Pokémon TCG Pocket: Fans' Mixed Reactions to Heartbreaking Time Space Showdown Art

The Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket received its latest expansion, Space Time Smackdown, on January 30, sparking a wave of shock and heartbreak among fans due to the artwork on a specific card. The card causing this uproar is the Weavile ex, particularly its 2 Star full art version. The artwork depicts a group of Weavile lurking in the treetops, their claws poised to strike an unsuspecting Swinub below.

A Reddit post showcasing the artwork has garnered nearly 10,000 upvotes, with comments expressing dismay and concern. "No Swinub, look up! Look up!" pleaded one user, while another lamented, "Always got to be one card per set that shows Pokémon in the process of straight up killing each other." The sentiment to "leave the lil guy alone" resonated with many fans, reflecting the discomfort with the depicted scene.

NO ! SWINUB LOOK UP !! LOOK UP !!

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The ecology of Pokémon often sparks discussions about their nature, with one fan noting, "The ecology of Pokémon is always so crazy to imagine. Like these are still animals, some smarter than others. Just they have the ability to fire laser beams."

In search of a silver lining, some fans have pointed to the full art card of Mamoswine, Swinub's final evolution, as a hopeful counter-narrative. The artwork shows Mamoswine looking upward, seemingly protecting a group of Swinub. "Hey, Mamoswine protected his baby. Don't worry. He most definitely saw those Weaviles," one fan optimistically stated, with another adding, "The Mamoswine alt card already looks above. He saw them. He saw..."

Gone, but not forgotten.

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Space Time Smackdown is themed around Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, featuring iconic characters such as Weavile, Mamoswine, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and more. The set contains 207 cards, which is smaller than the previous expansion, Genetic Apex, with its 286 cards. However, Space Time Smackdown boasts a higher percentage of rare cards, with 52 alternate art, Star, and Crown rarity cards compared to Genetic Apex's 60.

Creatures Inc. has yet to address the controversy surrounding the trading update released a day before Space Time Smackdown. Their social media and in-game focus remains solely on the new expansion, and they have not responded to IGN's request for comment. The only acknowledgment of the update was a "Trade Feature Celebration Gift" that included 500 Trade Tokens and 120 Trade Hourglasses, sufficient for trading a single ex Pokémon, but the developer has otherwise remained silent on fan feedback.