“I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause…”
So, let’s talk about the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Yes, I’m talking about the actual physical cards and not the mobile game!
I’ve recently, alongside my partner, fallen back down the rabbit hole of collecting Pokémon cards. Having both previously collected quite a few years ago, a handful of YouTube videos reignited our interest, and so we decided to dive in and check out how to do so in 2025.
Gone are the days of the Base Set, Jungle, Fossil and Rocket Cards. The days when a Butterfree card from the Jungle set was the most sought after on the playground. The days when finding a shiny Charizard was a must. Even trading between friends and hitting local pop up card shops.
Well, I guess you could still say this is somewhat true, however, the hobby has only grown significantly across the world since these days. Now there’s a vast array of different sets, card styles, play styles, events and more to discover.
A Collection of Nostalgia
To quickly recap, I started collecting cards back in the day of the original Base Set, Jungle, Fossil and Rocket cards. My first card in fact was a Topps Caterpie card that a school friend gave me. While I don’t have that original Caterpie card any more (it’s assumed lost after a house move) I do, at the time of writing this post, have a replacement on the way to reunite with my childhood collection.
Speaking of childhood collection, I think I have a good chunk, if not pretty much, all the cards I had from growing up. Original custom-made binder included! This included an Ancient Mew card, Pokémon The First Movie promotional cards, A Misty’s Seadra pre-release card and more. That’s before I get to the timeframe of 2010-2018 where I acquired the odd set’s here and there, but still to this date a number of them are unopened. Yes, I have even looked into how much they are worth now, and some are worth a fair bit.
However, since the twentieth anniversary where I would say was the last time I properly collected Pokémon Trading Cards, I haven’t really done so since. Until now.
Why Start Re-Collecting in 2025?
Well, to be honest, my partner and I had recently started watching videos on Pokémon Trading Cards over on YouTube and naturally got curious.
Both of us have been big fans of Pokémon over the years, be it because of the games, collecting trading cards, the television show and movies and more. It’s actually been nice falling back into something that we loved when we were younger, as well as being a hobby we can do and talk about together.
Getting Started, Again
So, we decided to start again.
While we had access to my old collection, which is in dire need of a proper sort out, we wanted to start fresh. Do we know fully what we are doing, not really, but we are learning about everything as we go!
To start with, we scoped out retailers in our area, both big name chains like Smyths Toys and Argos as well as local independent retailers. To my surprise, we actually had a few good independent card sellers locally with great selections of new and old stock, too!
New Card Releases
Now, as my partner and I are learning about different sets and card types, we noticed that Pokémon White Flare and Black Bolt cards we due to release. In fact, they released/restocked on 22nd August 2025 and yes, we decided to try our luck at getting one of each of the booster bundles (a set containing six booster packs for either White Flare or Black Bolt) on launch day.
Challenge accepted and challenge won!
To our surprise, we managed to get one of each from our local Smyths Toys with ease. We arrived just before 10am on the Friday, and while it had been busy initially from opening, the store had plenty of stock on hand and was actually relatively quiet.
Additionally, I can’t forget that the Pokémon Mega Evolutions sets are also on the horizon too!
Building The Collection
As well as acquiring the two booster bundles, we’ve also added a variety of the Scarlet and Violet cards from various collections. We wanted to build up a bit of bulk collection to get us started, and our local independent sellers helped us do this perfectly.
They had a variety of mystery packs of cards, ranging between five and twenty cards, for prices starting at £1.50 up to £3.99. You would get a reverse-holo and some other standard cards in some or a holo card and a mixture of other holo, reverse-holo and standard cards in others. Another of the local sellers had a variety of single cards on offer that allowed us to pick the cards we wanted specifically, which was a good help too!
From our local Argos, we managed to also pick up an Elite Trainer Box (ETB) each, these being the Paradox Rift ETB and a Temporal Forces ETB. We both did pretty well with getting some good cards including some of the harder to find cards, however no chase cards this time around. While we both liked the idea of ETB’s at the moment, they’ll be something we pick up on occasion and will likely stick to smaller pick-ups like booster boxes/booster collections.
What Direction is your Collection Going in?
Truthfully, as we are both still starting out, we haven’t committed to anything too specific. So no Master Sets are on the cards at the moment, at least not in the near future. We do need to look at getting a proper binder to store our cards going forward but have been using sleeves and top loaders where we’ve felt it is needed.
However, we have taken to a couple of different Pokémon and trying to obtain each or as many cards as possible for said Pokémon as a bit of fun. We both agreed it would be a fun way of completing some little collections before settling on something bigger for the meantime. That’s not to mention picking up the odd full art/illustration cards here and there too!
Either way, we’re still just getting started, learning the different cards, learning how to value them and seeing what other hidden gems we discover or re-discover from my childhood collection.
Card Shows and Exhibitions
This is certainly something we’ve begun looking in to. We’ve noticed a handful of relatively local ones that happen between now and the end of the year that we would be able to travel too easily. I felt a smaller, more local one would be a nice introduction to see what they are like and what’s about would be a good move rather than jumping in and going to a massive Card Show first.
We are also considering going to the recently announced Card Expo at the London ExCel Centre next year, which hopefully will be doable for us. I guess we will have to wait and see!
Budgeting for a New Hobby
As we have seen, and very quickly learnt as a hobby, this can quickly add up. We want to keep this as budget friendly as we can while still having fun. While initially we have spent more than we would usually to get us started, going forward we have decided to set ourselves a budget that is realistic and won’t impede any other financial commitments that we have.
Of course, if there is an event we are going to, or a purchase that may exceed our budget, it’s something we would save up for instead.
Now there is also the world of trading and grading cards as well, but that’s a future thing that we are going to learn more about.
Journey Together into a New Adventure
I’m very excited to see where this new hobby takes my partner and I. I love that it’s something we can both do, talk about and be excited about.
While we still have a lot to learn, I feel we’ve made a good start. We both have ideas of Master Sets we’d love to collect one day, but, are both happy with our current plans and collections.
If you have any tips, tricks or advice, please feel free to comment on this post. Also, if you are new or a seasoned collector, let me know what some of your favourite sets are! I’m currently liking the Scarlet and Violet Paldean Fates set!
I’ll check in again soon with more updates on my Pokémon Trading Card Game adventures!
leekscosycorner 