A new game called Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket was announced in the latest Pokémon Presents, allowing players to open booster packs, collect cards, and play a simplified version of the game. While the cards shown in the new trailer look exactly like real Pokémon cards, there is one key difference: the back of the card has finally been repaired.
If you look at the back design of any American Pokemon card, you'll notice that the Poké Ball opens from the wrong side. The button is supposed to be connected to the red top half of the ball, but on Pokemon cards it's the opposite. But in Pokémon TCG Pocket, the Poké Ball now unlocks the way it should be.
Back in 2019, this remark went viral on social media User X TAHK0 posted a post about the idiot. It seems as if most people never noticed it despite seeing the card countless times over the years. TAHK0 speculated as to why the error occurred, writing: “Poke Balls went through a lot of early variations, with everything from the placement of the button changing, to how they opened being different, to being depicted as white on top.” It is possible that the early Poké Ball design actually had it unfolded as on the back of the card, but when the design was eventually changed to the reverse, they forgot to update it on the back of the card before printing, and it remains that way to this day.
Oddly enough, this isn't the story of the Japanese version of the Pokémon back card, which has a different design than the American one. As TAHK0 pointed out in his thread, the bug was fixed on the Japanese card in the early 2000s. Why it wasn't also fixed for the US release is anyone's guess. They may have wanted to keep all Pokemon cards uniform to ensure the legitimacy of the tournament, as a set containing both designs would be considered premium cards.
While the background of the actual Pokémon card remains mirrored, Pokémon TCG Pocket shows us what the corrected version looks like. The new iteration appears to be a mix of American and Japanese designs. It features the swirling background of the American version, the central Poké Ball, and different colors of the Japanese version.
What do you think of the new and corrected design of the Pokémon card back? Did you notice that it was a mistake to start? Admit it in the comments.
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