Bonsly Is Getting Its First Pokémon Card in 16 Years

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is printing a Bonsly card for the first time since the Diamond and Pearl base set launched 16 years ago.

As reported by ComicBook.com, the bonsai Pokémon has only ever received one English printing but will finally receive a follow-up in the upcoming Scarlet and Violet: Obsidian Flames set that launches in August.

“Bonsly finally making a new appearance”, commented one Reddit user who got an early look at the set list. “Only took them a decade to print more than one English Bonsly,” said another in the replies.

While another Pokémon recently returned after a lawsuit got it banned, Bonsly’s reason for being ignored is less dramatic. Being a baby Pokémon, it just isn’t very good.

Generation two of the Pokémon video games saw the introduction of this archtype that gave predecessors to the likes of Pikachu (in Pichu) and Jynx (in Smoochum), and The Pokémon Company released another batch of these in generation four.

This included Bonsly as a predecessor to Sudowoodo, but this baby Pokémon, just like the others, presented a challenge to the card game designers that has never really been overcome.

The Pokémon TCG, just like the games, has players start with Basic Pokémon and evolve them into Stage 1 and Stage 2. But with the likes of Pikachu being a Basic Pokémon already, meaning one you can play unconditionally, starting with the baby predecessor is essentially starting a step behind.

Bonsly and its fellow generation four baby Pokémon Mantyke have therefore both been neglected in the TCG because players simply don’t want to use them. Neither Pokémon has seen a single new version released in English, though Mantyke is still being neglected despite Bonsly getting a new version in Obsidian Flames.

Kadabra similarly saw a return to the TCG after a long time away, as mentioned, caused by a two decade ban. The Pokémon Company stopped printing Kadabra cards (and removed it from the anime) after magician Uri Geller sued the company for using his likeness, though he retracted his complaint in 2020.

Pokémon cards have only grown in popularity during these pocket monsters’ absence though, evidenced, among other things, by the number of people trying to steal them.

Tokyo police reported an unprecedented number of trading card thefts in the latter half of 2022, while an independent gaming store in Minnesota reportedly had around $250,000 worth of Pokémon merchandise stolen in February 2022. One month later, again in Tokyo, a man was arrested for allegedly launching a literal heist in order to steal the treasured cards.

Also in March, a Georgia man didn’t steal Pokémon cards directly but instead misused money from the government to buy one, using a COVID-19 relief payment to buy a rare, shiny Charizard.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.