Pokémon 30th Anniversary: All you need to know

Let’s face it: being a Pokémon fan has never been cooler. Whether you are a long-time fan (like myself, who grew up in the 90s watching the cartoon series and begging my parents to buy me a Game Boy Advance to be able to play Pokémon Red) or someone who has recently entered the world, it is undeniable that Pokémon is at its peak.

There are new games hitting the store shelves every year, Pokémon Pocket has proved that fans are really into the thrill of opening packs, and well… don't even get me started with the cards themselves! Cards are sold by billions across the world (yes, not just “millions”), and every new pokémon tournament breaks a new attendance record.

And things are about to get better, if I were to bet. In case you were not aware, the franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and there is something that Pokémon Company knows well how to do that is celebrating big.

At the moment I am writing this blog post, there is still a lot to be revealed. Pokémon has just dropped a few hints here and there, but it is clear that they are holding so many surprises that I cannot wait to see them unveiled. Of course, I am not a Pokémon’s company insider, but I have been around by the time they celebrated their 20th anniversary and their 25th anniversary, so I have a pretty strong idea of what they are going to be doing this time around! Let’s check it together. 

20 years: Training to be the very best

I have a very vivid memory of their 20th celebration, and you are going to laugh at the reason why, but I think it is worth sharing. I was finishing my Master’s Degree in Corporate Communication, and we were asked to analyze a recent marketing campaign from a top global brand. I decided to go for Pokémon’s 20th celebration, “Train On”, not only because I am a nerd at heart but also because it was honestly extremely well executed.

The campaign revolved around a very simple but powerful idea that could be formulated more or less as follows: “You have been playing our games for years. You have forged memories with us. Keep pushing, keep challenging yourself. The journey is far from over”.

Under this premise, they shared a lot of content that encouraged fans to unite and share their love for the games, whether that was from a video game perspective or a card-game one. This was, in fact, one of the very first times they clearly gave Pokémon cards as much spotlight as they did the video games (yes, there was a time when Pokémon cards were not as popular as they are now!). As such, they released “Generations”, a very unique and short-printed set that was not so much focused on the competitive play but rather on making the TCG players want to collect cards. You only need to take a look at some of the illustrations to understand the vibe of the product: from Pokémon playing with their trainers to happily hanging with some of their Pokémon friends. I mean, who would not want to get their hands on these cards? 

I am glad there was not the obsession there is now for limited prints because only Arceus knows how difficult it would have been to buy some of these products, but luckily for us, players, we were still in 2016.

As a final piece of lore for you guys, Generations also featured the very first Imakuni card outside Japan. Maybe some of you are staring at your screen right now and thinking that there is no way this is an actual, legal-for-tournament-play Pokémon card, but I couldn’t be more serious. Maybe at some point I will cover all the crazy stuff that is behind Imakuni, but let’s just say that this character is some sort of Japanese influencer who is so beloved in the country that has made its way to the official Pokémon Cards. There are a lot of Japanese Pokémon cards featuring Imakuni, but they never really reached us (perhaps Pokémon thought we were not going to get the reference? I mean, if so, I can’t blame them!) until they decided to print it in Celebrations. I still remember pulling the card from one of my first packs and looking around to see if someone was pulling a prank on me. 

Yes, Tomoaki Imakuni is a real person and a real celebrity in Japan. He dresses up, dances, and has even appeared in Pokémon video games!  

In any case, I think the Train On campaign was a really huge success and was able to show the world how much the Pokémon franchise still had to give to its fans.

25 years: Honoring a legacy

The next anniversary campaign could not have taken a more different approach. This time, the fan base had grown exponentially, and Pokémon cards had already started to become very popular. Pokémon’s 25th theme was not so much about the future as it was about their past. They wanted to give fans a way to remember why they first fell in love with the franchise.

They summed up this idea beautifully in their TCG promotional set “Celebrations”. Similar to “Generations”, they didn’t really focus on the competitive side of things (even if, as always, there were a few playable cards), but they made sure to take fans on a journey across time, right back to their childhood.

