I'm only 16 minutes into the video and already I'm blown away. I had absolutely no idea that Skyridge and Aquapolis were depicting an actual place. The commercials are fucking golden too, and that classic early 2000s Pokemon Company jingle at the end of each one is awesome. The whole reason I clicked on this was because I love the Holon region and how fleshed out it was through the TCG but to learn that there were multiple settings like this conveyed by the TCG was incredible. I don't use the like button very often, but you've earned it. Edit: Finished the video. Every single second of it was fascinating. Great work.
folks have theorized that those extra sandstorm cards came from the scraped wotc set jamboree - there's a matoba design video covering some of this that seemed compelling to me!
Love when the WOTC legacy of the tcg bleeds into the Pokemon side. It’s just a cool little fact that I sometimes forget about, like, “oh yeah, they were on that first”
A Legends game wouldn't be out of the question imo (especially since they haven't directly interacted with the mainline games keeping the altered typing mechanic self contained if need be), particularly after the formula's run its course a couple/few times and they feel inclined to further experiment with it.
The existence of Perrin and the Hisui pokemon in Kitikami kinda disprove this. The fact that Perrin is obviously a descendant of Adamin shows an interaction with the mainline.@@EvilApple567
@@EvilApple567 That would be so cool. Have Holon City as the hub, then the surrounding forest as the first area, then the lake, then the crystal beach, and lastly a big wild area with the floating island acting as the site for the final battle.
I'm not done with the video yet but just wanted to compliment how incredible this is - the sheer breadth of research you've done here is incredible and you can see your sheer passion for the TCG, and you don't feel the need to overdo it with cheap humor. Seeing all this gorgeous art you've collected alongside your explanations is a real treat!
This video is sooooo awesome I am so happy to hear someone finally talk about how epic the “Break” era is. I enjoyed this video so much. Really really amazing work. Well done
I think the fact that the sets with original theming coming at the tail end of the generations makes some sense, as you mentioned, the "easy" references of Canon regions and generic biomes have become somewhat used up; but also, by pushing them later in the schedule, it gives designers more time to figure out what it is the are wanting to do with the new setting.
I grew up with the Gen 3 Pokemon cards and with the Delta Species. I'm hopelessly nostalgic of these, and incredibly happy you discussed the lore of these cards and clarified it. Thank you for the amazing research work, and thank you for caring.
I think it's interesting to view Delta Species as either a precursor to regional variants or even could've served as the inspiration for Terastallization.
I’d love to see Pokémon bring back Delta Species. I got into the TCG in the Gen 3 era of cards so I’m super nostalgic for them! We need more lore based cards!
Dunno if you know, but they released a Water-type Delta Mimikyu not that long ago! Its illustration shows Mimikyu touching a crystal in a jungle, and the picture and border have a holofoil similar to the one used on the original Pokémon ex. It comes with a Light Toxtricity and a Hydreigon C too.
delta species are one of my favorite cards. i think they did one promo for one of the anniversaries but i could be wrong, but i would love for them to do a whould love for them to do a whole set again.
Nothing more exciting than getting to the end of an already-meaty and well-researched video and finding out there'll be a part 2 as well. Can't wait to see that when it comes out!
A truly fantastic video. I loved this walk through the history of the TCG. Thank you for putting this together. Mad respect for the amount of work this must’ve taken.
The Holon concept is incredibly beloved by me, I pinch my brow every time pokemon decides to introduce blase gimmicks like terastalization when delta species are RIGHT THERE. It would seriously add such a fun and interesting twist to the games.
Amazing video as always. Something I want to touch on that you brought up was regarding EX Sandstorm. According to a former WotC employee, the Jolteon in that set is similar to one originally designed for the cancelled Jamboree set. I'm not sure how accurate his claim is since he's going off of his memory, and he only mentioned the Jolteon, but it could be possible that at least some of the cards that released in Sandstorm were based on cards planned for Jamboree. Anyways, I love the idea of the card game having exclusive lore. It really helps the card game stand out even more as something fans should go out of their way to experience, since it can't be found anywhere else. I REALLY hope they do some cool stuff with original lore someday. Can you imagine how cool it could be now that we have special art cards, where the artwork takes over the whole card? It'd be sick.
Dang those aqua/magma grunts giving comments are cool, I wish unique dex entries were more common. Couple other cool things to add: -Around the celebrations expansion there were promo cards that called back to past card archetypes, including a delta Mimikyu. -There have been unique characters introduced in Temporal Forces, the supporters Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking and Explorer's Guidance.
Fantasic video! The Holon region was the setting for a number of fanfics I'd written years ago, and the mystery surrounding it and the hidden lore of gen 3's TCG holds a special place in my heart. There's a special magic to the older artstyles native to that period in pokemons history, and the desire to explore those hidden secrets. It was a blast to relive that feeling. Great job! Can't wait for the next one.
