Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG, Squirtle, Team Up

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Team Up Part 6: Squirtle Line

Our retrospect on the history of the Pokémon TCG takes us to a late Sun & Moon-era set, Team Up, and its Water-type cards like Squirtle.

Four years ago, Pokémon TCG released the ninth main series set of the Sun & Moon era. The expansion, Sun & Moon – Team Up, came out on September 9th, 2022. Sun & Moon – Team Up added quite a lot to the hobby, including a special card type that would later become the most sought-after style of chase card in the Sword & Shield era. I'm talking, of course, about Alternate Arts. Sun & Moon – Team Up also introduced TAG TEAM Pokémon-GX, which featured two Pokémon on a single card. These species shared at least one of their typings. TAG TEAM Pokémon-GX were available as standard TEAM TEAM GX cards, Full Arts, Alternate Arts, and Rainbow Rares. Sun & Moon – Team Up was also the last set to include Prism Stars. This English-language expansion was based on the Japanese set Tag Bolt and took inspiration from the Kanto-themed games Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! Let's look back on this influential set and appreciate the artwork that would lay the groundwork for the current Alternate Art-themed era of Sword & Shield and beyond. Today, we begin with the Water-types of Sun & Moon – Team Up.

Like the Charmander line, the Squirtle line gets two cards of the first form in Sun & Moon – Team Up. Artist sui kicks off the line with a dreamy Squirtle card using soft colors, showing the Water-type Starter of Kanto dozing off against a tree. HYOGONOSUKE goes for an entirely different vibe with a vibrant Squirtle using primary colors to showcase this Pokémon's excitement. Wartortle comes courtesy of Misa Tsutsu0, who delivers a more action-packed card with Wartortle jumping and causing a spiral of water as it moves. Finally, the line culminates in Blastoise drawn by Hitoshi Ariga, who uses a style reminiscent of modern American comics to strong effect.

Stay tuned for the journey through this teamwork-themed set as we continue to spotlight the cards and artwork of Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon – Team Up. Next time, the spotlight continues with the main section of this set.

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