In this blog we will review one of the longest-running and most iconic traditions within the Pokémon TCG: the Tropical Series.

The Tropical Series (also known as the Worlds Series) is a series of promotional cards which commemorate the Pokémon TCG World Championships each year.

This blog will showcase the Tropical Series card from each year, and outline the origin and continuation of the Tropical Series tradition.

The first card in the Tropical Series is the Tropical Wind (Challenge Road Unnumbered Promo) card. This card was released in 1999, and it began the Tropical Series tradition.

Tropical Wind (Challenge Road Unnumbered Promo) 1999

Card Release

The 1999 Tropical Wind card was released in Japan only, and so it only exists in Japanese. No translated copies were ever produced. The card was awarded to junior-division finalist participants in the ‘Challenge Road Summer’ tournament series in Japan in 1999.

The Challenge Road Summer was a series of Pokémon TCG tournaments that occurred across 9 different regions of Japan in the summer of 1999. The Challenge Road Summer tournaments were split into junior and senior divisions. There were 64 junior-division finalist participants in each of the 9 regional Challenge Road Summer tournaments, meaning that 576 copies of the 1999 Tropical Wind card were distributed in total at the tournaments (i.e, 64 x 9 = 576).

Another 10 copies of the card were then distributed after the Challenge Road Summer tournaments via a lottery conducted through Vol. 3 of the Japanese Pokémon Card Trainers Magazine. This lottery was called the ’99 Person Present Lottery’, and gave readers the chance to win official merchandise from the Challenge Road Summer Tournaments.

With the additional 10 lottery versions, the total number of 1999 Tropical Wind cards released was 586.

Card Design

The 1999 Tropical Wind card was designed to promote the prospect of a trip to Hawaii to the Japanese junior-division participants of the 1999 Challenge Road Summer tournaments. After those tournaments, the 9 regional junior-division winners were invited to Hawaii in late August 1999 to compete in two further tournaments:

1) The ‘Best in Japan’ tournament, which was to determine the best junior-division Japanese player.

2) The ‘US-Japan Exchange Battle’, which pitted the best junior-division Japanese players against a number of top junior-division players from America. This tournament was the first international championship of the Pokémon TCG.

These Hawaiian tournaments are often collectively referred to as the ‘1999 Tropical Mega Battle’.

The 1999 Tropical Wind card depicts Psyduck and Jigglypuff relaxing in a hammock in Hawaii – which would have been a tantalising prospect to the junior-division players in the regional Japanese tournaments.

A Tantalising Prospect

The senior-division ‘Best of Japan’ tournament was held in Tokyo in 1999, and the senior-division winners of the 1999 Challenge Road Summer tournaments were not invited to Hawaii. This explains why the 1999 Tropical Wind card was only distributed to junior-division participants in the 1999 Challenge Road Summer – as only the junior-division participants were invited to Hawaii.

Psyduck is Confused

It is worth noting that there is often significant confusion about the release of the 1999 Tropical Wind card. It is often incorrectly reported that the 1999 Tropical Wind card was released at the 1999 Tropical Mega Battle event in Hawaii. However, no copies of the 1999 Tropical Wind card were distributed at this event.

The reason for the confusion is likely because later releases in the Tropical Wind series were distributed at international events. The 2001 and 2002 Tropical Wind cards were distributed at the international championship in Hawaii. Additionally, all of the following Tropical Wind cards (from 2004 – present) were released at the Pokémon TCG World Championships.

The 1999 Tropical Wind card is therefore unique because it is the only card in the Tropical Series that was not released at an international event. It was a Japanese-exclusive card, that was only ever released in Japan. The card was only distributed to junior-division participants of the 1999 Challenge Road Summer tournaments in Japan (and in the subsequent lottery).

There was no Tropical Wind card released in the year 2000.

In the year 2000, there was another international Tropical Mega Battle Event in Hawaii. There was also a series of regional qualifying tournaments in Japan, known was the ‘World Challenge Summer 2000’. This was similar to the Challenge Road Summer in 1999.

Unlike the Challenge Road Summer in 1999, however, finalists in the World Challenge Summer in 2000 did not receive a Tropical Wind card as a participation prize. Instead, the finalists at the World Challenge Summer 2000 were awarded with a ‘Lucky Stadium’ card as a participation prize.

