Kadabra is coming back to Pokémon TCG in 2023

It’s been 20 years since Kadabra, the Psychic Pokémon, was banned from Pokémon TCG. Now, in 2023, Kadabra is ready to make a magical reappearance. This news broke earlier in the week, and has longtime players, like us, thinking back to 2002, when Kadabra disappeared from the game.

In case you weren’t around, here’s how it went down. After catching a random glimpse of Kadabra during a tour in Japan, Uri Geller, a magician/illusionist based in the UK, determined that he was the inspiration for the Pokémon. For Geller, at the time, the similarities couldn’t be dismissed. In addition to his tricks, Geller also claimed that Kadabra shared his likeness as well. I’ve never been too sure about that one, so I’ll just let you make your own determination.

So, what happened after Uri Geller made his discovery? He took the matter to court. Geller filed a $60,000,000 lawsuit that sought to claim damages. Even though the suit did not hold up in the United States, Geller did proceed to take his case to other key parts of the world that distributed Pokémon cards. 

During this time, Nintendo did not make any statements regarding the matter. Instead, they chose to remedy the issue by slowly easing Kadabra aside until it disappeared from the game altogether.  Eventually, just like a true magician, Kadabra disappeared before our eyes and Geller has kept Pokémon from trying to bring Kadabra back to the game ever since…until now.

Today, Geller has had a sudden change of heart that will lead to Kadabra’s greatest trick: reemergence after a 20-year disappearance. Actually, back in 2020, Geller gave Nintendo permission to begin using Kadabra on cards once again, which has brought us to this more recent story. 

Pokémon has announced that Kadabra is coming back to the game, specifically in the 151 set that’s scheduled to be released this Summer. They call it the 151 set because it will feature the original 151 Pokémon, so it’s quite appropriate to include Kadabra in the set as well.

So, what got Geller to change his mind? Well, let’s just say it took some persistent persuasion. It turns out that fans of the game and PokeBeach have been contacting Geller consistently over the years in an effort to convince him to let Kadabra come back. According to Geller, both PokeBeach and his own granddaughters were key to making his decision all these years later. 

We’ll leave you with this quote:

“I was a fool. It was a devastating mistake for me to sue Pokémon. Kadabra was basically a tribute to Uri Geller. But it’s back now. Forgive me. I love you all. Much love and energy”.

Welcome back, Kadabra. It’s good to see you again!

Best,

Team Inked