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Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket App Updates Ho-Oh, Lugia Card Artwork Following Alleged Plagiarism of Fanart
posted on by Alex Mateo
The official X/Twitter account for the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket app announced on Friday that the game has updated the game with new illustrations for the the Ho-Oh and Lugia EX from the newly from the newly released "Wisdom of Sea and Sky" set following recent plagiarism accusations and internal review. The art replaces the temporary placeholder message "New Art Coming Soon."
The app's staff issued a statement on July 30 stating that after internal review, the developers have temporarily removed the immersive card artwork for the Ho-Oh and Lugia EX cards because they discovered that "the card production team provided incorrect reference materials as official documents to the illustrator commissioned to create" the cards. The statement followed artist "lanjiujiu's" accusing the Ho-Oh card's art to be plagiarized from their own fanart. The app developers' full statement is as follows:
The app's developers apologized and revealed that they are also conducting an investigation to ensure that there are no other similar issues in their game.
lanjiujiu originally posted artwork of Ho-Oh and other flying Pokémon from the first four generations on December 2, 2021. The previous Ho-Oh immersive card art, which was also featured in the app's new Lugia EX immersive card, was drawn in a similar pose and style to lanjiujiu's original work.
The Ho-Oh and Lugia EX cards remained obtainable in-game, but they temporarily featured the message "New Art Coming Soon" in place of art.
The new "Wisdom of Sea and Sky" set launched in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket on July 30. The set primarily features Pokémon from the Johto region of Pokémon Gold/Silver.
The app launched for iOS and Android devices in October 2024. The Pokémon Company, TCG creator Creatures, Inc., and DeNA, collaborated on the app.
The app allows users to open two free digital booster packs for the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) everyday. Users can collect digital cards based on real-life ones as well as new cards exclusive to the app. "Immersive cards" feature special illustrated looks at the world within the art. There are also card battles with streamlined rules.
The app earned over US$100 million in its first two weeks of release, according to a report by Pocketgamer using AppMagic estimates.
The Pokémon TCG launched in Japan in 1996 and in the West in 1998. The Pokémon Company International became the publisher and distributor of the TCG in 2003.
Source: Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket game's X/Twitter account
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