My favorite thing to do with the cards as a kid was coming up with stories for the pokemon in the cards. Since i wasnt willing to learn the real game, it was a fun excuse to look through my cards over and over
Came back to this video after the most recent Mini Set was added to Pokemon TCG Pocket, Mythical Island, and I'm glad to see they partially went back to the motif of having a theme/location that is tied to the set and tells a small bit of lore, even if it's just limited to "Explorer adventures around the island in search of Mew"
I really enjoyed this sort of historic stroll of the tcg while following themes and storytelling motifs. It really makes you appreciate the card art and nuance that fills the TCG. Very well done vid!
Maybe it was standard (at least in Japan's) marketing at the time, but I've never seen/heard that Pokemon Company jingle at 15:30 from the E-reader commercials anywhere besides Pokemon Colosseum/XD. Definitely caught me off guard, anyway fantastic video as always. I probably should've guessed something crazy was going on with Parallel City, only recognized it from competitive play.
Incredible video as always! The delta series cards are some of my faves but I had no idea the exact journey you would take us on! Great job detailing and uncovering that seemingly lost info! 😊
REALLY cool video! Finally, someone who cares about the same thing I care about in the pokemon tcg! I really enjoy seeing the pokemon's world through all the connected cards, it really instills a sense of wonder, and I wish they did it more! You're right, they do game locations some more now, but I would love more original locations, characters, and objects in the tcg! I'm a bit excited for the upcoming Kitakami set, Twilight Masquerade!
Relic Hunter from Skyridge is actually based on a character named Yurika from Himeno's How I Became a Pokemon Card Manga. There are a lot of expansive lore connections between the cards and that manga if you ever seek to do a part two deep dive.
Delta species are probably my favorite concept because that was around the time i got into the series. Would love if they brought them back either in the cards or games and anime
The Plasma sets external descriptions also suggest trainers were recruited en masse to fight against Team Plasma in some sort of Unovan civil war as opposed to just the protagonist and friends defeating them. Interesting deviation.
This man is doing god’s work. I can’t imagine the amount of effort compiling, data research, and especially editing all the cards into the video took. Thanks for providing all Pokemon TCG fans such interesting content!
Great video! Just note while the Sun & Moon era had more generic artwork, the "middle" sets were themed around Ultra Beasts arriving on other regions. Forbidden Light had Ultra Necrozma on Kalos with the booster pack artwork and most cards being from gen 6, for example.
I can't tell you how excited I am to watch this! I've been waiting for someone to do a video like this as this is something I've also noticed while looking through sets but no one talks about them! Great job! Also Believe it or not, the Sword and Shield era (besides Peaceful Park) did have some unique worlds to some degree in year 2 which you didn't mention that I've listed below: - Eevee Heroes also seems to focus on friendship and this little fictional town seeing that a lot of the cards seem to take place in this location and many of the Pokemon in the set interacting with said location. Raichu + Rotom seen in Sewaddle and vice versa, Mudkip + Araquanid form a larger picture with Sandghast, Eldegoss + Smeargle + Mawile + Meowth, Umbreon V special art with Grimmsnarl, Flareon and Pinsir which all appear in the set. Same with the Glaceon VMAX seeming to take place in a nearby forest with other Pokemon all seen in the set. Said town can also be seen in Eevee, Pancham, Pangoro, Swadloon and a few others. - SWSH7 shows these peaks that appear in many artworks, most notable seen in the dragon type cards and in the Rayquaza VMAX special art. Can also be seen in Tropius, Vicitini, Claydol, Shelgon, Salamence, Flapple, Medicham V, Dragonite V, Makuhita, Absol, Cufant, Dialga, Deino, Hydreigon and Slakoth. - Fusion Strike seems to occur in Wyndon based on the card artworks and Mew VMAX's special art too, with all the Fusion Strike Pokemon showing up in it's V. All related images are only on Fusion Strike Pokemon in the set. - This is also not including SWSH5 (Isle of Armour), s5a (Galarian Bird related locations) and s6h/k (Crown Tundra locations). Also with SM, at least with the second year the Japanese main sets were done with focus on different generations, sm5 +sm5a = gen 4, sm6 = gen 6, sm7 = gen 3, sm8 gen 2 and sm9 gen 1. On top of this sm6a was a reprint set similar to XY Evolutions but with Neo to ex era cards instead. But with the way English sets are made all the identity is mostly gone which is probably a reason this is the case.
There is definitely some planned settings in the recent sets, but it seems like they don't really commit to it making it hard to decipher. It doesn't help that since Sun & Moon, JP sets have been releasing at a rapid pace which makes the equivalent international set a merger of several vague themes. Most recently, Wild Force/Cyber Judge has original Supporter characters (for the first time since Fusion Strike) and the trailer shows some unique locations, but they don't seem to be depicted on the cards.
