Alternate art Pokémon cards are cards that deviate from the usual art style in a set. Usually most cards in a set will share a common art style or theme, while these cards have an alternative look to them. In older sets of the Pokemon TCG, you’ll find that many cards in the same set had a variety of art styles, but nowadays sets tend to look more uniform. These alternate art cards allows for sets to feel consistent while still having cards that stand out from the crowd. This technique started in the Sword and Shield: Battle Styles set.
The card on the left is an alternate art Galarian Moltres V while the card on the right is a normal Galarian Moltres V. Just by looking at these two cards you can tell one is more rare because we don’t see many Pokémon cards that look like the one on the left. Another thing to note for people that not only like collecting, but those that play the TCG, these alternate art cards have the same moves. So these cards do the same thing, they just look different and it’s a good way to flex on your opponents.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the newest video game installment of the Pokémon franchise that comes out Janurary 28th, 2022. This game takes place long ago in the Hisui region, when Pokémon and humans didn’t interact much because people were afraid of them. Some new information has come to light about certain Pokémon that you’ll find while exploring the Hisui region in the upcoming game. It seems like we’ll come across Pokémon that are larger, stronger, and more hostile than what you normally see. There are two types of these and they’re called Noble and Alpha Pokémon.
What is a Noble Pokémon?
Pokémon Nobles in Legends: Arceus are special Pokémon in the Hisui region that have received a mysterious blessing of some sort. This blessing has made these Pokémon very powerful and are able to interact with humans more. With this power, the humans respect Nobles more than wild Pokémon and even are protected by people called wardens. Maybe well learn where this blessing came from when we explore the Hisui region, ourselves. In Legends Arceus, Noble Pokemon are becoming frenzied and more aggressive for unknown reasons. It’s your mission to quell these hostile, frenzied Nobles.
What is an Alpha Pokémon?
On your journey in the Hisui region, you’ll come across large Pokemon with glowing red eyes, these are Alpha Pokemon. Defeating these Alphas will prove to be difficult but don’t require balms to quell. Just battle them normally and they’ll drop rare items but be careful, It may take an entire team to beat these Pokemon. The reason for Noble and other Pokemon becoming aggressive is shrouded in mystery right now, but we should find out more information while we play through the game and encounter more of these Alpha and Noble Pokémon.
With the Pokemon Legends: Arceus release date getting closer and the developers revealing more Hisuian regional Pokémon as time goes by, many people are wondering who will be revealed next. Some fans are speculating that we may see one or multiple canceled Pokémon, starting with Gorochu. If you haven’t heard of Gorochu, it was meant to be the final evolution of Pikachu and Raichu, but the idea was scrapped. In this reddit thread, a fan explains that in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, a spikey eared Pichu was brought forward in time from the past by Celebi with time travel. Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place far in the past, and we may see a return of this Pichu along with a Hisuian Pikachu evolution line. This would be the perfect time to introduce the lost evolution of Pikachu, Gorochu. Other people are starting conversations about this being a possibility, but only time will tell.
With all the new/old Japanese style hisuian forms of pokemon in Legends Arceus,
now would be the perfect time to reintroduce the cut evolution of Pikachu and Raichu, Gorochu 👀 pic.twitter.com/klb0WUzxTQ
There’s another canceled Pokémon that has been brought up a few times lately, that’s Wolfman and Warwolf. These look very similar to Snorunt. If you remember, the last trailer we got of LA that revealed Hisuian Zorua and Zoroark, we saw a lot of Snorunts. This could be a hint that we could see a Hisuian Snorunt coming soon, which will probably resemble this canceled Pokémon. Sadly, this is all speculation and hopeful conversation. The most exciting part is, there will certainly be more Hisuan Pokémon revealed and trying to predict what it could be is fun. Comment below what new Pokémon you think will be in Legends: Arceus.
Rare Candy is named after a well known, useful, in-game item and Pokémon card. In Pokémon games, rare candy items are used to give your Pokémon experience points and level them up. But today, we’ll be focusing on a different Rare Candy. There’s a new website, co-owned by a popular Poketuber, LeonHart. This website has limited information on it but here’s what we know so far.
RareCandy is aimed to become a new auction platform for rare collectables that will be different from the available options we have currently because it is run by experts. Users will likely be able to buy (and maybe sell) rare Pokémon collectables from credible sources. This website will obviously be focused around Pokémon cards and collectables but their Twitter bio just states “Legendary collectibles”, meaning we could see more items on the website that branch away from the Pokémon Franchise in the future as well. The platform isn’t open at the moment but there is a big promotion going on that everyone should know about.
Get your pack from a Pokémon Shadowless Base Set Box and watch along as @LeonhartYT does the box break live on YouTube this Saturday, 10/30. pic.twitter.com/1DxJQzN01A
Rare Candy has gained a lot of popularity, not only from LeonHart being behind the project and promoting it in his YouTube videos, but giveaways! Everyone loves having a chance at free rare cards and packs. Rare Candy has already given away a 1st Edition Base Set pack earlier this year, which valued at $12,000! Now they’re giving away 5 free packs on a YouTube livestream tomorrow, while they open a Shadowless Base Set Booster Box. It’s not specified what these 5 packs will be but we do know they’ll be giving away at least one Base Set 2 booster pack, according to their Discord server. Earlier this week they let users of the website buy these Shadowless, Base Set packs for $2,000 each. This event will mark a new beginning of Pokémon card auctions and we hope to see more events and information from Rare Candy soon. Tune in to the livestream on Saturday, 10/30, at 4 PM ET and get more information by going to RareCandy.com.
