Kadabra is finally returning to Pokemon after being banned for 18 years

Pokémon will print its first new card of Kadabra in two decades after the psychic type was finally freed from an 18-year ban.

We're not expecting you to remember every single Pokémon ever created, and there have been plenty enough that you'd be forgiven for forgetting a few, but there are a few reasons why Kadabra is pretty memorable.

First off is the name - based off the magical word abracadabra, and transplanted into the world of Pokémon you get Abra evolving into Kadabra, which in turn evolves into Alakazam (but only if you trade it first in the games).

Then there's what Kadabra looks like after evolving, because somehow the Pokémon evolutionary process means when it transforms it's holding a spoon, and then finds another one somewhere once growing into Alakazam.

If we're being honest Pokémon evolutions haven't always made massive amounts of sense - creatures like Diglett or Magnemite just transform into three of them stuck together, so manifesting a spoon isn't the craziest thing they've done.

As for the actual Pokémon lore reason, the spoon apparently helps Kadabra amplify its brainwaves and focus its psychic powers.

Pokémon

However, something as simple as a little old spoon had landed Kadabra in all sorts of trouble after self-proclaimed psychic Uri Geller launched a lawsuit against Nintendo claiming they were using his likeness on Pokémon card.

As you might have guessed the Pokémon on the card he took issue with was Kadabra, most notably because it was a psychic creature holding a spoon and Geller claimed he could bend spoons with his mind.

While he demanded substantial damages from Nintendo, Geller's lawsuits against the company failed to extract payment but did keep any new cards of Kadabra from being printed between 2002 and 2020.

Geller retracted his complaint against Nintendo back in 2020, sending the company a letter telling them they had his permission to use Kadabra's image once again.

He admitted he'd been 'a fool' and said he'd made 'a devastating mistake' by suing Nintendo over the Pokémon's image.

Panther Media GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Now three years after the ban was lifted there's going to be a new Kadabra card printed for the first time in over 20 years, as according to PokéBeach it will feature in the upcoming Pokémon Card 151 set.

During this time Kadabra was also banned from the Pokémon anime, though it made a return to that in 2021.

Something leaving the Pokémon anime are the iconic duo of Ash Ketchum and his faithful Pikachu, as they're bowing out following Ash finally becoming the very best like no one ever was.

The 10-year-old Pokémon protagonist has spent 25 years trying to become the Pokémon Champion and finally achieved his goals, with the next season of the anime featuring new protagonists.

Maybe one of them can bring a Kadabra with them.