Before becoming the main character of the Netflix hit seriesYou, Penn Badgley starred in aPokemon Trading Card Gametraining video that recently resurfaced on social media. Badgley was among the first actors to appear inPokemon TCGtraining videos, long before he became popular playing Dan Humphrey inGossip Girland the main protagonist ofYou.
ThePokemon TCGcraze began in 1996 in Japan and came to the West in 1998 thanks to Wizards of the Coast, the company behindMagic: The Gathering. This strategy-based card game quickly conquered the playgrounds, with children swappingPokemoncards between classes. Over two decades later,Pokemon TCGis as popular as ever, with social media personalityLogan Paul wearing a $5 millionPokemoncard during WrestleManiaand some rare cards regularly going up for auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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TikTok user giostorm77 shared an extract showing young Penn Badgley in a 1999’sPokemon TCGtraining video. The actor, who was only 13 then, teaches a class full of parents the art of playingPokemon. While the young instructor tries to keep his attendees focused, the parents are only interested intradingPokemoncards, asking for the best strategies, and bragging about their collection. After providing a few tips and tricks on the best Pokemon to collect, Badgley allows the parents to trade their cards, causing everyone to cheer gleefully.
In the comments to this video, many TikTok users noticed that despite being filmed over 23 years ago, the clip showed Penn Badgley with the same mannerisms he has as an adult playing professor Jonathan Moore inseason 4 of Netflix’s seriesYou. Badgley is not the only actor to become famous years after this clip, as eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Maulik Pancholy, playing Alex Baldwin’s assistant Jonathan in the series30 Rockwas also starring in thisPokemon TCGtraining video.
Two decades after this training video,Pokemon TCGcontinues to provide fans of all ages with new cards to complete their collection. The Pokemon Company recently released thePokemon TCGsets featuring the starter creatures fromPokemon Scarlet and Violet, with new art showcasing Fuecoco, Quaxly, and Sprigatito. Kadabra is expected to make a return toPokemon TCGsoon, which is quite an event for collectors as the first-generation Psychic-type Pokemon hasn’t appeared inPokemon TCGsince 2002 due to a lawsuit between Nintendo and Uri Geller, who found his name too similar to Kadabra’s Japanese name Yungerer.
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