The Pokemon Company has confirmed the First Partner Illustration Collection Series 3 for release on August 7, 2026, completing a three-part trilogy built around the starter Pokemon from every mainline region. Series 3 covers Hoenn, Kalos, and Paldea, closing out a run that started with Kanto, Sinnoh, and Alola in Series 1 and continued with Johto, Unova, and Galar in Series 2.
For collectors who picked up the first two waves, Series 3 is effectively the last piece of the set, and likely to see strong demand from anyone trying to complete the full run across all nine starter regions.
This guide covers what's confirmed about Series 3 so far, how it fits with the earlier releases, and which EVORETRO products are worth having ready before release day.
The Pokemon Company's official product listing confirms an August 7, 2026 release date, with a $14.99 USD price point matching the earlier two collections in the series. Each collection includes a special booster pack containing three Illustration Rare promos tied to one of the three featured regions, two additional standard booster packs, and a sticker sheet.
As of this writing, the specific promo card art for Series 3 has not been officially revealed. For the first two series, promo art surfaced through Pokemon's regional channels roughly a month ahead of the U.S. release, so expect full reveals in the weeks leading up to August 7.
Illustration Collection products tend to draw two different kinds of buyers: collectors chasing the specific Illustration Rare promos, and completionists who want every regional collection in the trilogy regardless of which starters are featured. Series 3 sits in a stronger position than a typical standalone release because it's the final chapter, which historically drives extra demand from anyone who already owns Series 1 and 2 and doesn't want a gap in the set.
Hoenn, Kalos, and Paldea also cover some of the more consistently popular starter lines in the modern Pokemon TCG collecting community, which adds another layer of demand on top of the completionist angle.
Because each collection includes a dedicated special booster with guaranteed Illustration Rare promos, that pack is worth protecting the moment it's opened. Illustration Rares are foil, full-art cards that show wear quickly if handled without protection. EVORETRO's magnetic one-touch card holders give a pulled Illustration Rare rigid, secure protection right away, which matters more here than it would for a standard booster pull.
If you're picking up individual collections rather than a full case, the boosters themselves are worth keeping sealed and protected until you're ready to open them. EVORETRO's single pack booster envelope protector fits standard Pokemon booster packaging and keeps the pack presentable if you're holding it before opening or reselling it sealed.
Beyond the guaranteed Illustration Rare promos, the two standard boosters in each collection can produce additional pulls worth protecting immediately. EVORETRO's premium card sleeves are a simple, inexpensive way to get every card from the standard boosters into protective sleeves as soon as the pack is opened, before anything gets shuffled into a bulk pile.
Series 3 lands alongside a busy stretch of TCG releases this August, with Magic: The Gathering's Universes Beyond set also scheduled for the same month. Collectors juggling multiple releases in the same window may want to plan storage and protection supplies ahead of time rather than buying reactively as each set drops.
Given that Series 3 closes out a trilogy collectors have likely been tracking since Series 1, it's also a reasonable one to pre-order rather than wait on, since completionist-driven products can sell through faster than standalone sets.
Series 1 and 2 both followed the same $14.99 price point and three-booster structure, so Series 3 isn't expected to change the format collectors are already familiar with. What's different is the closing-chapter framing: Series 1 introduced the concept with three well-known regions, Series 2 kept the momentum going, and Series 3 is the one that actually finishes the set.
That framing tends to matter more to secondary market pricing than the specific starters featured, since the last entry in any completionist-driven trilogy usually holds value better than a mid-series release once the full set stops being available at retail.
To get ready for the First Partner Series 3 release, start with these:
The Pokemon Company has confirmed an August 7, 2026 release date at $14.99 USD per collection.
Series 3 features starter Pokemon from Hoenn, Kalos, and Paldea, completing the trilogy after Series 1 (Kanto, Sinnoh, Alola) and Series 2 (Johto, Unova, Galar).
Each collection includes one special booster with three guaranteed Illustration Rare promos, two standard boosters, and a sticker sheet.
Not as of this writing. Based on the pattern from Series 1 and 2, full reveals are expected in the weeks leading up to the August 7 release.
First Partner Illustration Collection Series 3 closes out one of the more collector-friendly trilogies the Pokemon TCG has run in recent years, and the completionist angle alone should keep demand strong through release. Whether you're chasing the Hoenn, Kalos, and Paldea Illustration Rares specifically or just finishing out the full nine-region set, having protection ready before August 7 is the easiest way to keep the excitement from costing you card condition later.
Keep an eye on official Pokemon channels for the promo card reveals as the release date approaches.
If you want to learn more about Pokemon TCG protection, these guides may also help:
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