Lucky Stadium Cards (World Challenge Summer 2000)

There were 8 different Lucky Stadium cards released at the World Challenge Summer 2000 tournaments. Each card depicts a landmark from the region in which each tournament was held. These Lucky Stadium participation cards appear to have taken the place of the Tropical Wind participation card that had been distributed at the 1999 Challenge Road Summer tournaments.

There was also a 9th Lucky Stadium Card that was given to the junior-division winners of the World Challenge 2000 tournaments when they went to Hawaii for the 2000 international Tropical Mega Battle. This card was bilingual, because it was also given to the American participants at the tournament.

Lucky Stadium (Tropical Mega Battle 2000)

The second card in the Tropical Series was first distributed in 2001. This card was titled ‘Tropical Breeze’ and is known as the Tropical Breeze (VS Tropical Mega Battle). The same card was also distributed in 2002.

Tropical Breeze (VS Tropical Mega Battle) 2001-02

Card Release

The 2001-2 Tropical Breeze card was released at the 2001 and 2002 international Tropical Mega Battle tournaments.

Similar to their 1999 and 2000 counterparts, the 2001 and 2002 international Tropical Mega Battle tournaments again occurred in Hawaii. Junior-division players were once again the only invitees to the 2001 and 2002 tournaments.

During each of the 2001 and 2002 international Tropical Mega Battle tournaments, there was an event called the ‘VS Shield Battle’. For this event, participants were each provided with a pre-constructed half-deck of 30 Pokémon VS cards. Each half-deck contained a single copy of the Tropical Breeze card.

Card Design

The 2001-02 Tropical Breeze card once again features Psyduck. Additionally, the card features Smoochum, and Cleffa – which were baby Pokémon released in Gen II. The card also features Exeggutor.

As we shall see, Psyduck appears in every single card in the Tropical Series. Each year, Psyduck is joined by new Pokémon, usually those relevant to the latest generation.

It is notable that the 2001-02 Tropical Breeze card adopts the Pokémon VS card format. Pokémon VS was a set of cards released exclusively in Japan in July 2001, shortly before the 2001 Tropical Mega Battle. The Pokémon VS set fell in between the Neo Series and the e-Series, and was never released to the English market.

Card Rarity

The 2001-02 Tropical Breeze card is by far the rarest card in the entire Tropical Series. There were only 23 participants in the 2001 Tropical Mega Battle tournament, and only 13 participants at the 2002 tournament. As such, only 36 copies of the 2001-02 Tropical Breeze card were ever distributed.

Language Variations

Adding to their rarity, the 36 copies of the 2001-02 Tropical Breeze card were distributed in at least five different language variants. This is because the VS Shield Battle half-decks were mostly distributed to participants in their native language.

17 copies of of the card were distributed in Japanese, as there were 17 Japanese players across the 2001-02 tournaments. Approximately 14-15 copies were distributed in English. This reflects the number of American/UK participants across both tournaments, and also accounts for the fact that the Dutch, Portugese, Danish and Swedish participants were provided with English copies.

Japanese Variant / English Variant (2001-02 Tropical Breeze)

The remaining 4-5 copies of the card were printed in German, Italian and French. It is thought that there were at least 2 German copies printed, meaning that only 1 or 2 copies of the Italian and French variants were ever distributed.

In the years following the 2001 and 2002 tournaments, several copies of the Japanese and English Tropical Breeze cards have come to market. Additionally, a German participant of the 2001 tournament has posted photographs of the German 2001-02 Tropical Breeze card.

German Variant (2001-02 Tropical Breeze)

The French 2001-2 Tropical Breeze card was undocumented for over 20 years. In May 2024, however, the first ever documented photograph of the French variant was captured during LeGalaTCG in Paris (by instagram user @neos_pkmn).

French Variant (2001-02 Tropical Breeze)

The Italian 2001-02 Tropical Breeze card, if it still exists, has never been publicly documented.

There was no Tropical Series card distributed in 2003.

In 2003, the licence to produce Pokémon cards internationally was transferred from Wizards of the Coast to The Pokémon Company. This resulted in a licensing dispute, which caused issues with coordinating an international championship.

This licensing dispute was resolved in an out-of-court settlement in December 2003, with The Pokémon Company fully acquiring the licence.