Thank you so much for the work put into making this video. It was very interesting and entertaining! Hopefully Nintendo employees in the card team see this as its a great intro on what Pokemon TCG has been through
I hope that we get another block centered around a unique, TCG-exclusive region someday. There’s nothing wrong with how they’ve gone about depicting the video games series’ locales, in fact, I’d argue that Paldea hasn’t looked better outside of the TCG, but they really had something special with the diverse Neo environments and Holon. I think it would do a lot to create and further expand the identity of the TCG, especially so during this period of more promotion of the game and parity between regions than ever.
As someone who has a weird obsession with trying to locate the delta species locations basis in the real world, (I did most of that kind of speculation on bulbapedia), I am over the moon at this fantastic video. Thanks, DeltaSeeker.
I'm so blessed to have been a kid just in time for all the Holon and Delta goodness, there's never been anything like it since. I tried chalking it up to nostalgia but it's genuinely incredible.
the very first deck i bought was the crystal guardians deck. it had an electric charmander, and i was so confused. I thought , "Isn't charmander a fire pokemon? Did I just buy fake cards???"
Hey im not sure if you're aware of this, but during the Game Freak Teraleak, the original 3d file containing Holon City was found! I don't know how or where it was found, I just remember people posting images of it on a Discord server I'm in, but maybe it's got some new info regarding the Holon Region and the Delta Species? Or maybe not, who knows.
Also worth mentioning with Plasma Blast, that there is Elite Four Pokemon that show up in their rooms (Houndoom, Reuniclus, Golurk, Machamp) and Iris Pokemon as well as some Elite Four Pokemon are featured fighting back against Team Plasma and most have an orange glow (Aggron, Lapras, Musharna, Drifblim, Archeops, Sigilyph, Druddigon, and Haxorus)
I also think its a bit unfair to write off Sun & Moon as having no lore. Ultra Prism is a set based around the Sinnoh Region, and many cards feature Ultra Wormholes despite being in Sinnoh, implying some sort of crisis (Murkrow UPR, Manaphy UPR, Bastiodon UPR, Luxray UPR. Maybe something to correct in the next video
Awesome video! So great to see this so well researched :D I'm really glad you found the internet archive lore article from Holon Research Tower! It makes me want to comb through my digital & physical collection trying to find more info!
This is why we love Pokémon. The Legends Arceus sets really stand out in the modern era. Paradigm Trigger being some lost island is really cool. Hope to see Pokemon invest more into these little details. Great video and very informative!
49:46 what about the radiant/pokekyun collection? :( the unique blurbs replacing the dex entries were my favorite part aside from the unique holofoil prints
Heya! Fantastic video. I was super into a lot of third generation pokemon stuff, and was a large collector of 3rd gen TCG product, and helped document a lot of different things (scans, renders, and translations) for product that was never documented well from 2016-2021. A lot of this included 3rd gen era pokemon center product from NYC and Japan that never had official scans or translations released on the internet, and knowledge of which had to be found by stumbling into a lot of the product on Japanese auctions. Thank you for doing your due diligence and covering a lot of these topics extensively, as the amount of speculation and misinformation has destroyed a lot of history and stories about these cards and sets. The integration and re-packaging of half decks, quarter decks, movie sets, etc, and shaping how Eng and JP sets differed is something a lot of people just let go as "how it is". But you nailed it, every little bit, and I even learned a few things myself! Hoping to see more content from you in the future!
Really appreciate you making this video. I would have never known being such an avid collector. I REALLY wish they would've made a game for this region.
The Sandstorm EX cards are from the cancelled wizards of the coast set "Jamboree". When the WOTC lost the rights to distribute cards in america, a lot of the cards from the set were taken and used for Sandstorm EX.This explains why these cards were exclusive to the usa right away, as well as many cards from the set have wording more akin to magic the gathering cards.
I loved Holon as a kid. I think the lack of clarity makes it more fun. Legend Maker being inserted...did not help with that, but even just the facts as they are is fun. One thing I always noted - Castform, along with the Voltorb and Magnemite lines, are stated or implied to be artificial which definitley opens up some possibilites. My thought is that perhaps the Holon's variants of them are an attempt of imbuing the type-changing energy of Delta species in a more direct way. The unevolved pokemon can share this energy, but only weakly (1 colorless energy), while the fully evolved ones pull energy away from the ones they're helping, but can provide whatever they need (Double Rainbow, but have to return an energy first). Interesting... ...Of course, the rainbows could be a way of allowing more metal costs to be printed, especially in the first set, since we were limited to 4 metal (special) at the time, and giving something to Metal and not Dark could be unusual for a 4-set series. Who knows. EDIT: I SHOULD'VE WAITED FOR THE DUMP AReact Energy could be related, maybe though. I always thought that mechanic was wierd...Maybe the unevolved Holon's Pokemon were more related to that? =Y
5:02 Hey now, the energy cards themselves may not contain any real deep lore, but their existence as an enduring relic of early Pokemon and its iconography is very interesting. It's the first time the types were represented by icons, and despite not being sourced from the video games, the franchise had enough coordination in its early days that the energy symbols even appeared in the Japanese opening for the anime. But they also weren't a 'complete' set as the TCG only covered a fraction of the video games' types, and then the video games (much later) went on to use their own similar, yet distinct (and also inconsistent) iconography for the types. I do wonder how that happened.
