Spoon-bending magician Uri Geller has finally given Nintendo permission to print Kadabra on Pokémon cards again after a 20 year legal battle in which Geller claimed the character's likeness was too familiar to his own.
After an article over on The Gamer once again dug into why the mid-stage evolution psychic Pokemon hasn't appeared on Pokemon cards in about two decades, Geller appears to have enjoyed a change of heart.
“I am truly sorry for what I did 20 years ago,” Geller tweeted. “Kids and grownups I am releasing the ban. It’s now all up to #Nintendo to bring my #kadabra #pokemon card back. It will probably be one of the rarest cards now! Much energy and love to all!”
This historic dispute goes back right to the year 2000, in which Geller slammed Nintendo for using his likeness with Kadabra, whose Japanese name is written as either Yungerer, Yungeller, and Yun Geller... you can see why the real-life magician took issue with it.
“Nintendo turned me into an evil, occult Pokémon character," Geller said back in 2000. "Nintendo stole my identity by using my name and my signature image."
So why the change of heart? Well, it appears Geller has softened somewhat over the years, and The Gamer's recent article re-opened some old wounds for Geller and Pokemon fans alike.
Speaking to The Gamer, Geller said, “Due to the tremendous volume of emails I am still getting begging me to allow Nintendo to bring back Kadabra/Yungeller, I sent [...] a letter to the chairman of Nintendo giving them permission to relaunch the Uri Geller Kadabra/Yungeller worldwide.”
Though Geller's request has reportedly been “picked up by ‘two Nintendo representatives',” it's unclear when we will once again see Kadabra appear on the face of a Pokemon card.
Hopefully, it'll be worth the wait: the last time we saw the first Generation Pokemon appear on a card was way back in 2003.
