Today, I’ve got two of my favorites(they’re also in the banner)! Not only were they my first, and currently only copies of the Player’s Club ex versions, they were also bought in the same lot, and BOTH have really awesome swirl/orb placement. The only downside is that Ho-oh’s swirl is rather light, so it can be difficult to see. Otherwise, Beauties all around! The duality of these cards and the way I got them is too perfect to pass up the chance to display here.
In Pokemon the Movie 2000, Lugia regularly charges what appears to be Hyper Beam/but I hope is canonically Aeroblast. As we all know, the charge animation for Hyper Beam is an orb, but Aeroblast often has a similar animation in other media. I feel a sphere more naturally represents water as well. It is a perfect fit for Lugia to then have an orb.
On the other hand, it is naturally more fitting for ho-oh, the user of Sacred Fire, to have a swirl on his card. Fire is only contained in a sphere when it is pure raw power like Hyper beam, but this is meant ot be pure fire. Fire is more aberrant in nature, and therefore the swirl is more fitting for the charge pattern.
Aeroblast!
Pretty obvious what Lugia is doing in the picture. This is a variation of the “imma chargin my laser” swirl/orb. Probably the most common variation, at least that I see. But it is nonetheless stellar when combined with the natural beauty of the card itself.
Sacred Fire!
This one looks a little more epic than the Lugia in my opinion. Sacred fire is such an iconic move and I feel that the swirl really does justice to the nature of fire.