Really good video, thanks for summarizing that all. It was amazing to see. Especially the Holon and the Parallel World stuff from X and Y. I base a lot of my characters around Holon so it felt special to see it explained this way.
Amazing video! Worth the wait! Love how in depth you went on the Holon stuff - and hope you don't feel to disheartened that some of your speculation was voided by the page you found - this video will be a great resource going forwards Looking forward to the next part
I loved this deep dive so much! All the speculation around Holon is super interesting. I love how the dual-metal type occurrences dwindle until they ultimately disappeared altogether in Dragon Frontiers. I remember hearing from a PTCGradio video that ex Legend Maker was released after Delta species in English due to translation issues. That does kinda jumble up the lore on the English side of things.
I'm soooo so happy you covered the holon lore. Those sets have some of my favorite artworks, and I've always picked up miscellaneous cards at shops when I see them. It seemed like every time I found a new card I was getting a piece to a puzzle, but never got the full picture
i really hope that one of the inevitable upcoming Legends games dips into the TCG lore. i’d love a Legends: Mew or Legends: Deoxys that expands upon the Holon region
As a Pokémon fan who doesn't care at all about the TCG, you more than earned my sub. This is a really interesting deep dive into a fascinating aspect of the franchise and its history I never knew about.
Wow, this video was honestly incredible (im not done with it) I've been working for a few weeks to create a similar type of video (ex Era only) and the amount of content you've provided is significantly more than mine and more in depth. (though to be fair, im still on the first 11 sets of the ex era in terms of production) The amount of time it's taken for me to put information together on the ex era is crazy so i cant imagine how long it must have taken you and this editing is incredible! Thank you for the effort put into this
This is the best video everr! Also i feel like most of the Lore for current/modern cards is expressed through the alt arts now! Like silver tempest with the ruins you can see lugia in the regidrago alt art and the same ruins are shown in the unown alt art! Maybe something you can explore in a future video!
I think a good thing to have mentioned at the end is the fact we aren't getting our next pokemon game until next year, leaving a pretty big potential gap for the tcg to do something unique and unrelated to the video games/other current sources.
I'm only 16 minutes into the video and already I'm blown away. I had absolutely no idea that Skyridge and Aquapolis were depicting an actual place. The commercials are fucking golden too, and that classic early 2000s Pokemon Company jingle at the end of each one is awesome. The whole reason I clicked on this was because I love the Holon region and how fleshed out it was through the TCG but to learn that there were multiple settings like this conveyed by the TCG was incredible. I don't use the like button very often, but you've earned it.
Edit: Finished the video. Every single second of it was fascinating. Great work.
This is what makes Pokemon so interesting. You can be 15 years removed from when these cards were released and still discover new things about them.
folks have theorized that those extra sandstorm cards came from the scraped wotc set jamboree - there's a matoba design video covering some of this that seemed compelling to me!
Love when the WOTC legacy of the tcg bleeds into the Pokemon side. It’s just a cool little fact that I sometimes forget about, like, “oh yeah, they were on that first”
i love finding jarvis on these random obscure pokemon lore videos
I adore the art and idea behind the Holon region. If there was ever going to be a really out there new game, I'd want it to be based on Holon.
A Legends game wouldn't be out of the question imo (especially since they haven't directly interacted with the mainline games keeping the altered typing mechanic self contained if need be), particularly after the formula's run its course a couple/few times and they feel inclined to further experiment with it.
The existence of Perrin and the Hisui pokemon in Kitikami kinda disprove this. The fact that Perrin is obviously a descendant of Adamin shows an interaction with the mainline.@@EvilApple567
Wasn't there a romhack that had Delta species Pokemon? I dunno if it's set in the same region but I'd assume it is.
@@Yuzuki1337 There is, but I'm pretty sure it did its own thing from the playthrough I recall watching of it.
@@EvilApple567 That would be so cool. Have Holon City as the hub, then the surrounding forest as the first area, then the lake, then the crystal beach, and lastly a big wild area with the floating island acting as the site for the final battle.
The fact that Holon lore was never brought back when terastalized pokemon were introduced was such a missed opportunity
The fact the Level X didn't come back for megas and dynamax seemed like a miss too.
Especially considering the crystal theme.
I definitely think that the Tower in legends z-a will be Holon tower.
@@CrocodileRay I hope so
@@CrocodileRay I thought it was just the eiffel inspired tower of Lumineon city from xy, since that's the setting
I'm not done with the video yet but just wanted to compliment how incredible this is - the sheer breadth of research you've done here is incredible and you can see your sheer passion for the TCG, and you don't feel the need to overdo it with cheap humor. Seeing all this gorgeous art you've collected alongside your explanations is a real treat!
