Summary
- Pokemon TCG Pocket fans want a full-art variant of the Professor’s Research card featuring Professor Oak.
- Given Professor Oak’s popularity, some fans believe it’s only a matter of time before such a card is released, but they don’t expect it to be available for free.
Some Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket players want to see a full-art version of Professor’s Research added to the game. Fan calls for a new variant of the iconic card featuring Professor Oak emerged online shortly following the release of the latest Pokemon TCG Pocket expansion.
DeNA’s hit mobile game has been adding nearly one new card set per month since its late 2024 release. Its latest content drop materialized on February 28 in the form of Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s Triumphant Light expansion, which introduced 96 new cards. Among them is Celestic Town Elder (#88), a powerful Trainer card that allows players to retrieve a random Basic Pokemon from their discard pile.
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While some fans have welcomed Celestic Town Elder for introducing revival-like mechanics to Pokemon TCG Pocket, others have focused on its full-art illustration variant, questioning why DeNA added it before giving the same treatment to more iconic cards. One such opinion was recently voiced by Reddit user G_aster, who argued that “glorious Professor Oak” deserves a full-art card more than a “random grandma.”
G_aster’s remark amassed thousands of upvotes and promptly emerged on the front page of the r/PTCGP subreddit in early March 2025, suggesting that many outspoken fans would indeed like to see Professor’s Research given the full-art card treatment. At the same time, dozens of Pokemon TCG Pocket players have taken issue with the OP’s description of the Celestic Town elder as a “random grandma,” pointing out that she plays a significant role in the Generation 4 Pokemon games.
Pokemon TCG Pocket Fans Think a Full-Art Professor Oak Card Is Inevitable
Given Professor Oak’s iconic status among the fandom, many players believe it’s only a question of time until he gets a full-art card in DeNA’s popular mobile game. However, for much the same reasons, some fans expect that such a card won’t be obtainable for free but will likely be offered as a monthly promo for Pokemon TCG Pocket Premium Pass subscribers.
The likelihood of this fan feedback affecting DeNA’s near-term plans for the game is slim. Live-service titles tend to have their content roadmaps mapped out many months in advance, so whatever cards are coming to Pokemon TCG Pocket next have likely been in the works since 2024. Based on DeNA’s established track record, the game’s next expansion could arrive in the first half of April 2025. While the developer previously said that Pokemon TCG Pocket sets will only be available for a limited time, none of the expansions introduced so far have yet been removed from the game as of early March 2025.
