Welcome to a brand-new issue of Johto Times! In Vol. 4, issue 12, we are sharing the memories of a Pokémon fan called Adam, who remembers his first experiences of collecting Pokémon cards in the late 90s and early 2000s, a hobby he continues to this very day. Plus, we have a recap of the latest Pokémon news.

The Johto Times Community Forum continues to grow, with various conversations on a number of Pokémon topics! If you have fond memories of Pokémon forums of the past, or even if you have never heard of a forum before, be sure to check ours out right here!

Join Liko, Roy, and friends in Pokémon Horizons Season 4: Wonders Ahead when it airs on Netflix on February 27th, 2027

POKÉMON HOME

• Pokémon HOME added compatibility with Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen for Nintendo Switch on October 7th, 2026. Players are now able to earn the Mythical Pokémon Celebi as a reward for completing the Pokédex in FireRed or LeafGreen and connecting these games with HOME.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON POKOPIA

• Pokopia's next event, Pumpkaboo's Sweet Surprises, will take place from October 17th, 2026 to November 1st, 2026, with Pumpkaboo debuting in the game. Throughout the event, Pumpkaboo will be waiting near rebuilt Pokémon Centers. Players can use the move Camouflage, learned from Zorua, and surprise other Pokémon to collect pumpkin candy that can be exchanged for event-themed furniture and decorations.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON TCG POCKET

• The eleventh expansion of Pokémon TCG Pocket's Series B releases, Deluxe Pack: Mega, released for a limited time on September 30th, 2026. As with Deluxe Pack: ex, Deluxe Pack: Mega contains four cards per pack, with one card in each pack guaranteed to be ♦♦♦♦ rarity or higher. Deluxe Pack: Mega's base set is 402 cards, including over 150 reverse holo cards, with 27 secret rares. Reprints of cards throughout the previous expansions of the B series will count toward the original set and Deluxe Pack: Mega when pulled.

Source: Pokémon

-Pocket has also announced that Step-Up Battles will be retired at the end of October 2026, to be replaced with a "new type of battling where the difficulty increases as [players] progress through the stages."

Source: In-app news

POKÉMON ANIME

• The first part of Pokémon Horizons Season 4: Wonders Ahead will be released in the United States on Netflix on February 27th, 2027. "Liko, Roy, and their friends are free to have some fun, action-packed adventures while traveling across the world of Pokémon. As they explore, they’ll discover more about the world around them, grow even stronger through exciting battles, and cross paths with new Trainers and Pokémon—like Navie and Ditto!"

Source: Pokémon

GENERAL

• Starting May 28th, 2027, the Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibition will open at Denver Museum of Nature & Science, making its second appearance in North America after debuting at Field Museum in Chicago in 2026. The Field Museum exhibit will remain in place until April 11th, 2027.

Source: Pokémon

Feature: Adam's Pokémon Memories

Today we present the memories of a Pokémon fan from the United Kingdom called Adam, who shares how he first came into contact with the Pokémon Trading Card Game at twelve years old, as well as other notable events that shaped the hobby for him. Adam used his entrepreneurial skills of selling snacks to kids at school to purchase his first Pokémon cards. Collecting cards is a hobby which he continues to enjoy to this day, and it has led to him establishing his own business.

Adam’s collection of Pokémon promo cards from the Wizards of the Coast era, highlighting Mewtwo (Black Star Promo 3)

Adam:

Pokémon turns 30 this year, and I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane. I’ve thought a lot about how I would like to tell this story and how my TCG collecting journey started.

So, to set the scene, I was 12 years old and I’d just gone up into secondary school. I became a fan on the release of the anime on Sky One. That is clear to me. Like most kids of my generation, I became obsessed, very quickly, with all things Pokémon, and especially with the TCG that followed a few months later. It was released closer to Christmas, and I remember obtaining my first ever card from a kid at school.

We traded in the playground at first break, huddled up in a corner, out of the way of prying eyes. It was an uncommon Dewgong from Base Set. I remember wanting the card so much that if something went wrong, I would never forgive anyone involved. I kept looking at the card and asking where he got them from, as I had never seen them before. But quite a few kids had started to bring them to school. I’d been hearing talk about the TCG, and finally laying my eyes on it, I loved it. And he had spares. I had a lot to learn.

I traded it for a bag of crisps. Worried I would bend it, I put it in my weekly planner so it didn’t get damaged, and then it ended up in my school bag, where I hoped it would stay flat and not bend. I remember asking if he had any more, as I’d like to trade more for crisps. He did. His parents had bought him the theme deck and some packs for his 13th birthday, and he was bringing the swaps to school.