This video is sooooo awesome I am so happy to hear someone finally talk about how epic the “Break” era is. I enjoyed this video so much. Really really amazing work. Well done
Really looking forward to part 2
I think the fact that the sets with original theming coming at the tail end of the generations makes some sense, as you mentioned, the "easy" references of Canon regions and generic biomes have become somewhat used up; but also, by pushing them later in the schedule, it gives designers more time to figure out what it is the are wanting to do with the new setting.
I grew up with the Gen 3 Pokemon cards and with the Delta Species. I'm hopelessly nostalgic of these, and incredibly happy you discussed the lore of these cards and clarified it. Thank you for the amazing research work, and thank you for caring.
we out here in Holon Seeking Deltas
I think it's interesting to view Delta Species as either a precursor to regional variants or even could've served as the inspiration for Terastallization.
Dad came back from the store with the milk
The MooMoo Milk😅
i said the same thing when Matthias (dope or nope) came back
@@shikabaneconga haha XD
But I'm lactose intolerant :(
No
@@ChicaneryBearcould you just try tolerating it? For miltank? Pleaaaaaase 🙏😂
We are so back
Backer than we've ever been
So true
I’d love to see Pokémon bring back Delta Species. I got into the TCG in the Gen 3 era of cards so I’m super nostalgic for them! We need more lore based cards!
I think with Terra types, Delta Pokémon will likely not return 😔
Dunno if you know, but they released a Water-type Delta Mimikyu not that long ago! Its illustration shows Mimikyu touching a crystal in a jungle, and the picture and border have a holofoil similar to the one used on the original Pokémon ex. It comes with a Light Toxtricity and a Hydreigon C too.
delta species are one of my favorite cards. i think they did one promo for one of the anniversaries but i could be wrong, but i would love for them to do a whould love for them to do a whole set again.
Nothing more exciting than getting to the end of an already-meaty and well-researched video and finding out there'll be a part 2 as well. Can't wait to see that when it comes out!
A truly fantastic video. I loved this walk through the history of the TCG. Thank you for putting this together. Mad respect for the amount of work this must’ve taken.
The Holon concept is incredibly beloved by me, I pinch my brow every time pokemon decides to introduce blase gimmicks like terastalization when delta species are RIGHT THERE. It would seriously add such a fun and interesting twist to the games.
100% the non game, mysterious setting places not depicted in wider content is way more appealing. This video rocks.
Amazing video as always. Something I want to touch on that you brought up was regarding EX Sandstorm. According to a former WotC employee, the Jolteon in that set is similar to one originally designed for the cancelled Jamboree set. I'm not sure how accurate his claim is since he's going off of his memory, and he only mentioned the Jolteon, but it could be possible that at least some of the cards that released in Sandstorm were based on cards planned for Jamboree. Anyways, I love the idea of the card game having exclusive lore. It really helps the card game stand out even more as something fans should go out of their way to experience, since it can't be found anywhere else. I REALLY hope they do some cool stuff with original lore someday. Can you imagine how cool it could be now that we have special art cards, where the artwork takes over the whole card? It'd be sick.
oh yeah, Matoba Design has a really good video going in-depth on the details and history of Jamboree with interviews from WOTC employees
Really excellent video! I'm glad to finally know all about the holon/delta species after all these years
Dang those aqua/magma grunts giving comments are cool, I wish unique dex entries were more common.
Couple other cool things to add:
-Around the celebrations expansion there were promo cards that called back to past card archetypes, including a delta Mimikyu.
-There have been unique characters introduced in Temporal Forces, the supporters Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking and Explorer's Guidance.
Cipher Maniac my beloved
Fantasic video! The Holon region was the setting for a number of fanfics I'd written years ago, and the mystery surrounding it and the hidden lore of gen 3's TCG holds a special place in my heart. There's a special magic to the older artstyles native to that period in pokemons history, and the desire to explore those hidden secrets. It was a blast to relive that feeling. Great job! Can't wait for the next one.
I can tell how much work you put into this one! I LOVE it! Keep up the great work. This is one of my favourite channels ♥
My favorite thing to do with the cards as a kid was coming up with stories for the pokemon in the cards. Since i wasnt willing to learn the real game, it was a fun excuse to look through my cards over and over
Appreciate the research you put into this. really enjoying this video! Love the art on these cards and the deep dive into them
I’ve been waiting for someone to make a video like this 🙏🏻 thank you so much man
Just finished, amazing video!! Even more excited for Pokemon Card Pocket. So pumped for part 2!!!!!
Amazing work. Thank you so much for this video!
This was a very interesting peek in to a side of the franchise I don’t interact with very often, thanks for making this.
Came back to this video after the most recent Mini Set was added to Pokemon TCG Pocket, Mythical Island, and I'm glad to see they partially went back to the motif of having a theme/location that is tied to the set and tells a small bit of lore, even if it's just limited to "Explorer adventures around the island in search of Mew"
I really enjoyed this sort of historic stroll of the tcg while following themes and storytelling motifs. It really makes you appreciate the card art and nuance that fills the TCG. Very well done vid!
