Illustration contests

Illustration contests are contests in which entrants are invited to send in illustrations of requested Pokémon, and have them featured on a card in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Shogakukan are the primary hosts of the contests in Japan, with the majority of them held through their monthly publications, such as CoroCoro Comic. Wizards of the Coast and Pokémon USA have also held contests in North America. The following is a list of contests held in conjunction with the TCG.

Pokémon Card Game Illust Artist Contest
The first illustration contest was publicized in the November 1997 issue of CoroCoro Comic, released on October 15, 1997 and invited readers to draw and submit their favorite Pokémon. The winning entries were announced in the January 1998 issue of CoroCoro Comic, released in December 1997. Three entrants received the Best Award, each of them receiving 20 copies of a Pokémon trading card featuring their illustration and a special promotional card. These cards were subsequently printed as part of TCG Extended Sheet 1, available in special vending machines from March 23, 1998. 20 entrants were also selected for the Excellence Award, all of them receiving the Pokémon Illustrator promotional card. 100 entrants received the Special Award, each of them receiving a 1998 Pokémon Original Calendar.

{| align="left" style="background: #; border: 4px solid #" class="roundy" cellpadding="5px" {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"

! align="left" | Snorlax
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 * SnorlaxVendingS1.jpg
 * Illus. Keita Takahashi
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Mewtwo's Counterattack Commemoration Illust Artist Contest
Another illustration contest was publicized in the May 1998 issue of CoroCoro Comic, released in April 1998, in commemoration of the upcoming Pokémon movie in July of that year. The contest invited readers to create their own original Pokémon trading card, and was divided into two categories: illustration and attacks. The winning entries were announced in the July 1998 issue of CoroCoro Comic, released in June 1998. One entrant received the Best Award in terms of illustration and attacks, receiving 20 physical copies of their card and a promotional card. This card was later printed as part of TCG Extended Sheet 3, available from November 24, 1998. Four entrants received the Excellence Award in the illustration category and three entrants received the Excellence Award in the attack category, each of them receiving a Pokémon Illustrator promotional card. 30 entrants received the Special Award, each of them receiving a Mewtwo's Counterattack and Pikachu's Summer Vacation teaser poster.

Pikachu's Summer Vacation Commemoration Illust Artist Contest
A third illustration contest through CoroCoro Comic was publicized in the June 1998 issue, released in May 1998, commemorating the upcoming Pikachu short attached to Mewtwo's Counterattack. This contest was similar to the previous one, with both an illustration category and an attack category. Winning entries were announced in the August 1998 issue of CoroCoro Comic, released in July 1998. Although there was no Best Award, the four entrants selected for the Excellence Award in both the illustration category and attack category each received a promotional card. 30 entrants received the Special Award, each of them receiving a Pokémon Pikachu.

CoroCoro Best Photo Contest
CoroCoro Comic held another contest in May 1999 and invited readers to take interesting pictures of Pokémon from the recently released Pokémon Snap and submit them in the Best Photo Contest. The top five winning entries had their artwork featured on reprints from TCG Expansion Pack. The five winners each received 20 copies of their card.

{| align="left" style="background: #; border: 4px solid #" class="roundy" cellpadding="5px" {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"

! align="left" | Poliwag {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * PoliwagSnapBestPhotoContest.jpg
 * Photo. Hiroyuki Sasaki
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 * Photo. Hiroyuki Sasaki
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! align="left" | Gyarados
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 * GyaradosSnapBestPhotoContest.jpg
 * Photo. Ryouichi Abe
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64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest
Much like the CoroCoro Comic contest, the TV Tokyo variety show 64 Mario Stadium also held a Best Photo Contest in May 1999. The top five winning entries had their Pokémon Snap photographs featured on reprints from TCG Expansion Pack. The exact number of these cards in existence is unknown.

{| align="left" style="background: #; border: 4px solid #" class="roundy" cellpadding="5px" {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"

! align="left" | Charmander {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * CharmanderSnapBestPhotoContest.jpg
 * Photo. Tsukasa Hosono
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 * Photo. Tsukasa Hosono
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! align="left" | Articuno
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 * ArticunoSnapBestPhotoContest.jpg
 * Photo. Yui Tanaka
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2002 Wizards Pokémon Illustration Contest
In mid 2002, Wizards of the Coast also ran an illustration competition for the English version of Keita Takahashi's Pokémon Card Game Illust Artist Contest entry. The chosen image was created by Craig Turvey.

Poké Card Creator Contest
The Poké Card Creator Contest was a contest held by in 2004. Applicants aged between five and fifteen were invited to create an image of one of five pre-selected Pokémon and submit it to Kids' WB! between February 16 and April 10, 2004. Pokémon USA designed five new cards using the winning illustrations. A total of 5250 TCG Poké Card Creator Packs were distributed in July 2004; 50 packs to each of the five grand prize winners, and one pack to 5000 first prize winners. The grand prize winners also won a $500 gift card.

