Pokemon TCG Pocket’s recent expansion, Shining Revelry, just dropped this week. And while fans are enjoying the new line-up of shiny Pokemon cards in all the colors of the rainbow, there’s one that’s causing some division: a shiny Mewtwo ex card that’s only available to players who pay $23 in real money.

Here’s what’s going on: Mewtwo ex is a card that already exists in the game in several forms. It was added in the very first set, Genetic Apex, which has a “regular” version, an “immersive rare” version with Mewtwo bursting out of containment, and a “gold crown” version of Mewtwo against a gold background. All three versions have the exact same moves and power levels, so in a match, it doesn’t matter which one you use. But they’re all varying degrees of rare, so for those who want to “catch ’em all” so to speak, it’s critical to track down all three.

The Mewtwo ex in question here is another version of that same card, with the same effects. The difference is a cosmetic one: this Mewtwo ex is a “shiny”, so it’s green instead of pinkish, and has a different background. However, it also takes up a separate slot in your card collection in the new Shining Revelry expansion, meaning collectors need it if they want to 100% complete their collection.

Here he is, in all his shiny glory:

Unfortunately, the card is only available through one method: by paying $22.99 in real money for a shop bundle containing Poke Gold, a bunch of other Mewtwo-themed cosmetic items (like a coin, a playmat, etc), and the card itself. There’s no other way to get it, not through packs or Wonder Pick or anything else.

Some players are not reacting well to the news.

Their frustration is understandable. Pokemon TCG Pocket has been out for several months now and has gone through four different expansions of varying sizes, as well as multiple events. While players who pay real money have up til now had certain advantages in terms of how fast they can grow their collections and other cosmetic rewards, this is the first time a card has been locked behind a gold bundle paywall. What’s more, it’s a bundle that’s worth far more than the card by itself presumably would be, as it includes other items like currency.

That said, some fans are rolling their eyes a bit at the controversy. Several have pointed out that the card is purely cosmetic – it doesn’t do anything different from the other Mewtwo exes you can obtain, and if you don’t toggle on a certain option in your settings, you can’t even see it’s missing from your collection. Others are pointing out that in the past, certain other promo cards have been locked behind having a Premium membership, which is itself a monthly paid subscription (albeit $12/mo, with other benefits).

Probably the biggest concern from players, though, is the slippery slope of it all. If Pokemon TCG Pocket is willing to gate a Mewtwo ex this way, will it gate other cards? What if the game eventually starts locking brand new cards with new effects behind paywalls, effectively requiring players to pay money if they want that specific effect in their decks? Even though there’s no sign of that happening just yet, some are still concerned that, with time, it may.

IGN reached out to The Pokemon Company for comment on this change, the criticism, and the possibility of future cards being behind paywalls.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.