Thanks to Omahanime, we now have scans of new POP 6 holos - Chimchar, Piplup, and Turtwig. The cards were originally non-holo in POP 6, but are now holo promos. Each are available in blister packages that cost $9.99 and come with three random booster packs. You can find them at places like Target and Wal-Mart (though you shouldn't support Wal-Mart if you don't have to :p). Click the thumbnails below for larger scans, as usual.

Pokemon USA has announced a partnership with Burger King to release 12 Pokemon promo cards and accessories to children around the world via their kids' meals. The campaign will start July 7th in the United States and end August 3rd, and will begin in the late summer and fall internationally. You can read the full press release below.

Around the release of Mewtwo Strikes Back, Pokemon was in partnership with Burger King as well. Gold-plated Poke Balls, accessories, and special cards featuring artwork from the movie were released, and due to the popularity of Pokemon at the time, most of the product was gone immediately. Perhaps this partnership is rekindling because of Pokemon's re-emerging popularity?

BURGER KING(R) Restaurants Worldwide to Offer Exclusive Pokemon Premiums with Each Purchase of a Kids Meal

BELLEVUE, Wash., June 10 -- Pokemon USA, Inc., and Burger King Corp. today announced a promotional partnership that will bring popular characters like Pikachu(R), Darkrai(TM), Dialga(TM) and Palkia(TM) to children around the world. Participating BURGER KING(R) restaurants worldwide will offer an exclusive Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) card and accessory with each purchase of a BK(R) Kids Meal. These BURGER KING(R) restaurants will be the only place where children can obtain each of the 12 different Pokemon TCG cards and accessories. The promotion will run from July 7 through August 3 domestically and throughout the late summer and fall internationally.

Available for a limited time only, while supplies last, the premiums are based on Pokemon TCG: Diamond & Pearl -- the latest expansion of the best-selling Pokemon Trading Card Game -- featuring characters from Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl, the video games sold exclusively for Nintendo DS(TM). The program will be supported by Burger King Corp. through a fully integrated marketing campaign that includes television advertising, in-restaurant merchandising, custom packaging and an online minisite (www.bk.com/pokemon).

"Burger King is a wonderful partner for Pokemon," said J.C. Smith, marketing director at Pokemon USA, Inc. "The combination of highly collectible Pokemon Trading Card Game giveaways with the extensive worldwide reach and marketing provided by Burger King is certain to create excitement and anticipation among Pokemon fans and players."

"Burger King Corp. and Pokemon are both big brands widely known for innovation, which makes this partnership a great fit," said Cindy Syracuse, Senior Director of Marketing Impact for Burger King Corp. "Together we offer consumers access to Pokemon TCG Diamond and Pearl cards as well as exclusive card accessories found only in BURGER KING restaurants."

About Pokemon USA

Pokemon USA, Inc., a subsidiary of The Pokemon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia which includes licensing, marketing, the Pokemon Trading Card Game, an animated TV series, the Pokemon Trading Figure Game, home entertainment and the official Pokemon website. Pokemon was launched in Japan in 1996 for play on Nintendo's Game Boy(R) and has since evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Pokemon was introduced in North America in 1998 and today is one of the most popular toy and entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.

About Burger King

The BURGER KING(R) system operates more than 11,400 restaurants in all 50 states and in 70 countries and U.S. territories worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of BURGER KING(R) restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. To learn more about Burger King Corp. please visit the company's Web site at www.bk.com.

Low-quality scans of the next issue of CoroCoro have been released on the internet, revealing some new information about Pokemon Platinum. Click the images below for larger thumbnails.

The first page reveals Ken Sugimori's artwork for Shaymin Sky Forme. It seems that the shy Shaymin has garnished some confidence in this new, dog/reindeer-like form. There is also a small shot of Shaymin in battle, using what appears to be Seed Flare. It is now known to be a Grass / Flying type with a weight of 5.4 kilograms and and a height of 0.4 meters.

Starting on the second page, CoroCoro labels new features or additions to the game. Next to 1's label, two new characters are revealed to be in the game, though their roll is not revealed in any capacity. Next to 2's label, a new area is identified on the Sinnoh map called the "Torn World." It appears to be over Spear Pillar, which may explain this previously revealed screenshot of Giratina emerging from somewhere.

