We’re still a few days out from the release of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet – Journey Together, but it seems some stores are putting stock on shelves early. On social media, images of booster bundles and a booster box from the new Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion can be seen on the shelves at a GameStop location in Las Vegas. At this time, it’s unclear if the cards are actually available for sale, or if they were accidentally stocked early. It’s possible that the cards can’t ring up at the register until the street date, but there’s no way of saying for certain.
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The big hook of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet – Journey Together is that it brings back Trainer’s Pokemon, a concept that originated in the old Gym Heroes and Gym Challenge sets from the TCG’s early days. As can be seen on the box art, this set focuses on popular Pokemon Trainers from the video games, including N, Iono, Hop, and Lillie, partnered with the Pokemon they are frequently associated with. As such, the set includes cards like N’s Zoroark ex and Iono’s Bellibolt ex. As was the case with the older sets, these Trainer’s Pokemon cards include small images of the Trainer on them, in addition to the Pokemon itself. Images of the boxes at GameStop can be found in the Bluesky post embedded below.
The idea of stores breaking street date is legitimate cause for concern for Pokemon TCG collectors. New Pokemon cards have been notoriously difficult to come by in 2025, and it remains to be seen what will happen with Journey Together. Recent sets like Prismatic Evolutions and 151 continue to command huge money on the secondary market, but it should be noted that those were both considered “special expansions,” which means that individual packs were not sold in stores; instead, collectors can only get packs by purchasing them in sets with other items, like card tins.
Thankfully, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet – Journey Together will have individually sold booster packs. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the cards will be easier to locate, but single booster packs don’t have the same resale value as a boxed item with multiple packs and other extras. If that leads to fewer parking lot fights over Pokemon cards, that’s a good thing!
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Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: Journey Together officially releases on March 28th, so we don’t have to wait much longer to see how this will all play out. The Pokemon Company is well-aware of the issues fans have had with getting TCG cards, and there are efforts being made to stop resellers, even if they don’t go far enough. Hopefully all of this means that there will be enough stock to meet demand. At the end of the day, it doesn’t help anyone when these cards can’t get in the hands of fans!
Are you looking forward to Pokemon Scarlet & Violet – Journey Together? Do you think the cards will be easier to come by than other recent sets? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