{| align="left" style="background: #; border: 4px solid #" class="roundy" cellpadding="5px" {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"

! align="left" | Wurmple {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * WurmpleCreatorContest2.png
 * Illus. Katie Gross
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 * Illus. Katie Gross
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! align="left" | Mudkip
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 * MudkipCreatorContest4.png
 * Illus. Rowan Laidlaw
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2009 Pokémon Card Design Contest
In 2009, Shogakukan held the Pokémon Card Design Contest through many of their publications. Entrants were invited to design the artwork for Spiky-eared Pichu  and. Aside from two magazines that held contests for original drawings, each one provided an outline of the requested Pokémon drawn by professional illustrators (whose artwork were also featured on the cards in the TCG Movie Commemoration Random Pack). This contest was restricted to residents of Japan and had varying application periods across participating publications: Cards were distributed in conjunction with theatrical release of Arceus: To a Conquering Spacetime on July 18, 2009.
 * Kindergarten; Televi-Kun; Elementary School 1st Grade: February 28 - March 31, 2009
 * Elementary School 2nd Grade - Elementary School 6th Grade: March 3 - April 2, 2009
 * CoroCoro Comic; Pucchigumi: March 14 - April 14, 2009
 * Pokémon Fan: March 18 - April 20, 2009
 * CoroCoro Ichiban!: March 25 - April 24, 2009

A total of 552 winning entries were chosen across the twelve publications, broken down into four bands:
 * Best award (1 winner; 12 total): 13 sets of the winning cards and a limited edition Daisuki Club Giratina Nintendo DS Lite.
 * Excellence award (5 winners; 60 total): Jumbo copy of the entry along with a DX Monster Ball DP
 * Special award (10 winners; 120 total): One copy of Pikachu's Ice Adventure DVD
 * Lucky award (30 winners; 360 total): One TCG Garchomp vs Charizard SP Deck Kit

It is unknown if there were 100 copies of the selected entries distributed to each of the winners due to the low numbers of complete sets that have surfaced within the collector community. It is speculated that there may only be twelve sets - one for each of the winners.

{| align="left" style="background: #; border: 4px solid #" class="roundy" cellpadding="5px" {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"

! align="left" | Spiky-eared Pichu {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * 024333 P GIZAMIMIPICHUMMUBI.jpg
 * Elementary 1st Grade winner Illus. Haruka Uekura
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 * Elementary 1st Grade winner Illus. Haruka Uekura
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! align="left" | Arceus {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * 024335 P ARUSEUSU.jpg
 * Elementary 3rd Grade winner Illus. Shoki Nakamura
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 * Elementary 3rd Grade winner Illus. Shoki Nakamura
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! align="left" | Arceus {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px"
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 * 024339 P ARUSEUSU.jpg
 * Elementary 5th Grade winner Illus. Meiko Akiba
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 * Elementary 5th Grade winner Illus. Meiko Akiba
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{| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
 * 024341 P ARUSEUSU.jpg
 * Elementary 6th Grade winner Illus. Mikako Nishizaki
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 * Elementary 6th Grade winner Illus. Mikako Nishizaki
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! align="left" | Spiky-eared Pichu {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * 024343 P GIZAMIMIPICHUMMUBI.jpg
 * Televi-Kun winner Illus. Keita Mizuno
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 * Televi-Kun winner Illus. Keita Mizuno
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! align="left" | Spiky-eared Pichu {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * 024346 P GIZAMIMIPICHUMMUBI.jpg
 * Pucchigumi winner Illus. Mahiro Shinozaki
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 * Pucchigumi winner Illus. Mahiro Shinozaki
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! align="left" | Arceus {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * 024348 P ARUSEUSU.jpg
 * CoroCoro Ichiban! winner Illus. Ryoga Kawai
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 * CoroCoro Ichiban! winner Illus. Ryoga Kawai
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! align="left" | Arceus
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 * 024350 P ARUSEUSU.jpg
 * Shonen Sunday winner Illus. Natsumi Nishiyama
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2010 Pokémon Card Design Contest
In 2010, Shogakukan held another Pokémon Card Design Contest through many of their publications. Entrants were invited to design the artwork for and, again using a pre-drawn template. This contest, much like the one held in 2009, was restricted to residents of Japan. The application period across all publications ran from February 20 to April 2, 2010. Winners were announced on July 27, 2010.

A total of 660 winning entries were chosen across the ten publications, broken down into four bands: All selected entrants also received the regular prints of Illusion's Zorua and Illusion's Zoroark (660 total). It is also unknown if there were 100 copies of the selected entries distributed to each of the winners. It is speculated that there may only be ten sets - one for each of the winners.
 * Best award (1 winner; 10 total): 10 sets of the winning cards, a Nintendo DSi, and a copy of Pokémon Ranger: Locus of Light
 * Excellence award (5 winners; 50 total): One Johto Pokédex
 * Special award (10 winners; 100 total): One copy of Pokémon HeartGold & Pokémon SoulSilver: Super Music Collection
 * Lucky award (50 winners; 500 total): Five booster packs of TCG Reviving Legends

{| align="left" style="background: #; border: 4px solid #" class="roundy" cellpadding="5px" {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"

