Overview
- On Wednesday, July 15, the Pokémon Center’s pre-order launch suffered widespread connection errors, frozen CAPTCHAs, hours-long virtual queues, blank pages, and checkout failures that prevented many buyers from completing purchases.
- Elite Trainer Boxes and some Ultra Premium Collections sold out on the official site and quickly reappeared on resale platforms for hundreds to thousands of dollars, with some listings reported near $783.
- Users who repeatedly reloaded or retried purchases report being flagged as bots and temporarily banned from the Pokémon Center site, adding to buyer frustration and lost orders.
- Scans and set lists claiming to show Pikachu ex, Umbreon ex, Charizard reprints and other chase cards are circulating online but remain unverified by The Pokémon Company and should be treated as leaks rather than confirmed product details.
- Retailers are expected to receive limited allocations for the September 16 release so availability will vary by region, which could prolong high resale prices and force collectors to rely on authorized retail windows or future restocks to obtain items at MSRP.