All the cards had a special 25th anniversary logo on the right side, but the most incredible aspect this time was not the design or the illustration: it was the cards they decided to include in it. They had decided to pay homage to some of the most powerful or meta-defining cards in the history of the game and re-released them. So, all the way from the 1996 Kanto starters to 2017’s Tapu Lele GX, each card told a literal piece of history in the Pokémon game. For example, we had some World’s winners like Groudon or Garchomp; Xerneas EX, the mythical Pokémon that started the Fairy-type era; or Mewtwo EX, which defined a new way of playing the TCG forever. If you had ever played Pokémon, it was impossible to look at the cards from the set and not feel a sad smile form on your face.  

In case you are wondering, these cards were not legal to play in tournaments. Contrary to other TCGs, the Standard Pokémon rules only allow for cards that are part of the most recent expansions, so even if these 20-year-old cards started circulating around, the only thing you could do was to store them safely in one of your albums.

They also took the chance and released some modern Pokémon as if they were old cards. For example, “Prime” cards were a very popular type of Pokémon that dominated during the early 2010s and featured Raichu. Umbreon, Espeon, Tyranitar and more. On the other hand, Dragapult is a Pokémon that was released in the Sword and Shield generation, more than 10 years after the prime era was over. Yet, Pokémon decided to turn some recent Pokémon and gave them an “ancient” treatment, hence the “Dragapult Prime” you are seeing. The result, from my point of view, could not have been cooler, and I am 100% convinced that this is also showing us the path they will take on the 30th anniversary. 

30 years: What we know and what to expect

I’ve been recently reading a lot of comments on the Internet, and so far, fans seem to be a bit disappointed because of how little Pokémon has been revealed. They even complain that their initial product line-up feels very underwhelming, but I couldn’t disagree more. I would argue that we have just seen a really, really small percentage of what they have planned. If we have to learn anything from the previous two anniversaries is that campaigns lasted for months and every surprise was bigger than the previous one.

So far, we know the stakes are high and that Pokémon is partnering with some of the biggest personalities in the world, as they revealed in their Super Bowl commercial. It is clear that they are no longer speaking to their own players but to the entire world, leveraging the popularity they know their brand has.

Card fans will receive a new TCG set, possibly even multiple ones this time, considering how things have been going with collectors. Celebrations was such a massive hit, and fans loved it so much that I am pretty sure they are going to repeat the formula and “reprint” some classical cards that couldn’t make the cut for the previous set. This time, they won’t only be doing that to talk about history but also to show new, modern fans how cool old cards look like.

In fact, if I have to bet money on it, I think the main theme this year is going to be nostalgia. We’ve already seen some of the first TCG accessories being teased during the celebration of the European International Championship. I had the privilege of being there, and I can confirm that everyone was looking at the exhibitor with star-shaped eyes.

Trivia: In case you didn’t know, the very first Pokémon game depicted a Gengar battling a Nidoking in their intro, which is exactly what the illustration is doing here!

There is only one thing that worries me a bit… Getting TCG products during the 20th anniversary was pretty easy since, at the end of the day, only a bunch of people played the game. Getting them during the 25th anniversary was significantly harder, but doable. But considering Pokémon cards’ popularity has skyrocketed over the past couple of years, I just hope Pokémon has a plan to reach all their fans and that nothing crazy (cough cough buyouts cough cough) happens.

In any case, as a Pokémon fan, I couldn’t be more excited. The game keeps growing, new fans join the TCG everyday and never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined Pokémon cards being as popular as they are now. Why TCGs in general are exploding, that is maybe a discussion for another day, but what is clear is that right now we are on top of the wave, so let’s enjoy the ride!

Thanks for reading!

PD: In case you were wondering, I got a pretty decent grade with my Train On campaign analysis, but the professor did indeed look at me a bit suspiciously when handing me the paper.