" this one S&V card even replicates the shitty lighting!"
I was drinking coffee, come on!
Imposter Professor Oak built the Holon Research Tower
The Chad Delta Species vs. the Virgin Tera Type
Literally this
yeah this has to be one of, if not the lamest alternate condition they have made, both in vgc and tcg
"old good new bad, am i right guys 🤓"
@@justsomekirbowithoutamusta1852let the people have some fun, kirbo 👍
@@WatchVidsMakeLists tell that sbeiting07 who was a fetus when delta species were a thing
Maybe it was standard (at least in Japan's) marketing at the time, but I've never seen/heard that Pokemon Company jingle at 15:30 from the E-reader commercials anywhere besides Pokemon Colosseum/XD. Definitely caught me off guard, anyway fantastic video as always. I probably should've guessed something crazy was going on with Parallel City, only recognized it from competitive play.
Incredible video as always! The delta series cards are some of my faves but I had no idea the exact journey you would take us on! Great job detailing and uncovering that seemingly lost info! 😊
This is one of the greatest pokemon tcg related video I've ever seen
This video is an astonishing work and in depth look at what makes some pokemon series truly special. Thanks a lot !
REALLY cool video! Finally, someone who cares about the same thing I care about in the pokemon tcg! I really enjoy seeing the pokemon's world through all the connected cards, it really instills a sense of wonder, and I wish they did it more! You're right, they do game locations some more now, but I would love more original locations, characters, and objects in the tcg! I'm a bit excited for the upcoming Kitakami set, Twilight Masquerade!
I always thought even Yu-Gi-Oh cards had more lore, but I never expected something like this.
Relic Hunter from Skyridge is actually based on a character named Yurika from Himeno's How I Became a Pokemon Card Manga. There are a lot of expansive lore connections between the cards and that manga if you ever seek to do a part two deep dive.
Delta species are probably my favorite concept because that was around the time i got into the series. Would love if they brought them back either in the cards or games and anime
The Plasma sets external descriptions also suggest trainers were recruited en masse to fight against Team Plasma in some sort of Unovan civil war as opposed to just the protagonist and friends defeating them. Interesting deviation.
This man is doing god’s work. I can’t imagine the amount of effort compiling, data research, and especially editing all the cards into the video took. Thanks for providing all Pokemon TCG fans such interesting content!
Wow amazing video! Every time you upload I know its gonna be a great deep dive into the tcg
I don't see anyone else making videos like you do, keep it going man!
15:00 i genuinely starting tearing up at these ads theyre actually such works of art like wow they might just be ads but holy
Great video! Just note while the Sun & Moon era had more generic artwork, the "middle" sets were themed around Ultra Beasts arriving on other regions.
Forbidden Light had Ultra Necrozma on Kalos with the booster pack artwork and most cards being from gen 6, for example.
The generational approach in 2018 actually correlates with the Legendary giveaways that were going on then for Gen 7
Awesome video, I love the cool and unique art we get from the TCG, so hearing the lore of them is fantastic.
we making it out of holon with this one‼️🔥🔥🗣️
I can't tell you how excited I am to watch this! I've been waiting for someone to do a video like this as this is something I've also noticed while looking through sets but no one talks about them! Great job!
Also Believe it or not, the Sword and Shield era (besides Peaceful Park) did have some unique worlds to some degree in year 2 which you didn't mention that I've listed below:
- Eevee Heroes also seems to focus on friendship and this little fictional town seeing that a lot of the cards seem to take place in this location and many of the Pokemon in the set interacting with said location. Raichu + Rotom seen in Sewaddle and vice versa, Mudkip + Araquanid form a larger picture with Sandghast, Eldegoss + Smeargle + Mawile + Meowth, Umbreon V special art with Grimmsnarl, Flareon and Pinsir which all appear in the set. Same with the Glaceon VMAX seeming to take place in a nearby forest with other Pokemon all seen in the set. Said town can also be seen in Eevee, Pancham, Pangoro, Swadloon and a few others.
- SWSH7 shows these peaks that appear in many artworks, most notable seen in the dragon type cards and in the Rayquaza VMAX special art. Can also be seen in Tropius, Vicitini, Claydol, Shelgon, Salamence, Flapple, Medicham V, Dragonite V, Makuhita, Absol, Cufant, Dialga, Deino, Hydreigon and Slakoth.
- Fusion Strike seems to occur in Wyndon based on the card artworks and Mew VMAX's special art too, with all the Fusion Strike Pokemon showing up in it's V. All related images are only on Fusion Strike Pokemon in the set.
- This is also not including SWSH5 (Isle of Armour), s5a (Galarian Bird related locations) and s6h/k (Crown Tundra locations).
Also with SM, at least with the second year the Japanese main sets were done with focus on different generations, sm5 +sm5a = gen 4, sm6 = gen 6, sm7 = gen 3, sm8 gen 2 and sm9 gen 1. On top of this sm6a was a reprint set similar to XY Evolutions but with Neo to ex era cards instead. But with the way English sets are made all the identity is mostly gone which is probably a reason this is the case.
