Our next freebie is the powerful and courteous “Blade Pokémon” Gallade. This is a 1st Edition holographic card from the late XY-era set Bandit Ring. It’s a visually stunning card of a fan-favourite Pokémon.
Card Details
- Pokémon Name: Gallade (エルレイド)
- Set: Bandit Ring (XY8)
- Year: 2015
- Card Number: 040-059
- Rarity/Edition: Holo Rare (1st Edition)
- Artist: Shon Graphics
- National Pokédex No.: 475
Card Text & Attacks
- Type: Fighting
- HP: 150
- Evolves From: Kirlia
Ability: Premonition
- Japanese: さきよみ
- Romaji: Sakiyomi
- Effect: Once during your turn (before your attack), you may look at the top 5 cards of your deck and put them back on top of your deck in any order.
Attack: Sensing Blade
- Japanese: センシングブレード
- Romaji: Senshingu Burēdo
- Cost: [Colourless][Colourless]
- Damage: 60+
- Effect: If you played a Supporter card from your hand during this turn, this attack does 70 more damage.
- Weakness: Psychic x2
- Resistance: None
- Retreat Cost: [Colourless][Colourless]
Pokédex Entry:
- Japanese: 伸び縮みする ヒジの 刀で 戦う。居合の 名手。礼儀正しい ポケモン。
- Romaji: Nobichijimi suru hiji no katana de tatakau. Iai no meishu. Reigi tadashī Pokémon.
- English: It fights with extendable swords from its elbows. A master of iaijutsu. A courteous Pokémon.
Collector’s Notes
This Gallade is a 1st Edition Holo Rare from the Japanese set Bandit Ring (XY8), which was released in 2015. This set is notable for its focus on the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa and for featuring many powerful Pokémon from the Hoenn region. The 1st Edition stamp marks this as a desirable piece from the set’s initial print run. The card features a vibrant, shattered-ice style holographic pattern that was common in the later XY TCG era.
The artwork by Shon Graphics is incredibly dynamic. Gallade is depicted mid-lunge, its psychic blades extended as it cuts through the air. The swirling blue and green energy in the background gives the scene a sense of immense speed and psychic power. Shon Graphics is known for this kind of clean, action-oriented 3D art that makes the Pokémon feel like it’s leaping right off the card.
As a Friend of Geopik, Gallade offers a fascinating connection to our theme through the concept of “blades.” Its arms are described as being like swords, and in the natural world, some of the sharpest blades known are geological in origin. Volcanic glass, or obsidian, can be flaked to produce a cutting edge that is many times sharper than a surgical steel scalpel. Ancient cultures prized obsidian for creating razor-sharp tools and weapons. We can therefore imagine Gallade’s psychic blades as having the perfect, molecularly sharp edge of freshly knapped obsidian.
