Pokemon Trading Card Game Announces Evolving Skies as Next Set

The Pokemon Company has officially announced that it will be releasing "Evolving Skies" as the next expansion for Pokemon: The Trading Card Game. The new set, which was leaked last month, will contain over 200 cards and will officially include the return of Dragon-type Pokemon to the Pokemon TCG. Dragon-type Pokemon cards, which require multiple kinds of Energy to utilize, have been absent from the Pokemon TCG since the game moved to the Sword & Shield era back in late 2019. Also included in "Evolving Skies" are 18 new Pokemon V cards, as well as 15 Pokemon VMAX cards. The set will also contain 24 Trainer cards and a new Special Energy card. "Evolving Skies" will officially be released in stores around the world on August 27th.

This set will contain cards from the Japanese sets "Eevee Heroes," "Sky Stream," and "Towering Perfection." A lot of the marketing for the new set revolves around various Eevee evolutions, with booster pack art featuring Slyveon and Umbreon, and a whopping four different kinds of Elite Trainer Boxes, all of which feature different combinations of Eevee evolutions. Two versions of the Elite Trainer Boxes will be available at retail stores while the other two variants will be exclusive to the online Pokemon Center store. Other products, like a pre-release Build and Battle box, will also be released for the new expansion.

The Pokemon Trading Card Game is currently the hottest trading card game on the market, thanks to renewed interest over the pandemic and hype from a mix of celebrities and influencers. Cards have been hard to come by in many stores due to high demand, leading to a spike in scalpers. At one point, Target even banned Pokemon cards from stores after a series of incidents, but they returned to stores last week with limits.

"Evolving Skies" will follow the release of "Chilling Reign," the expansion that officially hits stores next week. That set is focused on Pokemon from the Crown Tundra region of Galar and includes the Galarian variants of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, as well as the Legendary Pokemon Calyrex. "Chilling Reign" goes on sale on June 18th.