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The rarest Pokémon card ever?
This Card of the Week used to be an internet myth
Howdy hey Cooltrainers! Your main PokéManiac Ace is back in action with another week of news fresher than a Slowpoke Tail sold outside the well.
Just a quick note that we won’t have an issue next week for American Turkey Day. I’ll miss you too.
Thanks to all the well wishes I’m feeling better. I’ve abandoned the plush life of the Pokémon Center for deep dark, Golbat-punching, moss-eating, Rhyhorn-fleeing life of Victory Road.
It’s good to be back home. Let’s get into the news.
Here’s this week’s rundown (estimated read time, X minutes):
The latest Pokémon show gets a trailer & release date
Eevee outbreaks and 7-star raids
Pokémon GO drops the banhammer & other
technical changes
Don’t miss the wild tale of the Card of the Week!

Countdown to Pokémon Concierge
What has a trailer and a December 28 release date?
If you guessed the Netflix-exclusive, stop-motion Pokémon show, Pokémon Concierge, you’d be right!
Set at a resort for Pokémon on a southern island, this is the story of a new concierge named Haru, who gradually discovers herself as she and her fellow staff members scramble to attend to the various Pokémon guests.
Service workers at a Pokémon Resort is the spinoff we never knew we needed in the Pokémon world. Looks like a nice little slice of life story.

Eevee be breaking out
Just like a 90’s boy band or microwaved Muk, Eevee is everywhere this weekend. You can find the adorable little fox in both mass outbreaks & 7-star Tera Raids across Paldea and Kitakami from Thursday, November 16, at 4 p.m. PST to Monday, November 20, at 3:59 p.m. PST.
Wild Eevee featured in this event are more likely to have special marks depending on their location. Eevee encountered in these special mass outbreaks throughout Paldea are more likely to have the Jittery Mark, Intense Mark, Intellectual Mark, or Flustered Mark. Eevee encountered in these special mass outbreaks throughout Kitakami are more likely to have the Rowdy Mark, Excited Mark, Calmness Mark, or Unsure Mark.
On the Tera Raid side of things, Eevee will be Normal Tera Type and have the Mightiest Mark. Unfortunately, since it is a 7-star Raid, you’ll only be able to catch one per save file. Sounds like a good time to bust out your time-tested Iron Hands or Annihilape again.
Fun fact: November 21 is Eevee Day in Japan. Why November 21, you ask? In Japanese, a certain pronunciation of 11 & 21 sounds a lot like “Eevee” according to Pokémon Masters EX. #themoreyouknow.
Other apps like Pokémon Sleep and Pokémon Masters EX have Eevee-focused events in the coming days.

Pokémon GO Housekeeping
Don’t forget, the Fashion Week Event is live now through November 19, at 8 p.m. local time. Shinx and Diglett in little top hats has to be the most gentrified thing I’ve ever seen.
If you use your Pokémon Trainer Club to login to GO, make sure your password is handy today (November 16).
Any Trainer currently logged in to Pokémon GO using Pokémon Trainer Club credentials may be logged out and will need to validate to regain access to Pokémon GO.
Once this change has been completed, Trainers who have a Pokémon Trainer Club account will be able to receive a reward for validating your account. What this item bonus is hasn’t been released yet. After this change has been completed, any Trainers who do not currently have a Pokémon Trainer Club account linked to Pokémon GO will be eligible to receive a reward for linking one.

Surf’s up on the ban wave
As reported by Pokémon GO Hub, many innocent trainers were recently met with the above message in spite of not spoofing or doing anything to break ToS. While this is just a temporary ban it’s still concerning. Turns out, there’s an answer:
Niantic confirmed that the recent Fast Catch Trick (bug) is causing the unintentional bans. This issue should be fixed today but no word if Niantic will remove the trick or just stop accounts from receiving temporary bans for utilizing it.
For those who haven’t hard, the Fast Catch Trick has existed since 2018 and is a simple way to skip the shaking animation when you use a Poké Ball.
Card of the Week

Wow, it’s just a vintage Raichu, you say. Not so fast, Youngster Joey. This here card is one of two recently graded by CGC. It comes straight outta myth and legend. If you look closely at the bottom right corner of the graphic, a stamp that says “PRERELEASE” can be seen
But let’s back up a sec.
The Base Set Prerelease Raichu shown above was long thought to be nothing more than an internet fable. Back in days of yore when Wizards of the Coast (WotC) printed Pokémon cards, Clefable and Raichu were added to the top left corner of uncut sheets of Base Set holo cards, likely as test print runs. You can see them in the picture below.

Image credit: pokemuseum.weebly.com
Clefable was created with the “Prerelease” stamp as an award for players of the Jungle Prerelease Tournaments held in July 1999.
But they were all deceived, for another Prerelease Card was made.
In a tale rivaling the forging of the Rings of Power (okay, probably human error), 11 sheets also ended up with Raichu being stamped by mistake with the Prerelease mark as well. These 11 cards were likely distributed to random WotC employees as keepsakes.
One such employee, Mike Boozer, was the Customer Service Manager at WotC. He kept a binder of rare or misprint cards to show off at events, including Prerelease Raichu.
Years passed. The 11 changed hands. Many were lost. Maybe the Nazgul got them, I dunno.
Then, on November 6, 2018, a former WotC employee named Jennifer brought her old binder of cards to her new job at the Pokémon Company International. And there is was, a second Prerelease Raichu, given to her by a coworker named Freddi.
Eventually, both Jennifer and Mike’s cards were sold to David Persin, a collector boasting the most-complete English Pokémon collection in the word. It was he who submitted them to CGC, who broke the news on their website earlier this month.
Random encounters around the internet
It’s a Poké Parade: Keep an eye out for Pikachu and Eevee on a “Pokéball-inspired sled” if you tune in to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Pika-Pricey: Tiffany & Co teamed up with Pikachu and artist Daniel Arsham to produce a jewelry line ranging from $1,290 to $29,000. I just want the Poké Ball it comes in. Don’t wait if you want the new drip: the collection is only available online for 24 hours beginning November 29 at 9 a.m. Eastern.
Obscure Pokémon Fact of the Day (from u/Mx_Toniy_4869)

Until next time,
Cooltrainer “why don’t we have a turkey Pokémon?” Ace