The History of Pokémon TCG in Japan and Korea

The Pokémon Trading Card Game started in Japan in October 1996 and has quietly built the deepest, oddest and most beautiful card archive in the hobby. If you collect Japanese or Korean cards — or want to understand why some of our sealed products come in two flavours — this guide walks the eras we stock, from the recent MEGA era back to the Original expansion. Each era has its own article; this page is the index.

Modern eras

• MEGA Evolution era (2025–) — Mega-form Pokémon return with 6-card standard packs.
• Scarlet & Violet era (2023–2025) — 26 main sets, the ex mechanic, Terastal evolutions and Pokémon Card 151.
• Sword & Shield era (2019–2022) — V / VMAX / VSTAR; the alt-art revolution and Eevee Heroes.
• Sun & Moon era (2016–2019) — the GX mechanic, Tag Team and GX Ultra Shiny.
• XY era (2013–2016) — Mega Evolution's first appearance, BREAK Evolution and the 20th Anniversary CP6.

Classic and vintage eras

• Black & White era (2010–2013) — Full Art Pokémon arrive; the Plasma arc.
• LEGEND / Diamond & Pearl / Platinum eras (2006–2010) — Sinnoh, SP Pokémon and the two-halves LEGEND cards.
• ADV / PCG eras (2003–2006) — the Hoenn reboot, Pokémon-ex and Delta Species.
• e-Card / VS / Web eras (2001–2002) — the e-Reader experiment, the rival-themed VS line and the Web promos.
• Neo era (1999–2001) — Johto, Dark & Light Pokémon, Baby Pokémon and the first Shining chase cards.
• Original era (1996–1999) — where it all started: Expansion Pack / Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Rocket Gang and the Gym arc.

How our catalog works

You can jump straight to a set from our Pokémon TCG collection. Each JP/KR set page gathers Booster Box and Booster Pack together under the same handle (pokemon-jp-<code>), so you can grab a sealed box or a single pack without hunting. Korean releases (via Pokémon Korea / pokemonstore.co.kr) sit alongside the Japanese variants on the same product page.