Kadabra has finally been freed from the unfair imprisonment that was dealt to him by a fellow, real-life illusionist. Following the removal of his ban, the spoon-bending Psychic-type Pokemon is now set to return to the Pokemon Trading Card Game after two decades of being excluded from the scene.
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According to an official announcement from PokeBeach, they were able to confirm the inclusion of Kadabra in the upcoming Pokemon Card 151 set after seeing its name listed on a sell sheet. It was seemingly only a matter of time until the popular Psychic-type Pokemon was reintroduced after Uri Geller had finally retracted his copyright claims on the card a few years ago.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, the issue began when Geller, a talented spoon-bender himself, first discovered a Kadabra card during a trip to Japan. Upon being notified of its existence, he initially took note of the card’s Japanese name, Yungerer, which was eerily similar to his own. Kadabra’s appearance also didn’t help its case as the Pokemon’s trademark bent spoon only further confirmed Geller’s suspicions that the card was made based on his likeness.
Unfortunately, this uncanny similarity prompted Geller to sue Nintendo for creating the card without his permission. The illusionist’s initial lawsuit would then be filed in November 2000 and the controversy surrounding the card would eventually force the Japanese gaming giants to immediately stop production of all Kadabra card types.
Although Geller’s accusations were ultimately dismissed in 2003, he stubbornly continued to file further lawsuits afterwards, which were all similarly brushed off. This cycle would continue on for more than a decade, until 2020 which is when Geller finally had a change of heart, leading to the happy ending that everyone had hoped for.
