Pokemon TCG players discover Mega Evolutions are bilingual
The Pokemon CompanyThe Mega Evolution cards in the Pokemon TCG had a strange secret that English-language speakers are only just discovering.
Mega Evolutions were a huge part of the Pokemon franchise during the Gen 6-7 era, and subsequentially they had a massive presence in the TCG, with an unusual twist to their artwork that many fans were puzzled by.
In the TCG, the Mega Evolutions were incredibly powerful cards, so they appeared a lot in decks throughout this era of the game and even though they eventually disappeared from the series, they’re planned to return in the upcoming Pokemon Legends Z-A.
Despite not being featured in the TCG for a while now, fans still love the design and mechanics of these cards so much a user on the PokemonTCG Reddit has created a thread pointing out the differences in the text on international cards. On the English cards, the Pokemon’s most powerful attack would be named in Japanese text.
Fans assumed the text was unchanged from the Japanese release, a time-saving measure to avoid altering the existing artwork on the card. It turns out that this wasn’t the case. The attacks on the Japanese Mega Evolution cards were written in English.
It’s surprising that the developers would use this approach with the cards. It could be a way of adding some mystery to their artwork, as the majority of players are unlikely to be fully bilingual in English and Japanese.
Regardless, learning how different the cards are between regions is fun. The Mega Evolution cards were introduced over a decade ago, yet players are still uncovering details about them.
And who knows? If the return of Mega Evolution in Pokemon Legends Z-A is a big part of the game, they could return in the TCG, along with their alternate regional text.