With its newly acquired licence, The Pokémon Company organised the next international Pokémon TCG tournament in 2004, named the ‘2004 Pokémon World Championships’. This tournament replaced the international Tropical Mega Battle tournament that had run from 1999 – 2002.

Although the 2004 World Championship saw many changes to the tournament format, the Pokémon Company decided to continue one tradition from the previous tournaments: the Tropical Series.

As such, the third card in the Tropical Series is the Tropical Wind (2004 World Championships) card.

Tropical Wind (2004 World Championships)

The 2004 Tropical Wind card was distributed to participants, finalists, staff and spectators at the 2004 World Championship, which was held in Florida.

Participant Distribution

All participants at the 2004 World Championships received 7 copies of the 2004 Tropical Wind card, with each copy in a different language: English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. These copies contained a ‘Worlds 04’ stamp in the bottom-right corner of the artwork.

2004 Tropical Wind (Participant Versions)

Finalist Distribution

Finalists received a version of the card with an additional stamp. This additional stamp designated the finalist’s rank in the tournament. The following ranks were stamped in 2004:

• Top Sixteen;
• Quarter-Finalist;
• Semi-Finalist; and
• Finalist.

These double-stamped versions were only released in English.

In 2004, finalists were awarded with a copy of the stamped version that accorded with their highest placement. There were three divisions at the championships: Juniors (U13), Seniors (13-16), and Masters (17+). As such, The Pokémon Company released 6 finalist versions, 6 semi-finalist versions, 12 quarter-finalist versions, and 24 top-sixteen versions of the 2004 Tropical Wind card.

2004 Tropical Wind (Top-Sixteen Finalist Version)

Staff Distribution

Staff members at the 2004 World Championships were also given copies of the 2004 Tropical Wind card with a ‘STAFF’ stamp. These STAFF copies were also only released in English.

2004 Tropical Wind (Staff Version)

Spectator Distribution

Spectators at the 2004 World Championships received a version of the 2004 Tropical Wind card with no stamp. This is the most common variant of the card, and is known as the ‘unstamped’ variant. The 2004 Pokémon World Championships was the only year that spectators were provided with a copy of the Tropical Series card.

2004 Tropical Wind (Spectator Version)

The 2005 Pokémon World Championships was held in California. California has over 800 miles of coastline, directly exposed to the Great Pacific Ocean, and it is home to many well-known waves and surf towns.

It was no surprise, then, that The Pokémon Company decided to change things up a little for the 2005 World Championships, making a ‘Tropical Tidal Wave’ card.

Tropical Tidal Wave (2005 World Championships)

The 2005 Tropical Tidal Wave card was distributed to participants, finalists and staff. Unlike in 2004, spectators did not receive any copy of the card.

Stamping Conventions

The 2005 Tropical Tidal Wave card followed the same stamping conventions as the 2004 Tropical Wind card, with only one difference: in 2005, there was also a ‘Top Thirty-Two’ stamped card awarded to finalists.

2005 Tropical Tidal Wave (Top-Thirty Two)

Once again, the finalist stamped versions were only released in English. The ‘Staff’ version of the card was also only released in English.

Distribution of Finalist Stamped Cards

In 2005 (and in all of the following years), two-copies of the Tropical Series card were given to each player in each of the top-ranking divisions, across the three divisions of the tournament. Unlike in 2004, players not only received copies of the card that accorded with their highest placement, but also for all previous finalist placement divisions.

As such, The Pokémon Company released 192 top thirty-two versions, 96 top sixteen versions, 48 quarter-finalist versions, 24 semi-finalist versions, and 12 finalist versions.

The format for Tropical Wind cards has remained consistent in the years from 2005 – present, although the name of the card has changed several times over the years.

All of the 2006 – 2023 Tropical Series designs can be viewed in the below gallery. Psyduck has continued to make an appearance in each design, often in humorous or unexpected ways.

One additional stamped version of the card was released from 2012 onward. As well as the ‘FINALIST’ stamp, a ‘CHAMPION’ stamp was added. The CHAMPION stamped card was provided to the overall winner of the championships.

There were no Tropical Series cards released in 2020 and 2021, as the World Championships were cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Tropical Series offers every element of collectability. The cards are scarce, because only a limited number are provided to World Championship participants. The cards also have historical importance, given that they commemorate the highest annual event within the Pokémon TCG. Lastly, the cards are inherently collectable due to their charming and unique artworks. Who knows where the wind might take us next!