There's a Strange Theme in the Newest Batch of Pokemon Cards

The newest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion has an odd emphasis that has a lot of fans asking questions.

The Pokemon Company quietly released the full card list for the "Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon" expansion of the Pokemon Trading Card Game ahead of a major card tournament in Japan this weekend. All of the previous expansions in the current "Sun and Moon" run of the Pokemon TCG have understandably focused on characters and Pokemon from the recent Pokemon Sun and Moon video games, but players quickly realized that there was something a bit....different about the "Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon" set.

While the expansion contains a few Pokemon from Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon like Dusk Mane Necrozma and Lunala, the new expansion almost exclusively features Pokemon first seen in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Not only are Dialga and Palkia in the expansion as new GX cards, but almost every other "Sinnoh" Pokemon also appears in the new expansion.

In fact, with the exception of a couple of Alolan Pokemon, every non-Sinnoh Pokemon that appears in the expansion is only in the card set because it evolves into a Sinnoh Pokemon.

Even stranger is the fact that the "Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon" card set also features trainers and locations from the Sinnoh region. The Sinnoh Champion Cynthia has a card, as does the villainous Cyrus. Looker, the popular Pokemon investigator, has two cards: one for him and one for his whistle.

The new set certainly adds some fuel to the fire that some type of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remake is on the way. Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You also had a strange emphasis on Sinnoh Pokemon, as both of Ash's new companion came from that region. Pokemon fans have wanted Sinnoh remakes for a while, but Game Freak surprised fans by releasing Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon instead.

So what does the new set mean for the future of the Pokemon franchise? Probably nothing. But it's pretty clear that the new Pokemon TCG expansion is a must have for fans of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

The "Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon" expansion comes out in February 2018 in the US and Europe.