and the discussion of the new Simplified Chinese starter promos,
someone asked me whether a Pokémon was ever released as TCG card before the entire generation was released, which got me thinking.
I do know some gen 2 Pokémon were teased/revealed in the anime before the entire generation was released. E.g. Ho-Oh in the very first Pokémon episode; Togepi in the main series; Donphan in the first movie; Marill and Snubbull in the Pikachu Vacations short of the first movie; etc.
Are there more examples of this for this gen or other gens?
Also, are there any examples of this for TCG cards?
I’ve been unable to find when the entire gen 2 was revealed, but I do know the gen 2 Pocket Monsters Gold & Silver games were released on November 21st, 1999, yet we had the ‘Pikablu’ Marill promo, which was released on June 15th, 1999:
Most of the time, generations are revealed on Pokémon Day (February 27th), so maybe that was also the case with gen 2 and the release schedule does make sense? Not sure why the name Marill wasn’t known yet at the time, though.
Anyway, are there any examples of revealing a new Pokémon before the actual gen release on either a TCG card; in the anime; or perhaps even in one of the many games, besides the anime Pokémon I mentioned above?
@nintenbox0731 may know more about this, but Lucario has a bunch of promos, a deck holo and a deck ex released in 2005 alongside the movie Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, before Diamond & Pearl released in late 2006
Sometimes they manage to rework their blunders into something halfway decent but not this time. Zygarde and Magearna have no business in Sun and Moon. Dilute the lore of one and take away from the other. Blame the game that never was, Pokemon Z.
Zorua and Zoroark had cards come out before B&W released in North America, I’m not sure what day/month the cards released though so I’m hesitant to claim they released before B&W did in Japan at the same time.
I think, theoretically, we could list the entirety of the gen 4 Pokédex in Diamond/Pearl collection that way, too, haha, Power Keepers/WCP vs. Diamond & Pearl (International)/the two collection sets type of deal.
They at least retconned zygarde. In the manga zygarde has a lore reason for traveling to Alola, and in ZA it’s implied that zygarde’s attacks are Z-move-esque. But agreed Z is what we deserved lmao
Munchlax was already revealed to the public in May 2004 as part of a special livery of an aircraft. Later that year it was then also featured in the seventh Pokémon movie.
Ah yeah! Now that you mentioned it, I indeed remember seeing Munchlax in the movie before that gen was released, and it giving me nostalgia to the first movie with its gen 2 reveals.
Seems like Slowking was also revealed before the official Gen 2 sets. In Japan, Southern Islands were released July 1999 and Neo Genesis February 2000. It also has the OG evolution box style.
Correct me if i’m wrong but isn’t meltan considered as part of gen 7 so it’s rather a late addition instead of an early one, at least that’s how i remember it
You are correct. It’s considered a Gen 7 Pokemon despite not showing up in the Alola games. You can register the two in Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee’s Pokedex and those are considered Gen 7 games. Also, gen 8 starts with Pokedex number 810 and Melmetal is number 809.
Forgot about that one.