pokémon battle region booster box Card Game Sword & Shield Dark Phantasma TC – Exp. Share Collectible The expansion was released in February 2022 Battle Region (TCG) - Bulbapedia,

And again, the idea of having to own the card helps people with multiple decks, but does nothing for people with a single deck or only a few decks of different colors or themes

Even if you play straight two colors, it wont be hard to get to eight lands, and its well worth spending eight mana to draw three cards, gain life, and potentially kill a creature

This is due, additionally, to its +1 ability that allows you and another player to draw a card

They've been opening on select weekdays to gauge which times draw the most foot traffic

For the Pokmon Trading Card Game, the next expansion is themed around Pokmon Go, and will feature cards based on Team Mystic, Instinct, and Valor

I think that in itself is conclusive enough for me to believe that these must have been at least distributed in 1997 at the earliest