There is definitely some planned settings in the recent sets, but it seems like they don't really commit to it making it hard to decipher. It doesn't help that since Sun & Moon, JP sets have been releasing at a rapid pace which makes the equivalent international set a merger of several vague themes.
Most recently, Wild Force/Cyber Judge has original Supporter characters (for the first time since Fusion Strike) and the trailer shows some unique locations, but they don't seem to be depicted on the cards.
Immediately clicked when I recognized the card art
Thank you so much for the work put into making this video. It was very interesting and entertaining! Hopefully Nintendo employees in the card team see this as its a great intro on what Pokemon TCG has been through
I'm so hyped to see you back! Definitely a gem of a channel
I hope that we get another block centered around a unique, TCG-exclusive region someday.
There’s nothing wrong with how they’ve gone about depicting the video games series’ locales, in fact, I’d argue that Paldea hasn’t looked better outside of the TCG, but they really had something special with the diverse Neo environments and Holon. I think it would do a lot to create and further expand the identity of the TCG, especially so during this period of more promotion of the game and parity between regions than ever.
As someone who has a weird obsession with trying to locate the delta species locations basis in the real world, (I did most of that kind of speculation on bulbapedia), I am over the moon at this fantastic video. Thanks, DeltaSeeker.
i literally just checked your channel yesterday my spidey senses must be tingling
I'm so blessed to have been a kid just in time for all the Holon and Delta goodness, there's never been anything like it since. I tried chalking it up to nostalgia but it's genuinely incredible.
the very first deck i bought was the crystal guardians deck. it had an electric charmander, and i was so confused. I thought , "Isn't charmander a fire pokemon? Did I just buy fake cards???"
Hey im not sure if you're aware of this, but during the Game Freak Teraleak, the original 3d file containing Holon City was found! I don't know how or where it was found, I just remember people posting images of it on a Discord server I'm in, but maybe it's got some new info regarding the Holon Region and the Delta Species? Or maybe not, who knows.
Also worth mentioning with Plasma Blast, that there is Elite Four Pokemon that show up in their rooms (Houndoom, Reuniclus, Golurk, Machamp) and Iris Pokemon as well as some Elite Four Pokemon are featured fighting back against Team Plasma and most have an orange glow (Aggron, Lapras, Musharna, Drifblim, Archeops, Sigilyph, Druddigon, and Haxorus)
No idea what the orange glow implies other than that its opposite of Blue
I also think its a bit unfair to write off Sun & Moon as having no lore. Ultra Prism is a set based around the Sinnoh Region, and many cards feature Ultra Wormholes despite being in Sinnoh, implying some sort of crisis (Murkrow UPR, Manaphy UPR, Bastiodon UPR, Luxray UPR. Maybe something to correct in the next video
Your videos never disappoint. Always top quality research and production. Keep it up!
Well well look who's back
Dude this series is amazing! The lore is spot on and you go into so much depth!
"The Town on no Map"
B-but it's on a map...
RETURN OF THE KING
Awesome video! So great to see this so well researched :D I'm really glad you found the internet archive lore article from Holon Research Tower! It makes me want to comb through my digital & physical collection trying to find more info!
This is why we love Pokémon. The Legends Arceus sets really stand out in the modern era. Paradigm Trigger being some lost island is really cool. Hope to see Pokemon invest more into these little details. Great video and very informative!
been looking forward to this
incredible work as always
This video made me realize the pokemon series has roughly 5 ideas that they keep rotating over and over
good to see you back!
49:46 what about the radiant/pokekyun collection? :( the unique blurbs replacing the dex entries were my favorite part aside from the unique holofoil prints
this deserves way more attention, this is great. i knew *none* of this despite being into pokemon lore for over a decade
Heya! Fantastic video.
I was super into a lot of third generation pokemon stuff, and was a large collector of 3rd gen TCG product, and helped document a lot of different things (scans, renders, and translations) for product that was never documented well from 2016-2021. A lot of this included 3rd gen era pokemon center product from NYC and Japan that never had official scans or translations released on the internet, and knowledge of which had to be found by stumbling into a lot of the product on Japanese auctions.
Thank you for doing your due diligence and covering a lot of these topics extensively, as the amount of speculation and misinformation has destroyed a lot of history and stories about these cards and sets. The integration and re-packaging of half decks, quarter decks, movie sets, etc, and shaping how Eng and JP sets differed is something a lot of people just let go as "how it is". But you nailed it, every little bit, and I even learned a few things myself!
Hoping to see more content from you in the future!
man this video is amazing! so well put together and interesting!!
always happy to learn something new about pokemon
thx!
This channel is really high quality. Dont give up on it! You got it!
Really appreciate you making this video. I would have never known being such an avid collector. I REALLY wish they would've made a game for this region.
