Regional Differences: Diamond and Pearl Pt. 4 the Rise of Darkrai

Regional Differences: Diamond and Pearl Pt. 4 The Rise of Darkrai


Welcome to another edition of Regional Differences, the series that examines regional differences between Pokemon TCG releases. Today's article resumes our discussion of the of the Diamond and Pearl era of the TCG. You can read the previous articles here:


Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


Today's discussion focuses on the most powerful force in the universe, corporate synergy. 

More specifically, how corporate synergy in the Pokemon multi-media empire led to substantial regional differences between the English and Japanese TCG over the course of the next three sets in the Diamond and Pearl era. 

Background

There are a number of important dates to consider when discussing the sets in this article, so below are the flow charts from the first Diamond and Pearl article to keep everyone properly oriented.

With that out of the way, let's talk about:

Pokemon is, of course, much more than a TCG. It is a multi-media empire that includes everything from TV shows and movies to mobile games. Every so often, the initiatives in one branch of the empire will reach out its tendrils and ensnare the other parts of the Pokemon machine. Take, for example, the tenth Pokemon movie, "The Rise of Darkrai." This film marked the debut of Darkrai, a legendary Pokemon from the Diamond and Pearl video games (pictured below). 

2spooky4me

The Pokemon Company higher-ups decided that the theatrical debut of Darkrai should coincide with its debut in other media, including the TCG.  In Japan, the Rise of Darkrai movie premiered in theaters on July 14, 2007, one week after the release of Shining Darkness, the third set in the Japanese Diamond and Pearl block. In connection with the release of the film, Shining Darkness heavily featured Darkrai, Dialga, and Palkia, Pokemon that played prominent roles in the film. In the United States however, the film did not premiere until February 24, 2008. The problem facing the Pokemon Company International ("PCI") was how to handle the third set of the English TCG’s Diamond and Pearl block which was scheduled for release in November of 2007, three months before the release of the film.

PCI essentially had two options: either alter the contents of the set to preserve corporate synergy, or release the set with the contents unchanged. Unsurprisingly, PCI went with the first option and removed Dialga, Palkia, and Darkrai from Secret Wonders and moved them to Great Encounters, the fourth English set in the Diamond and Pearl block (which released right around the English debut of the film). 

That of course left PCI with the issue of how to replace the cards they removed from Shining Darkness. Fortunately, the fourth set(s) in the Japanese Diamond and Pearl block, Moonlit Pursuit and Dawn Dash, had just released in Japan, so PCI took certain cards from those expansions and added them to Secret Wonders.

Gardevoir Lv. X: released in Secret Wonders in English and Dawn Dash in Japanese

So for those keeping score at home, the following cards were featured in Shining Darkness but were removed from Secret Wonders and added to Great Encounters: Darkrai, Dialga, Palkia, Darkrai Lv. X, Dialga Lv. X, and Palkia Lv. X. The following cards were added to Secret Wonders from Dawn Dash, Moonlit Pursuit, and the Japanese half-decks released alongside those expansions: Gardevoir, Roserade, Electivire, Magmortar, Weavile, Roselia, Electabuzz, Magmar, Gardevoir Lv. X, and Honchkrow Lv. X. 

Moonlit Pursuit and Dawn Dash

Moonlit Pursuit and Dawn Dash are interesting expansions worth briefly discussing. Each set contains 70 cards, nearly all of which are only available in their respective expansion. In other words, nearly all of the cards in Dawn Dash can only be obtained in Dawn Dash booster packs and nearly all of the cards in Moonlit Pursuit can only be obtained in Moonlit Pursuit booster packs. The emphasis on unique content for the subsets was a welcome departure from Space-Time Creation, where nearly all of the cards in the set were available in both Diamond Collection and Pearl Collection. While the contents of the subsets are almost entirely unique, they are both still considered part of the overall DP4 release as, like Diamond Collection and Pearl Collection, Dawn Dash and Moonlit Pursuit share a single “DP4” set symbol.  

In the English TCG, the contents of these sets were split into three different expansions. First, as previously noted, certain cards from Dawn Dash and Moonlit Pursuit were moved forward into Secret Wonders to replace the cards removed from Shining Darkness. Second, the bulk of the remaining cards from Moonlit Pursuit, plus the cards held back from Shining Darkness, made up Great Encounters. Finally, the remaining cards from Dawn Dash, along with certain unreleased Japanese promo cards and the Japanese ancillary product “Entry Pack ’08” made up the fifth English set in the block, Majestic Dawn.

Entry Pack 08. You can read more about this product at http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Entry_Pack_%2708_(TCG)

So to summarize, because of the importance of corporate synergy, the English and Japanese Diamond and Pearl eras, which had otherwise been fairly similar up until this point, embarked on widely divergent paths around July 2007 due to the release of The Rise of Darkrai. As a result, collectors have the benefit of collecting a number of unique sets that vary widely in composition from their regional counterparts.

You can see my completed sets of Secret Wonders, Great Encounters, Majestic Dawn, Dawn Dash and Moonlit Pursuit by following the links below.

Secret Wonders

Great Encounters

Majestic Dawn

Dawn Dash

Moonlit Pursuit

As always, please let me know if you have any comments, questions or suggestions for revision. 

Finally, if you are a new or returning collector and are looking for a place to start in the Pokemon TCG, be sure to check out my article on the newest English set, Sun and Moon, on Flipside Gaming's website at https://www.flipsidegaming.com/blogs/news/a-pokemon-tcg-collectors-guide