The UK finally has its own Pokemon Center, and The Pokemon Company is doing something pretty special to mark the occasion. Don't switch off or click away from this if you're not based in the UK either. The limited edition Pokemon card printed to celebrate the center's full launch will also be available to Pokemon fans in the US and Canada.
As revealed through the Pokemon website (via Nintendo Life) Pokemon fans will be able to get their hands on a Special Delivery Charizard card to celebrate the addition of a UK-based Pokemon Center. The Charizard has 160 HP and knows the moves Special Delivery and Flamethrower. The Pokemon has a couple of mailbags strapped to its sides, and a mailperson Pikachu riding on its back.
As for how you can get your hands on one of these very special Pokemon cards, it's pretty simple. You'll need to head to the Pokemon website link above and enter your details. That will grant you a code that can then be used the next time you make a purchase from the Pokemon Center, presumably either online or in-person. The only caveat other than only being available to those living in the UK, US, and Canada is you will have to spend at least £20, or $20 in the US and Canada, to be eligible for the card.
The UK got its first Pokemon Center at the end of 2021. However, its opening was a “beta phase” which was described in much the same way as a game's beta test would be. This Special Delivery Charizard giveaway seems to signal that beta phase is now over. If you're in the UK and you want to pay the store a visit yourself, you'll need to head to Shepherd's Bush, London, and you might have a wait on your hands to get in.
As for the Pokemon TCG, Special Delivery Charizard may well be about to become the latest in a long line of reasons why the game has been somewhat tainted by scalpers as of late. Pokemon cards were included in McDonald's Happy Meals last year. Scalpers were so adamnat on getting their hands on those cards and selling them for inflated prices that the fast-food giant was forced to limit the number of Happy Meals customers could buy.