This gave me a plan. As my mum worked at the local crisp factory, she would often bring home boxes and boxes of crisps. I thought, if I could use these bags of crisps to get Pokémon cards, it was the start of a great plan for a kid my age. And over the next few months, I would add bags of crisps into my school bag every day to sell at first break. I was a right little entrepreneur; they were cheaper than the tuck shop. I put everything I got into trading for Pokémon cards.

It worked a little too well. I managed to obtain more cards. I remember I got a Seel to go with the Dewgong, a Raticate, a Machoke, and Vulpix to name a few. Eventually, I obtained a Base Set 1st Edition Machamp. Little did I know back then that all of them were 1st Edition. But I was so happy to finally have a holo.

Next came the Ninetales, which became my favourite Pokémon in general. I got absorbed into the world of [the] Pokémon TCG, talking to my school peers about playing the game and what cards were their favourites, but it wasn’t until the release of Mewtwo Strikes Back around Easter the following year that my new obsession took hold.

A photograph of Adam’s Pokémon TCG folder, which includes checklists of the cards he was trying to collect from back then. This page in particular features a partial list of the Pokémon EX Dragon expansion, including some empty booster packets from the set itself

Adam:

In the weeks running up to the film, I remember my local corner shop getting a Base Set booster box and pricing the packs at £2.50, and the Topps booster box at £2. At the time, £2.50 was not even close to the pocket money I would earn. But I really wanted to get one pack. I dreamt of buying one and getting the Mitsuhiro Arita Charizard. I think it was everyone’s dream at the time. My parents would use the shop to pick up bread, juice, or items needed. I would ask for a pack. It was always “Too expensive,” or “No,” which, even for a kid, £2.50 was expensive.

I remember every morning I would go to the shop and look at the box, asking if anyone had bought them. The shopkeeper actually said no, so I decided on a plan: for the whole week I would save parts of my lunch money to eventually buy one booster on the Friday.

With dedication, I got enough lunch money saved up. Proud of myself, the Friday morning I biked down to the shop before school and rushed inside, but to my disappointment, the owner of the shop had gotten rid of the packs the night before. He’d sent them back or on to another one of the shops they owned. I was devastated. All my hard work saving 50p out of my lunch money every day.

But all was not lost. Seeing my disappointment, the shopkeeper offered to take some money off me to track down a pack from the box. I agreed eagerly, so he told me to come back at the end of the day, and he would do his best. Oh, school. I remember how slow that Friday was. At 3pm, I raced on my bike out of school just to get to the shop. With a gleeful smile, he told me he got packs. And he proceeded to show me a Topps pack from the first movie. I was so crushed, but I took the pack and the 50p change. It was good of him to get a pack, but he could tell I was disappointed it wasn’t the other style.

That Friday didn’t deter me from my goals. The following week, I was due to go see the Pokémon film. And I had heard that the cinema was giving out free Pokémon cards after each screening. The excitement was building.

So the Saturday came, and as a kid, the wait was part of the experience. Hoping to get one of the 5 cards on offer [was] all I would talk about. I was going to see the film as an Easter present. As I think back on this moment, Mewtwo Strikes Back, to this day, is an incredible watch. And I am not ashamed to say I cried at the film.

As we left the cinema, a little emotional, the staff handed out promo cards. I remember being a little frustrated they didn’t give my mum a promo card, as she also saw the film. But I was fascinated with the pack. My first promo was the Mewtwo, which at the time was such a cool card with the WB stamp. It was finally nice to have my own card that I hadn’t traded for.

I liked the film so much that I convinced my mum to let me see it again the following week. The Dragonite WB stamped promo was added to my collection, along with the Pikachu promo, as my mum did take one this time. I think I kept telling her that I could have another card if she got one. I’m happy to say I still have my original Mewtwo sitting nicely in my promo binder with the Dragonite. But I am unsure what actually happened to that Pikachu. I must have replaced it a few years later.

Adam’s Dragonite WB (Warner Bros) stamped promo card was another notable addition to his collection

Adam:

For the next few weeks, all I talked about was the film and the Pokémon cards I got from seeing it. It was the new obsession and helped my mum realise it wasn’t going anywhere. I convinced my parents to buy me the soundtrack on tape cassette from Morrisons, which contained a Jigglypuff promo that I also still have. Though, as much as I liked Jigglypuff, it wasn’t as impressive as all the other cards.

In the space of a few weeks, I’d managed to obtain four new Pokémon cards. I was growing the collection.

Next came the packs, finally. I remember buying my first Pokémon cards from Woolworths, a store long since closed down. They had Base Set packs on the counter in the music section, packs for £2 each, and I picked up three. They were cheaper than the corner shop. I was eager to have a Charizard pack, and finally a chance at pulling the Charizard, which [was] the one I wanted most because it was Charizard and popular. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. All was not lost. I was over the moon when I pulled two holos from the three packs: the Blastoise holo and a Chansey holo. Neither of them were from the Charizard pack, though.

