Pokemon's infamous 'hole' card arrives in TCG Pocket

With the way most people are talking about Pulsing Aura, the latest booster pack for Pokémon TCG Pocket, you might get the impression that new cards like Lucario or changes to missions and unlocks are the big ticket items. Don’t be fooled. The real highlight of the April 27 update is Bonsly, the baby rock-type that looks like a tree.

Bonsly, a creature introduced in the 4th generation of Pokémon games, has a bit of a reputation among fans of the physical trading card game. For whatever reason, the trading card game failed to introduce a new Bonsly card for 16 years straight. The streak was notable for its duration, and because of how the last Bonsly card that The Pokémon Company introduced looked.

No matter the medium, Bonsly’s design features a cavity at the bottom that represents the drainage holes of real-world bonsai trees. Illustrator Midori Harada positioned Bonsly #71, which depicts the tree-like baby toppled over and crying, so that the cave is the centerpiece of the card. It is hard to look at Bonsly #71 without lingering on that specific feature. Fans dubbed it ‘Hole Bonsly’.

Image: Creatures Inc., DeNA/The Pokémon Company

Over time, Bonsly #71 became somewhat of a collector’s item for trading card fans with a sense of humor. The wider Bonsly fandom was eventually appeased with a new card in 2023 that broke the long-standing hole curse as well. But three years later, the world is once again being saddled with Hole Bonsly in Pokémon TCG Pocket.

This version of hole Bonsly is different from its cardboard counterpart, as it only has a single move called Teary Attack. Teary Attack deals 10 damage while also reducing damage dealt by your opponent’s defending Pokémon by 30. As our friends at GameRant note, this is a great move to integrate into fighting-type decks or into decks looking to set up a stall.

At least this time, TCG Pocket also offers a rare illustration version of Bonsly that’s genuinely quite beautiful. But why do I feel like most people are going to run with the troll version of Bonsly?