while both cards are holofoil, the GameStop promo card features GameStop’s logo stamped on the card. This marks the first time that GameStop has given away a Pokemon card with its logo stamped on it.
While PokeBeach suggested that a Gigantamax Flapple giveaway for Pokemon Sword and Shield would accompany the event, they received confirmation that those plans have been cancelled, likely due to concerns caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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If a store doesn’t have Pokemon Trading Card Game merchandise available, store managers have the discretion to choose another means of distribution. Each store will receive 50 copies of the promotional card.
The promotional giveaway ties into the release of the new “Battle Styles” expansion for the Pokemon Trading Card Game, which also comes out tomorrow. That expansion will introduce two Battle Styles to the game. Cards that feature a particular Battle Styles logo receive other synergies and benefits from other cards with the same Battle Style.
As with all recent Pokemon card releases, “Battle Styles” should be a huge seller and will likely sell out at many locations within hours. The Pokemon Trading Card Game has seen a huge surge in popularity, driven by newcomers looking for new hobbies during the pandemic and an upswing in interest by various celebrities and YouTube personalities. The card shortages have gotten so bad, The Pokemon Company confirmed they were planning reprints of recent releases to help offset the higher than normal demand.
