Pokemon TCGbrought some exciting news into 2023, announcing the return of Kadabra — the middle-stage evolution of the Abra line — to its beloved franchise. This marks the first time the psychic-type, spoon-wielding Pokemon graces a one of the collectible cards since 2002, after ongoing legal issuesprevented Kadabra from being included in any Pokemon media, which includedPokemon TCGand the anime adaptation.
In 2000, illusionist Uri Geller sued The Pokemon Company over the Kadabra character, claiming the likeness of the Pokemon was eerily similar to himself, including the Japanese name “Yungeraa” sounding closely to his own name. As a result, Kadabra was removed from any futurePokemon TCGseries, and did not appear in thePokemonanime until Geller’s relenting in 2020, allowing for the Pokemon to make its return.
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As relieving as it was to see Kadabra returning to the television series, its appearance was nowhere to be seen in anyPokemon TCGseries, but that appears to be changing as well. In 2020, when thenews broke of Uri Geller pulling back from the Kadabra lawsuit, sending a letter to the chairman of Nintendo, allowing for the use of Kadabra and reversing the ban implemented 19 years ago. “Due to the tremendous volume of emails I am still getting begging me to allow Nintendo to bring back Kadabra,” wrote Geller. “I sent a letter to the chairman of Nintendo giving them permission to relaunch the Uri Geller Kadabra/Yungeraa worldwide.” As a result, Kadabra will return to thePokemonTCG in 2023, its first appearance since 2002’s Skyridge series, along with both Abra and Alakazam.
In 2007, the Abra line was featured in the Mysterious Treasures series but did not include Kadabra in the mix. To circumvent the impossibility of Abra evolving directly to Alakazam and leapfrogging the Kadabra stage, the Pokemon TCG gave the Abra card a special move called “Ultra Evolution” which allowed players to evolve their Abra to the final-stage evolution by simply attaching a Psychic-type energy card along with any other type of energy card. Another method was to utilize the mechanic introduced tothe ultra-powerful Pokemon-Ex cards, which declared units like Alakazam-Ex as a base Pokemon, negating any need for its pre-evolution forms.
While the case between Geller and The Pokemon Company was dismissed in 2003, the famous illusionist continued to pursue legal action in other regions, furious with his likeness being tied to an evil character. “I’m very angry about this. I wouldn’t have given permission for an aggressive, and in one case evil character to be based on me.” Now thatPokemon Scarlet and Violethas hit the Nintendo Switch andbecame the best-selling game of thePokemonfranchise in Japan, it may be a good time to welcome Kadabra back to the video game world. Geller could very well include the Abra line on his own team and discover how much good Kadabra can do in the Paldea region.
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