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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallIn July 2025, Pokémon TCG Pocket temporarily replaced the immersive artwork for Ho-Oh ex and Lugia ex after The Pokémon Company said its card production team had supplied an illustrator with incorrect materials as official documents. The company apologized and said it was investigating whether similar problems affected other cards. Later reports said replacement art was added, but they did not establish when every player or region received it.
Which Pokémon TCG Pocket cards were involved?
The controversy concerned the immersive artwork for the 3-Star versions of Ho-Oh ex and Lugia ex, which were part of the Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion. Public discussion described the images as plagiarism, but The Pokémon Company’s official notice described the matter as a production issue involving incorrect materials. Its notice did not itself use the word “plagiarism.”
The distinction matters: the company acknowledged an error in the materials its production team provided to the commissioned illustrator. That statement is not an independent legal finding about plagiarism. The Pokémon Company’s July 29, 2025 notice identifies the affected cards and explains its account of the production error.
What did The Pokémon Company say went wrong?
The company said an internal review found that its card production team had provided incorrect materials to the illustrator as official documents. The company’s notice stated: “After internal review, we discovered that the card production team provided incorrect materials as official documents to the illustrator commissioned to create these cards.”
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In its initial response, the company apologized to players and illustrators, temporarily replaced both affected images with placeholders, and said it would install new artwork once it was ready. It also said it would strengthen quality control and investigate whether similar issues existed elsewhere. A Japanese corporate release dated July 30, 2025 likewise described a problem in the production process and the temporary use of placeholder art.
How did the response unfold?
| Date | What was reported |
|---|---|
| July 29, 2025 | The Pokémon Company’s English notice identified Ho-Oh ex and Lugia ex, attributed the problem to incorrect materials supplied by its production team, and said placeholder images would be used until new art was ready. |
| July 30, 2025 | The company’s Japanese corporate release described the production problem and temporary placeholders while the investigation continued. |
| July 31, 2025 | PokéBeach reported details from a Japanese-language follow-up: that the production team had asked Sie Nanahara to redraw concept sketches, that responsibility lay with the commissioner, and that fans were asked not to slander the illustrator. These details are secondary reporting, rather than wording from the initial English notice. |
| Later coverage | GameSpot reported that replacement artwork had been added. That report does not establish a precise universal rollout date across regions or players. |
Sources: The Pokémon Company, July 29, 2025; The Pokémon Company, July 30, 2025; PokéBeach, July 31, 2025; GameSpot, later report.
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Was the artwork replaced, and what remains unclear?
GameSpot later reported that replacement artwork had been added. The available reporting does not pin down the exact date the new images became visible to every player in every region. Pokémon Support’s current Pokémon TCG Pocket support index lists the original notice, but that listing does not establish which artwork is currently displayed in every client.
The company announced a broader investigation into whether similar issues existed elsewhere. The sources cited here do not provide a public final result of that investigation.
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What the controversy does—and does not—establish
- Established by the company: Its production team supplied incorrect materials as official documents to the commissioned illustrator, and the two images were temporarily replaced while new art was prepared.
- Reported in follow-up coverage: The production team, not illustrator Sie Nanahara, was assigned responsibility in a later Japanese-language explanation; the company also asked fans not to target the illustrator.
- Not established by these accounts: A final public finding from the broader investigation, or a precise date when replacement images appeared for all players and regions.
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