After A Psychic Drops A Lawsuit, Kadabra Is Unbanned In Pokemon After 18 Years
For the first time in over twenty years, the Pokémon Company will print a new Kadabra card. Because a long-time lawsuit is over at last.
Kadabra is an infamous Pokémon in the Pokémon trading card game. The Generation 1 Psychic-type has been banned from the card game for almost twenty years. And not because of any inherently unbalanced abilities. But Kadabra has been tangled up in legal battles off and on. But now, after a long ban, the card will be back in an upcoming set due out in June.
Kadabra Reappears, As If By Magic
As PokéBeach reported late last week, the upcoming Pokemon Card 151 set will feature all 151 of the original pokemon. Specificially, Kadabra, who as PokéBeach revealed, had been embroiled in a legal dispute. Per PokéBeach:
Uri Geller alleged Nintendo used his likeness to create the character without permission. He sued Nintendo in a California court in November 2000, demanding £60 million in damages and for Pokemon to discontinue using the character. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2003, but Geller continued to file lawsuits in other regions.
The entire Alakazam line references famous magicians. Abra’s Japanese name is “Casey,” a reference to the clairvoyant Edgar Cayce. Kadabra’s Japanese name is “Yungerer,” a corruption of “Uri Geller.” Alakazam’s Japanese name is “Foodin,” a reference to Howard Houdini. Other Pokemon also reference real people, like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
And in 2000, Geller stated in an interview with the BBC that he was angry about the trading card game’s depiction:
I wouldn’t have given permission for an aggressive, and in one case evil character to be based on me.
This was referring to the Dark Kadabra card from Team Rocket, whose Japanese name is Evil Yungerer. However Geller recently approached the community, revealing that he had relinquished control of Kadabra:
“Hi my dear friends. I am pleased Pokemon fans are excited to see Kadabra return to the card game. Look, I want to thank the Pokemon fans who reached out to me over the last [few] years. Including the ones from PokeBeach, who kept contacting me nonstop. So basically, it was you and my granddaughters that got me to change my mind. Now we can all see Kadabra reunited with the original Pokemon in the card game this summer. I love you all. And I admit, totally open and honest. I was a fool. It was a devastating mistake for me to sue Pokemon. [Kadabra] was basically a tribute to Uri Geller. But it’s back now. Forgive me. I love you all. Much love and energy.”
Now the pyschic-type will be back in play!
And finally, in the Card Game, it’s a little easier to be like Ash Ketchum and catch ’em all!
