Pokemon TCG Introduces Brand New Secret Card Gimmick for Pokemon Go Set

The upcoming Pokemon Trading Card Game collaboration with Pokemon Go will feature a brand new kind of card gimmick that references one of Pokemon Go's early adventures. Earlier this week, Pokemon.com revealed a first look at some of the brand new Pokemon cards appearing in its upcoming Pokemon Go mini-set, which will feature Pokemon cards with artwork inspired by the popular mobile game. One of those new Pokemon cards will feature a unique gimmick – a "peelable" card that involves the Pokemon Ditto. 

The new Pokemon Go set will feature a Ditto card hidden by a peelable layer. To reveal the Ditto, players can peel off the top layer to find the actual Ditto. Players can identify which card is truly a Ditto card by looking for a small Ditto symbol found on the bottom of the card. You can check out a video of the gimmick in action below: 

A new gimmick for the Pokemon TCG has been revealed: Peelable Ditto cards from pokemon

It makes sense that Ditto would appear in Pokemon Go, as the Pokemon was perhaps the first mystery of the game. Players looked for months trying to find hidden Ditto in the game, only to discover that Niantic hadn't actually put the morphing Pokemon into the game. Eventually, Pokemon Go added Ditto through a special event and the Pokemon can currently be found by only by catching certain species of common Pokemon and then seeing if it transforms into Ditto. The Shiny version of Ditto was also added to the game during its first ever Pokemon Go Tour event back in 2021. 

The Pokemon Company notes that players can only use the Ditto card in "official" matches, but not the card shown on the layer hiding it. That means that players will need to remove the sticker if they want to actually use Ditto in their pack. 

Peelable cards are not exactly a "new" gimmick to collectable card games. Magic: The Gathering added its own peelable card back in 2021 in a special limited edition set.