Pokemon TCG Pocket pulls new Ho-Oh & Lugia cards over mistaken use of fan artwork
In its Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion, Pokemon TCG Pocket apparently mistakenly used unauthorized references for official card art.
Pokemon TCG Pocket is about to get its latest expansion with Wisdom of Sea and Sky, which brings around 200 new cards to the game. A couple have been pulled, however. Ho-Oh EX (3-Star) and Lugia EX (3-Star) have been benched to make way for new card art after it was discovered that fan art may have been traced and used as official art for the Ho-Oh card (which was also used on the Lugia card). The Pokemon Company has apologized and promises to swap out the card art ahead of the Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion release.
The Pokemon TCG Pocket devs put out an update on the situation with the Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion and the alleged plagiarized card art on its social media this week. There, it apologized for the misuse of unauthorized use of art in its official card releases for Ho-Oh EX (3-Star) and Lugia EX (3-Star). The art on these cards have been replaced with placeholders until a suitable replacement is ready.
We’d like to share an update about the upcoming expansion in #PokemonTCGPocket. pic.twitter.com/W2GdG8Wv5n
— Pokémon TCG Pocket (@PokemonTCGP) July 30, 2025
There is a side-by-side comparison of the art used in the Ho-Oh card and it’s mildly damning. The art for the actual card appears to be a trace job of fanart from 2021. Unfortunately, it seems this art was used for references and made it to an official submission for card art. With the apology made, the developers have promised to investigate existing cards and make sure no such issue occurred elsewhere, but that will likely take a longer time to finish.
Nonetheless, it looks like Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion will have a bit of a blemish on its release on July 30. As we await new Ho-Oh and Lugia cards, stay tuned to the Pokemon TCG Pocket topic for more news and updates.
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