I later traded the Chansey for a holo Vaporeon from the Jungle set, as I didn’t have any of that expansion set and it was new out, and I really wanted it at the time. I was disappointed, though, when I found out it was also in the theme deck.

Rocket’s Zapdos (15/132) is just one of Adam’s many prized Pokémon cards from over the years

Adam:

I have many strong memories surrounding when I was able to obtain cards. In those early days, Pokémon was everywhere. My parents surprised me with the Tempest Collection box, complete with a Chansey coin and one pack from each released main set: Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil. The collection also had a theme deck that contained a Zapdos holo from the Fossil set. I’m still on the hunt for that box somewhere in my attic. My collection is organised chaos.

For my birthday the following year, I got a Pokémon Topps binder collection from QVC TV, loaded with uncut cards, Japanese packs, and a price guide book. By then I had also started to collect Gym Challenge cards, missing out the Gym Heroes set, and I would visit a Pokémon trader at my local market at 9am every Saturday.

That’s where I met my best friend. We bonded over a Giovanni trainer card and a 1st Edition Lugia from Neo Genesis. I remember just casually pointing out to him that I had both the cards he just bought in Japanese, and as kids do, I convinced him to come check out my collection. We met every Saturday to spend our pocket money on cards until the trader stopped coming, which was around the time Skyridge was released. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

My clearest, favourite memory in this time is collecting Gym Challenge, my first ever completed set. By now my pocket money was increasing and it got to the point where I only needed Team Rocket’s Zapdos holo. And I tried so much to get it. I was too young for eBay, and nobody wanted to trade it to me, but it was the biggest dream of mine to master the set. I used to save my lunch money and, after school, bike into the town centre to buy reduced-price packs from a shop called Gift Tree. They had Gym Heroes and Gym Challenge packs on the counter.

One rainy evening nearing Christmas, [on] a Wednesday, I rode my bike from school over to Gift Tree to do my usual. It was dark, too. The Christmas lights had just switched on. I had saved up £5 and the packs were only £1. I spent it all trying to get the last card I needed. I failed.

Having gone in every week, the staff in the store knew my face. And in the spirit of the moment, the staff started opening packs with me. One of them pulled the very card I needed and gave it to me, and all the other packs that they opened, too. I had my binder with me just in case; this was a red Pokémon binder with Snorlax on it from the QVC collection. I slotted the card in and happily went on my way.

Another checklist from Adam’s folder, this time focused on the Pokémon EX Ruby & Sapphire TCG expansion

A checklist from EX Sandstorm

Adam:

There are many more stories of collecting the TCG that are in my memories. The ideals that have been ingrained in me in the last 20 years are, mainly, to be kind, and to understand what this hobby is and does for the community we build. I always had a dream to own my own Pokémon store, a dream that has slowly started to become a reality. Starting small, taking inspiration from the people we see and watch on social media along the way, I opened a business built on the kindness I was shown as a kid, in an effort to combat the growing situation we now face. To be more ethical and bring fun back to how we collect.

And the road could be a long one, but I hope it will be a good and bright future.

And as I look back on the anniversary of 30 years, I feel 12 years old again. I can close my eyes and be in that school playground, aiming to start my journey.

For me, Pokémon didn't start with a shop. It started in a corner with a feeling of excitement, a pack of crisps, and an idea which led into a dream. From crying in a cinema to building my own collection.

It's all changed now, but the core values remain. For me, nothing can beat the friendships I've made along the way, the feeling of community, and finding kindness in strangers. We are all here for the same thing.

Right from when I first opened a single booster pack, I’ve been inspired by the ideals this hobby has given me: to pay it forward, trying to emulate the kindness of strangers now as an adult, building a community and making friendships, and this hobby has given me lifelong friends.

Pokémon was invented as a game for children, but it’s become so much more than that.

The front of Adam’s Pokémon TCG folder, featuring a picture of Snorlax, Charmander, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Butterfree

Disclaimer: I have had the pleasure of knowing Adam since November 2019, when I attended a local group who gathered to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and he has since become a good friend of mine (Darren, Editor of Johto Times). Most of the players present were children and teenagers, but Adam was closer to my age. He brought his binder along and told me about his memories of growing up with Pokémon and the cards he had collected.

We hit it off fairly quickly, and have bonded over Pokémon in the years since, sharing our own cards with one another and helping each other to complete expansions. In a world where the TCG has been seen in a negative light due to scalping, Adam has shown me that there are genuine fans who love the community and want to make it a positive space for younger players and collectors. I’m thankful to Adam for sharing his memories with us, and I wish him the best of luck with his business, as well as his future in card collecting.