! align="left" | Illusion's Zorua {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * IllusionZorua1stGradeLPromo.jpg
 * Elementary 1st Grade winner Illus. Mayumi Fujimura
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 * Elementary 1st Grade winner Illus. Mayumi Fujimura
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! align="left" | Illusion's Zoroark {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * IllusionZoroark3rdGradeLPromo.jpg
 * Elementary 3rd Grade winner Illus. Ryusuke Mori
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 * Elementary 3rd Grade winner Illus. Ryusuke Mori
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! align="left" | Illusion's Zorua {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px"
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 * IllusionZoruaTelevi-KunLPromo.jpg
 * Televi-Kun winner Illus. Yuta Koike
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 * Televi-Kun winner Illus. Yuta Koike
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{| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
 * IllusionZoroarkCoroCoroLPromo.jpg
 * CoroCoro Comic winner Illus. Kouhei Yoshihisa
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 * CoroCoro Comic winner Illus. Kouhei Yoshihisa
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! align="left" | Illusion's Zorua {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * IllusionZoruaPucchigumiLPromo.jpg
 * Pucchigumi winner Illus. Miho Sugano
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 * Pucchigumi winner Illus. Miho Sugano
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! align="left" | Illusion's Zoroark
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 * IllusionZoroarkIchibanLPromo.jpg
 * CoroCoro Ichiban! winner Illus. Kazuki Yamane
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Gallery
Unlike the contest ran in 2009, all 660 chosen entrants were showcased on the Japanese Pokémon movie website. Below are the top six entries for each publication, including some additional entries from Pokémon Fan magazine.

Pokémon Art Academy Competition
The first international illustration contest invited players of Pokémon Art Academy to create original Pokémon illustrations with the opportunity to have their artwork featured on specially created Pokémon TCG cards. Overall, there were three separate instances of the competition: The Japanese competition began first, with the submission period open from December 13, 2014 to February 1, 2015. The North American competition and European and Oceanian competition began simultaneously on February 18 and ran until March 29, 2015. Each competition comprised two categories: Dress-Up Pikachu and Your Favorite Pokémon. Dress-Up Pikachu required players to portray in a costume of their design, inspired by Cosplay Pikachu as featured in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Your Favorite Pokémon invited players to create an image featuring any Pokémon. Once entrants had completed their chosen image in Free Paint mode, they were required to upload it to and submit it as part of the competition.
 * Japan (where the competition was named Pokémon Art Academy × Pokémon Card Game) – open to residents of Japan.
 * North America – open to residents of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
 * Europe and Oceania – open to residents of Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and Russia (Italy was specifically excluded).

The 5 winning entries from each category in the Japanese competition were announced in March 2015. The 3 winning entries from each category in the North American competition and European and Oceanian competition were announced on June 8 of the same year. The top entrants in each competition were selected from a panel of judges including Pokémon Trading Card Game illustrators. Each of the winners received 100 copies of the card featuring their illustration.

Japanese competition
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! align="left" | Pikachu {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * PikachuArtAcademyCompetitionXYPromo2.jpg
 * Illus. pikamania
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 * Illus. pikamania
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! align="left" | Pikachu {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * PikachuArtAcademyCompetitionXYPromo4.jpg
 * Illus. Y. Fujishima
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 * Illus. Y. Fujishima
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! align="left" | Goomy {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * GoomyArtAcademyCompetitionXYPromo.jpg
 * Illus. Mio Muroi
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 * Illus. Mio Muroi
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! align="left" | Gourgeist {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * GourgeistArtAcademyCompetitionXYPromo.jpg
 * Illus. rina
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 * Illus. rina
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! align="left" | Pikachu
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 * PikachuArtAcademyCompetitionXYPromo6.jpg
 * Illus. Ginga
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North American competition
{| align="left" style="background: #; border: 4px solid #" class="roundy" cellpadding="5px" {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"

! align="left" | Pikachu {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * None.png
 * Illus. Ashley
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 * Illus. Ashley
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! align="left" | Primal Kyogre {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * None.png
 * Illus. Mireil
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 * Illus. Mireil
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! align="left" | Chespin
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 * ChespinArtAcademyPromo.jpg
 * Illus. Gabi
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European and Oceanian competition
{| align="left" style="background: #; border: 4px solid #" class="roundy" cellpadding="5px" {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"

! align="left" | Pikachu {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
 * }
 * PikachuArtAcademyPromo Rhivern.jpg
 * Illus. Rhivern
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 * Illus. Rhivern
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! align="left" | Mew {| style="background:#FFFFFF;" class="roundy" cellpadding="2px" {| style="background:#;" width="100%" class="roundy"
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 * MewArtAcademyPromo.jpg
 * Illus. Phanpy
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 * Illus. Phanpy
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! align="left" | Delphox
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 * DelphoxArtAcademyPromo.jpg
 * Illus. Peegeray
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Gallery
Illustrator names when originally submitted to Miiverse appear in brackets, where applicable.

European and Oceanian competition
Illustrationswettbewerb 小田部羊一