Pokemon TCG Brings Back Character Rare Cards

An upcoming Pokemon Trading Card Game set will re-introduce a popular type of Secret Rare card. Earlier this week, Creatures Inc. (the maker of the Pokemon Trading Card Game in Japan) announced a new Japanese set of Pokemon cards - VMAX Climax. This new set will contain a mix of reprints and alternate art cards from past sets from the current Sword & Shield era of the game, including several new "Character Rare" cards, which features alternative art that shows a Pokemon and their human trainer. Featured cards in the set include Flaaffy with Elesa, Zekrom with N, Eevee with Bill, and Gardevoir with the Doctor NPC from the Pokemon Sword and Shield games. 

The new set will also contain a new level of rarity card called "Character Super Rare." The first example of a Character Super Rare card is a Pikachu VMAX card featuring Red standing in front of a towering Gigantamax Pikachu. 

This is a special standalone set in Japan. Because of its reliance on reprints and alternate art cards, there's a possibility that these cards will make their way to the US and the international market via special box sets or as promo cards. Likely, we won't see a VMAX Climax equivalent set make its way to the US, unless its paired up with another special set of cards similar to the soon to be released Celebrations set. 

The Pokemon Trading Card Game has had a busy year, with demand for cards near an all-time high. With three sets already released this year in the US/non-Japanese markets, fans can still expect two more releases. The first is Celebrations, a mini-set containing cards representing different mechanics seen throughout the Pokemon Trading Card Game's history that celebrates the Pokemon franchise's 25th anniversary. The other new set is Fusion Strike, which continues the Battle Styles mechanic introduced earlier this year. The Pokemon Trading Card Game also recently introduced V-Union cards, a new kind of card mechanic in which a powerful Pokemon is made up of four separate cards. These cards can only be played when all four V-Union cards are in a player's discard pile.