The Pokémon Trading Card Game has teamed up with a Legend of Zelda artist to create custom Pokémon cards exclusive for its online exhibit. In August, The Pokémon Company launched the TCG Online Illustration Exhibit to celebrate the Nintendo tabletop game's twenty-five-year history. While the digital museum tour mainly featured official artwork from the Pokémon card game, the event also launched a series of exclusive artwork that has never been seen before. To close out the exhibits final month, fans can now see the entire collection of cards drawn by Zelda artist Takumi Wada.
The Pokémon TCG originally launched in Japan in 1996, before making it's worldwide debut three years later with the iconic Base Set in North America. Decades later, the popular tabletop game has now released a total of eight generations of Pokémon card expansions. To show off the game's lengthy history, the Pokémon Company collaborated with Anique Inc. to create a digital museum tour that displays select illustrations from the past twenty-five years of the TCG.
During the virtual tour players are able to see high-definition scans of classic Pokémon cards, as well as collectibles from recent releases such as Pokémon Astral Radiance's Trainer Gallery set from 2022. Although the exhibit is centered on TCG artists that have drawn for the card game in the last two decades, the museum also worked with legendary Zelda illustrator Takumi Wada to create a series of exclusive cards to promote the celebration. Below is the full list of the Pokémon TCG: Online Illustration Exhibit's exclusive artwork.
Pokémon TCG Online Exhibit Zacian Card
When the Pokémon TCG Online Exhibit was first launched at the beginning of the Summer, the Pokémon Company revealed that they would release a series of exclusive Takumi Wada cards in waves. The first custom artwork arrived during the exhibit's opening in August and featured Gen 8 Legendary Zacian. The stunning card concept featured an illustration of the Gen 8 Fairy-type standing on top of a hill in the Galar region while holding its signature Sword in its mouth.
The Pokémon Sword and Shield Legendary Zacian card was created using the full art design format, which first made its debut in the Black and White TCG series which launched in 2011. Wada's take on Zacian captures the Gen 8 Legendaries storyline from the 2019 RPGs. In Sword and Shield, the box art Legendary mascot watches over Galar with its rusted sword that it used to protect the region in the past during the Darkest Day catastrophe.
Gardevoir Pokémon TCG Online Exhibit
The second Pokémon TCG Online Exhibit exclusive artwork from the Nintendo artist was revealed on September 7 and was Takumi Wada's take on Gen 3 favorite Gardeovir. The Pokémon card mockup portrays the Fairy-type standing on a lake, as a ripple in the water reflects the gorgeous pink sunset that is set in the background. The card was themed around the exhibit's "Life" category, which featured card illustrations of Pokémon interacting and living with nature.
Gardevoir originally made its TCG debut in the 2003 EX expansion, based on the Gen 3 Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Hoenn region RPGs on the Game Boy Advance. The card mockup is an interpretation of Ruby and Sapphire's infamous water-themed region. The TCG Online Exhibit Gardevoir artwork's pastel design also reflects Wada's influences from his previous work on games such as the Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, which both used similar color schemes.
Pokémon TCG Online Exhibit Dragonite
The final exclusive artwork in the Pokémon TCG Online Exhibit made its debut on September 22 and starred popular Kanto Pokémon Dragonite. The full art card shows the bubbly orange Dragon soaring through a bright blue sky. In a call back to its classic Wizards of the Coast promo card from 1999, the Dragon-type can be seen flying against a swirl of white clouds that are floating above the land below. Although a favorite of Gen 1 Dragonite surprisingly wasn't included in the original Base Set TCG expansion, which was based on the classic Pokémon Red and Blue RPGs. The beloved Dragon would eventually make its first appearance as a Pokémon card in the Nintendo tabletop game's second Fossil expansion in 1999.
Takumi Wada would choose Dragonite as his final Pokémon to illustrate for the Pokémon TCG Online Exhibit. Although the exclusive TCG exhibit artwork has been a hit with fans, The Pokémon Company has confirmed that the full art cards are just mockups meant to promote the event. For now, there are no plans to turn the custom illustrations into official Pokémon cards. While Takumi Wada has been a long-time artist for the Legend of Zelda franchise, this is the first time that the Nintendo creator has designed a Pokémon card. The collaboration was used to highlight the influence the Pokémon TCG has had on other artists.
In an official statement released by the Zelda artist, Wada explained that while he was "nervous" to be drawing popular Game Freak characters, he wanted to celebrate the Pokémon TCG's 25th anniversary. The Japanese creator also added, "If my illustrations help others become more familiar with Pokémon, I'll be glad." The Pokémon TCG Online Exhibit will run until October 23, so fans who want to check out the digital tour will need to visit the virtual Pokémon Trading Card Game museum while it's still live.