30th Celebration expansion for the Pokémon Trading Card Game announced for worldwide simultaneous release on September 16th

The Pokémon Company International today has announced a new expansion for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, 30th Celebration. As the name suggests, this is a commemorative expansion in the tradition of previous anniversary sets such as Celebrations and Generations. In a first for the game, 30th Celebration will release simultaneously worldwide, including in Japan, on September 16th.

Internationally, 30th Celebration will be the second special expansion of cards for the Mega Evolution Series. Each single card in this expansion is in foil, including Basic Energy. Each booster pack for the expansion will include five foil cards, and a foil Basic Energy. All cards will also feature the Western Pokémon 30th Anniversary logo, including those cards printed for Japan and other Asian markets.

For the third time in the past year, this expansion introduces a new rarity of Pokémon cards, known as Futuristic rare. This rarity, which will presumably be limited to this expansion, will be used for a subset of cards all illustrated by YOSHIROTTEN, a prominent mainstream Japanese artist whose work in a variety of different mediums and across has been exhibited internationally, and who has worked as an art director for clients including European and American luxury fashion brands, and musicians both in Japan and internationally. Each Futuristic Rare card will feature a Pokémon in a way intended to evoke a theme of "hope toward an unknown future".

Similar to past anniversary sets, 30th Celebration will once again include reprints of a range of classic cards from the history of the franchise. Unlike previous reprints though, which typically featured a text label stating This card cannot be used at official tournaments, the announcement specifically notes that the 30 cards being reprinted for this set will be legal for tournament play in formats which allow the original prints. The significance of this is as yet unclear. As of 2026, there has not been an official Expanded format tournament in Play! Pokémon regions since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the format remains not yet fully supported in Pokémon TCG Live. In Japan, the equivalent Extra Regulation format does still see occasional tournament support, with the Champions League Aichi May annually running an Extra Regulation side-bracket along with the main Standard Regulation event.

The franchise mascot Pikachu will be prominently featured in the expansion, with one of the five foil cards in every booster pack being one of 30 unique foil cards featuring Pikachu, each of which has been illustrated by a different artist. Pikachu will also appear on at least one other card, with announcements showing off a reprinted Pikachu & Zekrom GX TAG TEAM card.

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