2006 English edition almanac

• 02-13

  EX Legend Maker, 93 cards — seven Pokémon-ex and three Gold Stars (Regice ☆ 090, Regirock ☆ 091, Registeel ☆ 092). It is Japan's Mirage Forest, on sale since 30 June 2005, plus seven cards. The three Gold Stars and all seven ex — Arcanine, Armaldo, Banette, Dustox, Flygon, Mew and Walrein — are the Japanese set's own, which makes this the one set of the year that is a clean carry-over.

• 02-13

  Seven and a half months late. Legend Maker is the last set in this almanac built on a Japanese set from the previous year. Every English set from May onward comes from the same year as its Japanese parent, and the shortest gap of 2006 is three months, not the three days of October 2005.

• 05-03

  EX Holon Phantoms, 111 cards — and only three Pokémon-ex: Crawdaunt ex 099, Mew ex 100 and Mightyena ex 101. The Japanese set behind it, Holon Phantom, has 52 cards and no ex at all, so the entire ex line here is English addition. Three Gold Stars: Gyarados ☆ δ 102, Mewtwo ☆ 103, Pikachu ☆ 104 — Japan's set carries only the first of those.

• 05-03

  More than double the size of its parent set. Holon Phantom is 52 cards; Holon Phantoms is 111. Apart from the three ex and two extra Gold Stars, the additions are 39 Pokémon Japan printed elsewhere or never in a set at all, the three fossil Trainer cards, two Supporters, four Special Energy and the six basic Energy cards. The set is a Holon-themed omnibus, not a reprint of one Japanese expansion.

• 08-30

  EX Crystal Guardians, 100 cards — ten Pokémon-ex and two Gold Stars (Alakazam ☆ 099, Celebi ☆ 100). Japan's Miracle Crystal is 75 cards with eight ex and two Gold Stars; the two English additions are Groudon ex 093 and Kyogre ex 095, neither of which is in the Japanese set. Four Pokémon Tools and two Stadiums survive the crossing intact.

• 11-08

  EX Dragon Frontiers, 101 cards — ten Pokémon-ex and two Gold Stars (Charizard ☆ δ 100, Mew ☆ δ 101). Japan's Offense and Defense of the Furthest Ends is 68 cards with eight ex; the additions are Gardevoir ex δ 093 and Tyranitar ex δ 099. Every Pokémon-ex here carries δ, and Salamence ex δ at 098 is 160 HP, the largest card of the year in either edition.

• 11-08

  The last EX-era set of the year, and the last of the frame. EX Dragon Frontiers went on sale on 8 November 2006. The Diamond & Pearl sets did not reach English until 23 May 2007, so the English market spent the turn of the era six months behind Tokyo, printing ex cards while Japan was already playing LV.X.

• 2007-02-14

  EX Power Keepers, 108 cards — the last EX-era set in English, and the only one this almanac records as printed in English before its Japanese counterpart. World Champions Pack, the Japanese set built from it, does not go on sale until 5 July 2007.

• 2007-05-23

  Diamond & Pearl reaches English, 130 cards — six months after Japan's 30 November 2006 release, and the point at which Pokémon-ex, the δ mark and the old frame all disappear from the English game at once.

What 2006 leaves behind in English is four sets, 405 cards, thirty Pokémon-ex and ten Gold Stars — five more Gold Stars and fourteen more ex than Japan printed in the same year, one set that was Japan's 2005, and a November release still playing the old rules while Tokyo had already moved on.