The Sandstorm EX cards are from the cancelled wizards of the coast set "Jamboree". When the WOTC lost the rights to distribute cards in america, a lot of the cards from the set were taken and used for Sandstorm EX.This explains why these cards were exclusive to the usa right away, as well as many cards from the set have wording more akin to magic the gathering cards.
This is not true lol
@@DeltaSeeker ua-cam.com/video/HC1e0e-0a2U/v-deo.htmlsi=c57WnIS1gqegko4N
@@DeltaSeeker According to the interview with a designer at wotc it is.
@@DeltaSeeker Check out the video by Matoba Design about the Jamboree set.
Fantastic video subject as always, one of my favorite yt channel ❤
I loved Holon as a kid. I think the lack of clarity makes it more fun. Legend Maker being inserted...did not help with that, but even just the facts as they are is fun.
One thing I always noted - Castform, along with the Voltorb and Magnemite lines, are stated or implied to be artificial which definitley opens up some possibilites. My thought is that perhaps the Holon's variants of them are an attempt of imbuing the type-changing energy of Delta species in a more direct way. The unevolved pokemon can share this energy, but only weakly (1 colorless energy), while the fully evolved ones pull energy away from the ones they're helping, but can provide whatever they need (Double Rainbow, but have to return an energy first). Interesting...
...Of course, the rainbows could be a way of allowing more metal costs to be printed, especially in the first set, since we were limited to 4 metal (special) at the time, and giving something to Metal and not Dark could be unusual for a 4-set series. Who knows.
EDIT: I SHOULD'VE WAITED FOR THE DUMP AReact Energy could be related, maybe though. I always thought that mechanic was wierd...Maybe the unevolved Holon's Pokemon were more related to that? =Y
Incredible video - thank you for all the work you put into it!!
5:02 Hey now, the energy cards themselves may not contain any real deep lore, but their existence as an enduring relic of early Pokemon and its iconography is very interesting. It's the first time the types were represented by icons, and despite not being sourced from the video games, the franchise had enough coordination in its early days that the energy symbols even appeared in the Japanese opening for the anime. But they also weren't a 'complete' set as the TCG only covered a fraction of the video games' types, and then the video games (much later) went on to use their own similar, yet distinct (and also inconsistent) iconography for the types. I do wonder how that happened.
My inner (also outer) lore hound cries at the lack of unique lore in the last three generations of the TCG.
12:30 Charizard looking swole.
Really good video, thanks for summarizing that all. It was amazing to see.
Especially the Holon and the Parallel World stuff from X and Y.
I base a lot of my characters around Holon so it felt special to see it explained this way.
Always fun to see an upload of you in my sub box
Amazing video! Worth the wait! Love how in depth you went on the Holon stuff - and hope you don't feel to disheartened that some of your speculation was voided by the page you found - this video will be a great resource going forwards
Looking forward to the next part
I loved this deep dive so much! All the speculation around Holon is super interesting. I love how the dual-metal type occurrences dwindle until they ultimately
disappeared altogether in Dragon Frontiers. I remember hearing from a PTCGradio video that ex Legend Maker was released after Delta species in English due to translation issues. That does kinda jumble up the lore on the English side of things.
This was amazing please more! I come back weekly to check for new posts. More Deep Dive Lore would be awesome with a focus on specific sets.⭐️✨
I'm soooo so happy you covered the holon lore. Those sets have some of my favorite artworks, and I've always picked up miscellaneous cards at shops when I see them. It seemed like every time I found a new card I was getting a piece to a puzzle, but never got the full picture
This is documentary quality. Amazing content.
i really hope that one of the inevitable upcoming Legends games dips into the TCG lore. i’d love a Legends: Mew or Legends: Deoxys that expands upon the Holon region
As a Pokémon fan who doesn't care at all about the TCG, you more than earned my sub. This is a really interesting deep dive into a fascinating aspect of the franchise and its history I never knew about.
Great video! I never knew Pokémon cards has their own lore! It was enthralling listening to you talking about it 💜
Incredible video. Really well done.
Wow, this video was honestly incredible (im not done with it) I've been working for a few weeks to create a similar type of video (ex Era only) and the amount of content you've provided is significantly more than mine and more in depth. (though to be fair, im still on the first 11 sets of the ex era in terms of production) The amount of time it's taken for me to put information together on the ex era is crazy so i cant imagine how long it must have taken you and this editing is incredible! Thank you for the effort put into this
This is the best video everr! Also i feel like most of the Lore for current/modern cards is expressed through the alt arts now! Like silver tempest with the ruins you can see lugia in the regidrago alt art and the same ruins are shown in the unown alt art! Maybe something you can explore in a future video!
This was an absolutely fantastic video with great background and lore to the whole pokemong tcg. Thank you!
Awesome video! I was really into the -EX era and Delta Species were some of my favorite cards.
I think a good thing to have mentioned at the end is the fact we aren't getting our next pokemon game until next year, leaving a pretty big potential gap for the tcg to do something unique and unrelated to the video games/other current sources.
LOVE your videos man - your bane makes so much more sense