Pokémon 25th Celebrations - A Look Back on our Favorite Franchise

As a franchise Pokémon is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year and we, the fans, are invited to join in the fun! Both new people getting into the wonderful world of Pokémon or if you’ve been following and playing since 1996. You must be wondering why this anniversary is so important and what we can expect to see this year. Continue reading to find out where our Pokémon journey started. Find out how it evolved over the years and what it means for us now! 

Pokémon Celebrations - A Set for Fans by Fans

One of the core pillars of the Pokémon brand is the Trading Card Game (or TCG for short) and Celebrations is all about honoring and reintroducing the legacy of the game throughout the last 25 years.

This set will consist of 45 cards featuring some fan favorite Pokémon and trainers like Ho-Oh, Zamazenta, Professor Oak and Mew just to name a few. It will also revisit fan favorite mechanics from previous sets in it’s Promos for the new generation of trainers and veterans alike. There will also be reprints of some of the most beloved cards ever made like the Base Set Charizard, “chubby Pikachu”,  Umbreon ☆ and many more.

There will be 25 different classic cards to be exact! The only difference to the original cards will be a 25th anniversary stamp to make them even more collectable and relevant to the celebration. 

Where it All Started - Pokémon in the First Generation

In 1995 Satoshi Tajiri had an idea to make a game based on his childhood hobby of bug collecting. He wanted to use the capabilities of the Gameboy, namely the link cable, to allow players to trade creatures from their collections. Nintendo loved this idea and Shigeru Miyamoto (Creator of Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong and so many more) suggested that they split the monsters between 2 versions of the game to make trading even more fun. This is how Pokémon Red and Green, or Red and Blue in the west, were created.

These games featured 151 Pokémon now known as Generation 1 by Pokémon Fans. This started the global phenomenon we know today! Currently numbering over 50 games in the franchise we can safely say that the first pillar of the Pokémon brand is still here to stay.

With the success of the games an animated series and Trading Card Game were produced in the first year after the games release. Both of which were amazing successes in their own right. If you want to know more about them continue reading in the paragraphs below.

Rise of Pikachu! - The Pokémon Animated Series

If you are new to Pokémon or if you have been following since the 90s, you must be familiar with everyone’s favorite yellow mouse, Pikachu! The story of the animated series is also the story of how Pikachu became the face of the Pokémon franchise. In the original games Pikachu was just one of the 151 Pokémon. It wasn't even remotely as popular as Charizard, Blastoise or Venusaur, but it all changed with the release of the show!

The story centers around Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in Japan) who started his adventure with a Pikachu instead of the usual starter Pokémon. The show focuses on the friendship between Ash and the Pikachu and their struggles as they travel the world to become the very best. After the games and TCG Pikachu has been redesigned to be even cuter in animation.

Pokémon Yellow came out as a tie-in game to the show. It showcased the Gameboy Color and put Pikachu on the box as he became the new mascot of the Pokémon Franchise! All this pushed Pikachu into the spotlight where he is still standing today! Over the 25 years there have been 24 seasons of the show with more spin-off shows and movies in the meantime.

From Base Set to Evolving Skies and Everything in Between

As the games were already set to be a huge hit, the Pokémon team started working on a card game as soon as possible. The first set, also known as Base Set, came out less than half a year after the games both in Japan and in the west, but that wasn’t all. The first 7 sets had actually been planned from the start in order to fit enough cards representing all the 151 amazing Pokémon seen in the games and show.

There has been a steady release schedule of new sets covering all the new and old Pokémon throughout the generations. The card game has always been active and competitive while still being interesting for collectors with all the beautiful, wacky and inspiring art of all our favorite Pokémon and Trainers. Communities of fans bonded over both aspects of the TCG making it what it is now!

Right now we are awaiting the release of the 89th set called Evolving Skies, which will make Celebrations the 90th set. A nice round number for 25 years of playing and collecting cardboard representations of the wonderful characters, items and locations from the Pokémon franchise!

25 Years and Counting - Pokémon Fans for Life

Some of us started loving the games or the characters back in the mid 90s and others came in along the way, but no matter when you discover your interest in Pokémon you can always know that you can feel at home here! This hobby is amazing because it has been designed from the start to be a social activity.

The video games promote trading and battling with friends or rivals using your own Pokémon that you caught and raised. The TCG revolves around you sharing your passion for this world either through collecting and trading or creating powerful decks and testing them against other players. Both of these aspects create a community around them. This community has always been super welcoming to new fans as much as returning ones. This has to be in part because of the enchanting and joyous characters and Pokémon these games are all about.

Hope you guys keep enjoying these games as I know I will for years to come!

Keep the Celebrations Going!

We have all the Pokémon Celebrations products for preorder in our store to make this anniversary special for you. They ship fast and come at low prices to boot, so don’t let the Celebrations stop here!

• Get the best value for your money with the Elite Trainer Box (No Maximum Order Limit!)
• Fly or Surf with Pikachu on the pins from the Celebrations Deluxe Pin Collection
• Collect all the art cards from this Starter Mini Tin
• Check out the rest on our Celebrations Store Page

These are preorders for the products that are coming out on Oct 8th. Your order will be shipped at the latest on that date.

Preordering these products guarantees that you will receive them. We have insured the proper amount of products to be displayed on our website equal to the amount of products we will have in stock