Wyrdeer is a Normal/Psychic type Pokémon found in the snowy Husian region. This Pokémon may be familiar looking because it evolves from Stantler and has the same reindeer look.
Basculegion is large fish Pokémon that is a Water/Ghost type. It evolves from the spikey fish, Basculin.
Kleavor is the new evolution of Scyther due to unknown Hisuian materials. It’s a Bug/Rock type Pokémon.
Regional Forms
Hisuian Zorua is the newest addition to this list of revealed Hisuian Pokémon. It’s the first Normal/Ghost we’ve seen. This regional variant of Zorua looks adorable but has a dark story behind it. The Zorua were ran out of it’s natural habitat by humans and couldn’t survive in it’s cold, new climate. That’s why this Hisuian Pokémon is partially a Ghost type.
Hisuian Zoroark is the Hisuian evolution of Zorua which is also Normal/Ghost type. They are not fond of humans and are even described as often hostile to other Pokémon and humans.
Hisuian Growlithe was of the first regional forms showcased in the Pokémon Legends: Arceus trailer. It looks more fluffy than usual and is a Fire/Rock type. We have yet to see a Hisuian Arcanine, sadly but the fact that we have Growlithe means we should see a Arcanine from the Hisui region soon.
Hisuian Braviary is a new Psychic/Flying type in the Hisui region. Similar to the Arcanine, we have not seen a Hisuian Rufflet yet but we should soon as that’s the pre-evolution of Braviary.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the newest upcoming Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch. Naturally there has been a lot of hype and conversation about this game. With it being different from any Pokémon game we’ve seen before, not a lot of fans know what to expect. The latest conversation about the game has to do with the map and how the player explores the new Hisui region. More specifically, how big is the map in Pokemon Legends: Arceus?
There have been rumors about the game not being as open world and the map not being as big as we once thought. In Pokémon games the map is usually split up into areas. You don’t get to explore most areas until you complete missions and unlock them. When the first Legends: Arceus trailers were coming out, people made comparisons to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which welcomes open world exploring. This lead to people believing Pokemon Legends: Arceus would be open world as well. It turns out that this game will be similar to previous ones in the sense that the player will need to unlock areas before being able to explore them. Though, the game isn’t technically “open world”, the Pokemon Legends Arceus map size is still MASSIVE from what we’ve seen so far.
Pokemon Legends Arceus Map Size
How Big is the Map?
From these three screenshots of the Hisuian region map above, you can see the whole map is comprised of 5 different open areas. These are the areas you can unlock and explore as you play through the game. The second screenshot is of 1 of the 5 areas, the Obsidian Fieldlands. In the third screen shot you can see how many sub-areas this single area is split up into. There are 34 sub areas in the Obsidian Fieldlands. Now this might seem like a lot of information but @JoeMerrick on Twitter puts it more simply. In the tweet below, they compare it to a game you may be familiar with, Pokémon: Sword and Shield. If you’ve played Sword & Shield, you’ve probably been to the Wild Area, one of the main largest areas in the game to catch Pokémon in. The Wild Area in Sword & Shield had 18 sub areas, that is half of the size of one of the new areas in Legends: Arceus. This means the map in this upcoming game is potentially 10x larger than the big Wild Area in Sword & Shield. This makes up for the game not being open world, as you’re probably not going to run out of areas to explore for quite a while playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus. As a map size comparison to SwSh, Legends Arceus is huge!
So putting the Pokémon Legends Arceus non-“open world” debate to the side, let’s look at one of the seemingly five open areas we know about: Obsidian Fieldlands
This area has got 34 different sub areas within it. To compare, Wild Area had 18, Isle of Armor 17 and Crown Tundra 15 pic.twitter.com/7Ul7Xreng7
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Celebrations is the newest addition to the Pokémon TCG and everyone’s going out and buying as much as they can find. It seems like with this overwhelming demand, the factories making these Pokémon cards have been working in overdrive and it shows. Not only has there been more supply with this new set compared to precious sets of packs, but people have found some weird misprints and errors while opening Celebrations packs.
Ultra Premium Collection Damages
The Ultra Premium Collection box is one of the most wanted products in the Pokémon TCG community right now, people are looking all over for the limited edition box and it seems like there’s not that many out there. Some retail stores only got a couple of these boxes and immediately sold out. This hype is due to this box containing 4 special cards that you can’t get anywhere else. 2 metal cards that are recreations of the classic base set Charizard and Pikachu and 2 recognizable gold colored cards, Pikachu V and Pokeball. For the few people that managed to get a hold of one, some people have reported that while opening their Premium Collection boxes, they’ve noticed the main cards have been damaged somehow. This Twitter user posted a pic of their Pikachu card with a chip on the top edge, stating their Charizard promo is the same way.