The third page shows new clothing for the male and female protagonists, as well as new Ken Sugimori artwork for the three starters. It also seems the Poketch is going to receive a new look and new features in Platinum, but nothing specific is mentioned. The fourth page doesn't mention anything special, other than that you will receive a Giratina Origin Forme figurine if you pre-order Platinum.

The rest of the pages seem to reveal that if you import to Platinum the Regigigas you receive from pre-ordering a ticket to Giratina and the Icy Sky's Bouquet, Shaymin, you will be able to unlock Regirock, Regice, and Registeel in the game. The pages appear to show two caverns for two of the Regis, which means they will have their own areas on the map as in Ruby and Sapphire.

Better quality scans will be released during the week, so be sure to check back here!

My Pokemon Ranch was finally released in the United States today. You can download it through the Wii Shop Channel for 1000 Wii points (which equals $10.00).

For those of you who do not know, My Pokemon Ranch is a storage game, similar to Pokemon Box, that allows you to upload 1000 of your Diamond and Pearl Pokemon to the Wii. They are kept in a virtual ranch where you can interact with them. The game also lets you obtain new Pokemon through various methods, such as by trading them with the ranch's owner or by the ranch owner bringing in new Pokemon herself.

Shaymin's full Sky Forme image has been revealed on metal Pokemon badges from a Bandai Pokemon "Can Badge Collection." It looks like a reindeer crossed with a dog, has four legs, and bears what appear to be red wings (that look similar to poinsettia leaves). Will Shaymin replace Delibird as the Christmas Pokemon mascot?

The Shaymin, Shaymin Sky Forme, Mamoswine, and Giratina badges below will be released on June 24th in Japan, meaning the new Shaymin should officially be revealed by then. Originally, this set was advertised as containing a "New Pokemon," which is obviously now known to be Shaymin Sky Forme. Could one of the "New Pokemon" referred to on other products be Shaymin Sky Forme as well?

Speculation: Those red leaves look vaguely similar to the red slash in the movie logo. Could they be the same thing?

Thanks go to Heerosferret and her band of Pokemon toy collectors for the product information!

Gamestop will be holding a Deoxys download event on the weekends of June 20th and June 27th (both starting on Friday). All you need is a Pokemon Diamond or Pearl game and a DS. Details on the event should be released within the next few days, since most Gamestop stores have not received the information yet. Be sure to find a Gamestop near you if you plan on attending! Deoxys will probably be given away through Mystery Gift like the Toys "R" Us Manaphy and Darkrai.

A new sticker has surfaced showing Shaymin's Sky Forme, as you can see below (the image comes from a Japanese blog named "Rosso Nero"). The image is a view of Shaymin directly from the front. It sure looks... odd. Click the thumbnail below for a larger image. These images of Shaymin are still too limited, so we can't say for sure what its features are exactly.

Bangiras has translated the seven new cards from Intense Fight in the Destroyed Sky. New game mechanics include combining Trainer cards for added effects, Giratina's "Lost Zone," and even being able to perform an attack twice. Pokemon Card Laboratory is definitely trying new things.

Shaymin LV.42 - Grass - HP70
Basic Pokemon

[G] Flower Aroma: 10 damage. Remove 2 damage counters from Shaymin, and the Defending Pokemon is now Asleep.
[G][C] Damage Aid: 30 damage. If the Defending Pokemon is affected by a Special Condition, this attack does an additional 50 damage. Then, remove all Special Conditions from the Defending Pokemon.

Weakness: Fire (+20)
Resistance: Water (-20)
Retreat: 1

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Giratina LV.59 - Psychic - HP100
Basic Pokemon

[P][C] Reverse: 20 damage. You may switch Giratina with one of your Benched Pokemon.
[P][C][C] Destroyed Sky Attack: 50 damage. If the Defending Pokemon is Knocked Out by this attack, move the Defending Pokemon and all cards attached to it to your opponent's Lost Zone instead of discarding them.

Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Colorless (-20)
Retreat: 3

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Raichu LV.X - Lightning - HP110
Level Up

Poke-Body: Chain Lightning
On the turn that this Pokemon Levels Up, if it uses Voltage Shoot, afterwards it can attack 1 additional time (and only once). This Poke-Body stops working if this Pokemon is affected by a Special Condition.

[L][L][C] Voltage Shoot: Discard 2 Lightning Energy cards from your hand, and do 80 damage to 1 of your opponent's Pokemon (if you can't discard, this attack fails).

Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: Steel (-20)
Retreat: 0

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Dusknoir LV.X - Psychic - HP140
Level Up

Poke-Power: Ectoplasm
This Power can be used once, when this Pokemon is your Active Pokemon and its HP is reduced to 0 by an opponent's attack. Although this Pokemon is Knocked Out, this 1 card is not discarded, but is put into play as a Stadium card (any other Stadium in play is discarded).

If this card is in play as a Stadium card, it has the following effect: "In between turns place 1 damage counter on each of your opponent's Pokemon," and when it would be discarded this card is returned to your hand instead.

Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Colorless (-20)
Retreat: 3

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PokeDrawer + - Trainer

You can play 2 copies of this card at the same time.

If you play 1 copy of this card, draw 1 card from your deck.

If you play 2 copies of this card, search your deck for up to 2 cards and put them in your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward. (This counts as the effect of both cards.)

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PokeHealer + - Trainer

You can play 2 copies of this card at the same time.

If you play 1 copy of this card, remove 1 damage counter and 1 Special Condition from 1 of your Active Pokemon.

If you play 2 copies of this card, remove 8 damage counters and all Special Conditions from 1 of your Active Pokemon. (This counts as the effect of both cards.)

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PokeBlower + - Trainer

You can play 2 copies of this card at the same time.

If you play 1 copy of this card, flip a coin, if heads place 1 damage counter on 1 of your opponent's Pokemon.

If you play 2 copies of this card, choose 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokemon and switch it with the opponent's Active Pokemon. (This counts as the effect of both cards.)

Pokemon Organized Play (POP) has announced that the next tournament-legal format will be Diamond and Pearl-on (didn't see that one coming). All regular Nintendo black star promos are now extinct, as are POP 4 and POP 5. This will go into effect starting September 1st, so it does not apply right now.

For those of you who do not know, this means you can only use cards at tournaments from the Diamond and Pearl set and any subsequently released set (as of now, this includes Mysterious Treasures, Secret Wonders, Great Encounters, Majestic Dawn, and eventually Legends Awakened). You can also use any Diamond and Pearl black star promo card and any card from POP 6 and 7.

Speaking of tournament-legal cards, our Modified Card-Dex has been outdated and destroyed for about a year or two now. This is because myself and Meowth346 have been working on a new one, but since our schedules are so different, the whole project has progressed very slowly. Hopefully it will be up again soon, especially since months and months of work have gone into its new and improved features. We'll see...

The official Japanese Pokemon Card website has posted new images for Intense Fight in the Destroyed Sky, including card pictures, packaging for the set, and new wallpaper. We should have card translations later today when Bangiras or Vincent come online, and when we do, this story will be edited.

As for the news story about major changes to the card game with the release of this set, some of it, like the "Lost Zone" area on the playmat, has now been confirmed. Will everything else turn out true, like reprinted cards with their old card templates?

As we have reported before, there are six LV.X cards in this set. We now know that three of them are Heatran LV.X (a reprint of a promo card), Raichu LV.X, and Dusknoir LV.X. Expect Shaymin LV.X and Giratina LV.X to be two others as well.

The booster pack packaging features Shaymin and Giratina, as you can see below. We revealed the theme deck image the other day, but there is now a better-quality image of it.

New wallpaper is also now available. Select your screen resolution below the wallpaper's thumbnail to open it. Then, save it and make it your Desktop background if you wish.

[1024x768] / [1280x768]

New promo blister packages will also be released at the same time as this set, one of which includes a reprinted Dialga LV.X and a new Gliscor, and the other which includes a reprinted Palkia LV.X and a new Porygon-Z. A new Regigigas will also be released with a binder themed after this set.