The Pokémon Company defends TCG Pocket illustrator in artwork fiasco

• Last week, card artwork of Ho-Oh in the latest set was removed, appearing to have been based on fan art.
• Fans have been criticising illustrator Sie Nanahara, but the card production team of The Pokémon Company and Creatures Inc. has taken full accountability.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket social media account has released a statement regarding two illustrations removed from the game and their associated artist.

The statement, released via the game’s Japanese X (formerly Twitter) account, called out fans’ criticisms against illustrator Sie Nanahara, whose Ho-Oh artwork in the latest card set expansion appears to have been based on fan art.

The post reaffirmed that Nanahara was in no way responsible for this.

"The defect in the illustrations was caused by the card production team of The Pokémon Company and Creatures Inc. providing the illustrator with incorrect information," the statement read, translated via Google Lens.

"Normally, most illustrations are created with a strong emphasis on the illustrator’s creativity and individuality, but for some illustrations, we may ask the illustrator to simply copy the concept sketches created by the card production team.

"In this case, the request was for the latter, and the card production team provided the illustrator with an incorrect concept sketch. So, the illustrator faithfully produced the illustrations in accordance with the request."

Pokémon problem

This further clarification has followed an admission that "incorrect materials" were supplied to the artist last week, when two Immersive Cards had their artwork replaced with the text: "New art coming soon".

The art was removed shortly before the expansion, Wisdom of Sea and Sky, went live in-game. The set is focused around Pokémon Gold and Silver mascots Ho-Oh and Lugia.

While it appears that only Ho-Oh’s card design was based on fan art, the same Ho-Oh also appeared in Lugia’s Immersive Card, hence both being removed.

"We would like to once again offer our deepest apologies for the inconvenience caused to the fans who support Pokémon on a daily basis, and to the illustrators who support the production of Pokémon cards," the statement continued.

The Pokémon Company also confirmed last week that the team is actively working on new artwork and is conducting a broader investigation to ensure no similar issues exist elsewhere in-game.