The Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket's latest expansion, Space Time Smackdown, released on January 30, has stirred significant emotional reactions among players due to the artwork on one specific card. The card causing the uproar is the Weavile ex 2 Star full art card, which depicts a group of Weavile lurking in the treetops, poised to attack an unsuspecting Swinub. This graphic scene has left fans feeling shocked and heartbroken.

The reaction on platforms like Reddit has been intense, with posts such as "No Swinub, look up! Look up!" receiving nearly 10,000 upvotes. One user lamented, "Always got to be one card per set that shows Pokémon in the process of straight up killing each other," while another pleaded, "Leave the lil guy alone." The depiction has sparked a broader conversation about the imagined ecology of Pokémon, with one fan noting, "The ecology of Pokémon is always so crazy to imagine. Like these are still animals, some smarter than others. Just they have the ability to fire laser beams."

NO ! SWINUB LOOK UP !! LOOK UP !!

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Amidst the controversy, some fans are clinging to a hopeful interpretation of the full art card for Mamoswine, Swinub's final evolution. The artwork shows Mamoswine looking upwards while safeguarding a group of Swinub, leading to comments like, "Hey, Mamoswine protected his baby. Don't worry. He most definitely saw those Weaviles," and "The Mamoswine alt card already looks above. He saw them. He saw..."

Gone, but not forgotten.

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The Space Time Smackdown set, themed around Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, brings characters such as Weavile, Mamoswine, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and more. Comprising 207 cards, it's a smaller set compared to Genetic Apex's 286 cards, but boasts a higher percentage of rare cards with 52 alternate art, Star, and Crown rarity cards, against Genetic Apex's 60.

Creatures Inc. has yet to address the controversy surrounding the trading update that was released the day before Space Time Smackdown. Their social media and the game itself have primarily focused on the new expansion. They also did not respond to IGN's request for comment. However, a "Trade Feature Celebration Gift" was distributed, including 500 Trade Tokens and 120 Trade Hourglasses, sufficient for trading a single ex Pokémon, though the developer has remained silent on fan concerns.