The launch of the Marine and Sky Blue expansion for Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket was surrounded by criticism. Two of its most notable cards, Ho-Oh and Lugia, were singled out for using images previously created by another artist.
The case led to accusations of plagiarism and criticism toward illustrator Sie Nanahara, whose name appeared on the cards, although she was not responsible for the incident.
Official response and withdrawal of the designs
The Pokémon Company immediately withdrew the illustrations and asked that Nanahara not be blamed. The company clarified that she had no involvement in the selection of the disputed images.
The affected cards temporarily displayed the phrase "new image coming soon" instead of the original illustration, while an official replacement was being prepared.
