Back in August, The Pokemon Company confirmed the return of Trainer’s Pokemon, cards specifically meant to represent a Pokemon used by a popular trainer from the franchise. At the time, we knew of a handful of Trainers and Pokemon that would be represented in the set, and that these cards would arrive in 2025. Thanks to a new leak from PokeBeach, that release window has been narrowed down considerably. March 28th is the apparent release date for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Journey Together, which will feature cards from the Battle Partners set slated to release in Japan next month. PokeBeach also speculates that our set will feature cards from Japan’s pre-constructed decks based on Marnie and Steven.
Videos by ComicBook.com
As with any rumor or leak, readers should take this one with a grain of salt. That said, PokeBeach has proven to be a very reliable source in the past, and the timing would seem to line up nicely. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Prismatic Evolutions is set to be released on January 17th in North America, so Journey Together coming out on March 28th would seem plausible. While The Pokemon Company has not provided an announcement, we have previously gotten a glimpse at English cards from the set, thanks to a trailer that was released at Pokemon Worlds. That trailer can be found below.
Trainer’s Pokemon are a concept that stretches back to the early days of the Pokemon Trading Card Game and the Gym Heroes expansion (called Leader’s Stadium in Japan). That set introduced cards based on the Gym Leaders from the first generation of Pokemon games. Players could find cards like Brock’s Onix and Misty’s Psyduck, each of which contained a little image of the Trainer. Trainer’s Pokemon cards have appeared throughout the Pokemon TCG many times in the years since, but it’s been a long while since we’ve gotten any new ones!
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As can be seen in the video, cards in Journey Together will similarly feature artwork of the corresponding Trainer. The Pokemon franchise has introduced a massive number of popular Gym Leaders and Trainers over the decades, and we can expect some popular ones to appear in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Journey Together. We don’t know exactly who to expect, but it looks like Lillie, N, and Marnie will all be featured, based on the cards revealed in the trailer. The trailer also hinted at other Trainer’s Pokemon, such as Arven’s Mabosstiff, but we don’t know if they will appear in Journey Together, or in a future set. PokeBeach states that Iono will be appearing on the booster packs and boxes in North America. Given her appearance in the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games on Switch, it makes sense for her character to get a prominent role.
Are you excited to see the return of Trainer’s Pokemon? Did you collect the old Gym Heroes set back in the early days of the TCG? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