Others replied with similar stories and pictures of chipped corners and discolored cards. We’ve seen posts of similar things happening with other Celebrations promo cards such as Greninja Gold Star. If you find cards that are folded, crimped, chipped just know that you’re not alone. You can contact the retail store you bought it from or The Pokémon Center and talk to support about any damages. Comment below if you’ve experienced something similar or if you’ve gotten a response from support about this issue!
It’s that time of year again! Everyone’s traveling and buying gifts for the holidays. Whether you’re looking for a Switch case as a gift or for yourself when you’re traveling, we’ve got your back. Here are some of the best rated, reviewed, and good looking cases for your Nintendo Switch. Not only will they protect your Switch from getting scratched or cracked, they can also hold game cartridges and they look good while doing it. These can be used for your Nintendo Switch or Switch Lite. All of the links below lead to GameStop, when you make a purchase using our affiliate links we make a commission and you help the PokePatch website stay up, thank you!
1. Black and Gold Pikachu
With 60+ ratings on the Gamestop website and mostly 5 star reviews, it’s pretty easy to say this is a fan favorite case. It has a really cool looking black and gold graphic on the front, featuring Pikachu. It also has a unique pattern on the inside.
If you like a black and white theme, this case is for you. There’s a black and white checkered pattern on the front. It also has a yellow drop shadow on the Pikachu graphic, handle, and zipper.
This case has a classic art style feel to it. The colors aren’t as saturated as others and the inside of the case has a pattern that features the gen 1 starter Pokémon.
This one is personally my favorite because it’s mainly a vibrant color that stands out. A bright yellow background with a contrasting, black graphic of Pikachu not only looks cool but it’ll be hard to lose.
If you haven’t seen it yet, this week Pokémon released an epic video that reveals a new type of Pokémon card. This new card will be introduced in a Japanese set called “Star Birth” coming out in January 2022. In the video it shows the new VSTAR card, specifically the Arceus VStar.
For Collectors
Collectors are excited about this new card because it’s the first new type of card we’ve seen since the release of V and Vmax cards. The new VStar card is presumably more rare than both of these types of cards and they look amazing. With a full art style, a holographic face, and featuring a legendary Pokémon, this seems like an Ultra rare in the making. It also has a silver border, this is a nice change from the normal yellow or the current black border we see on V cards. When these first come out everyone is going to want them and the price is probably going to be insanely high. We recommend, if this happens, waiting a few months before making the decision to buy this as there will be many more VStar cards coming out in the future and the price will go down at some point.
For Players
This new VStar card might be even more exciting for players of the TCG than collectors of these cards. The new card adds a new mechanic in game that could change everything. Many people are arguing whether it is balanced or over powered, but we won’t really know until it comes out. All we know is when The Pokemon Company makes new cards, they go through a long play testing process to make sure everything is as balanced as possible on release. Knowing that, we have to assume with such a huge change to the game, they’ve probably playtested these cards over and over again already. If you want to play a VStar card, you’ll have to have a V of the same Pokémon as it evolves from a V card. You’ll need to be careful though because defeating a VStar card rewards the player with two prize cards. The VStar card has a one-use ability. With the Arceus card showcased in the video, that ability is to search your deck for any 2 cards and put them into your hand.
Just by reading the title of the article I know this will anger a lot of long time Pokémon fans. Nothing will compare to the old games we would play on the Gameboy, catching Pokémon and beating gym leaders for the first time. But we might have a new game that will not only revive that spark, but create new experiences. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the newest installment in the Pokémon game series that comes out early 2022. It’s gotten a lot of backlash the past year because it’s not what fans of these games are used to. This attention might make this the biggest Pokémon game we’ve seen in a long time. Here’s why.
It’s Not Just A Pokémon Game
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a game that we’ve never seen from GameFreak before. Usually in these games, you’re a Pokémon trainer. You catch monsters in the wild and battle with other trainers to level them up and become a respected fighter. In this upcoming game, you’re not really a trainer, because when this game takes place Pokémon trainers didn’t exist. People are afraid of Pokémon and don’t want anything to do with them. You will be one of the first people to encounter these Pokémon, capture them, and survive the dangerous situations you’ll come across in the wild. This will be the first game where Pokémon will directly attack you. This means not only do you have to protect your Pokémon but protect yourself. That’s why this game gets compared to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. They both look similar and we know that Zelda game was amazing, so if this Pokémon game can come close to that type of gameplay, we’ll have one of the most unique Pokémon titles ever. Not only would this attract old fans of the franchise but other people that may not like the old Pokémon gameplay style.
GameFreak is Listening
With every trailer we get with Legends: Arceus, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl it seems like the gameplay and graphics get better. This means the developers saw all of the complaints coming from fans and polished these games more and more over time. With Legends: Arceus coming out in a few months, they still have plenty of time to make any last minute changes to make sure the game runs smoothly. Even without more polish, the new trailers make this game look stunning and we’re hyped for what kind of adventures we’ll go on in this new format.
Pre-order Today
If you’d like to preorder Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the easiest way to get it is through Amazon. They offer physical and digital copies of the game here:
