US EditionPokémon TCG Pocket Pulls Rare Card Artwork After Plagiarism Allegations
JUL 29 – The Pokémon Company’s policy allows use of publicly shared fan art without compensation, sparking debate after a 2021 fan’s Ho-Oh artwork appeared in the 2025 TCG Pocket expansion.
- On July 30, 2025, The Pokémon Company confirmed art plagiarism concerns for two cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket's Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion.
- Pokémon fan artist lanjiujiu sparked art plagiarism concerns this morning after comparing their 2021 Ho-Oh fan art to a datamined official card in Wisdom of Sea and Sky.
- Analyzing the images, fans noted the Ho-Oh immersive art card’s perspective, wing shape, and feather size nearly match lanjiujiu’s 2021 fan art, suggesting tracing.
- Following the outcry, The Pokémon Company removed Ho-Oh EX and Lugia EX cards from the Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion and replaced them with a ‘New Art Coming Soon’ placeholder.
- Under current rules, The Pokémon Company’s legal policy allows it to use publicly shared fan art without extra payment, as explained by Richard Hoeg, legal expert.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Pokémon TCG Pocket will change card art after plagiarism accusations
Artwork from Pokémon TCG Pocket’s Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion that has now been removed from the game. | Image: The Pokémon Company While you can now start collecting Pokémon TCG Pocket’s Johto-themed Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion, two of the set’s rarest cards are being changed in response to concerns about art theft. Soon after dataminers began posting images of Wisdom of Sea and Sky’s cards on Tuesday, Chinese artist lanjiujiu took to …
Plagiarism claims hit Pokémon TCG Pocket as fans say Ho-Oh art was copied
Pokémon fans are accusing the creators of Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket of plagiarism after artwork created by a fan in 2021 was seemingly used for a card in new expansion Wisdom of Sea and Sky. That expansion pack, officially due out Wednesday, allegedly includes a new Immersive Card featuring Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh which appears to use traced fan art. Chinese artist lanjiujiu posted on social media a few images comparing their commissioned…
Plagiarism Concerns Hit Pokémon TCG Pocket Over Ho-Oh Card Art
A Chinese Pokémon fan has noticed that a piece of fan art of Ho-Oh that they say they created appears to have—based on leaks—been mirrored and included in the forthcoming Wisdom of Sea and Sky set, coming to mobile app Pokémon TCG Pocket tomorrow.Read more...
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