The Pokemon Company has announced it's opening up its annual Trading Card Game illustration competition to entrants outside of Japan for the first time, giving people in the United States the chance to design their own Pokemon card art.
This is the third year the competition has taken place, but in 2019 and 2020 it was only open to artists within Japan. For this year, artists in the US and Japan are tasked with capturing one of eight Pokemon's "daily life" (similar to ones we've seen in recent expansions like Evolving Skies). The Pokemon on offer are Bulbasaur, Pikachu, Arcanine, Galarian Rapidash, Scizor, Greninja, Cramorant and Charizard, however the competition rules do say you are allowed to show other Pokemon "as long as it is clear who the main subject is".
According to the content website, entrees must be adults living and eligible to work in either Japan or the US, and are allowed up to three submissions each. One winner will receive $5,0000 and have their art turned into a promo card, while two runners up (one from each country) will receive $1,000 as well as their promo cards. Two more runners up will receive just the $1,000, and then 15 more will win $500.
Judging by entrants into previous years, the competition is incredibly high. The first winner was Yuu Nishida's Gardevoir, and in 2020 it was Hiro Sasuma's Charizard, though the runners up are all equally incredible. Judges for this year's competition include seniors from both The Pokemon Company and Creatures Inc., such as The Pokemon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara, Creatures Inc. president Hirokazu Tanaka, The Pokemon Company International president Kenj Okubo, Creatures Inc. senior executive director Yuji Kitano and Creatures Inc. art director Satoru Nagaya.
While arguments could be made that this is the controversial practice of speculative work, where hopeful workers compete for the chance of being paid, it's important to note that the cards are Promo cards with limited print runs rather than included into full, mass-produced sets. Winners of this have gone on to contribute to the game in bigger ways, with 2019 winner Yuu Nishida in particular becoming quite prolific in the recent releases.
Full rules, technical details and Pokemon references are available on the contest's website. Entries open on October 13 and close on January 31, 2022. Winners will be announced in early June 2022.