Over the last 25 years, Pokemon has seen several creatures that have become an iconic part of the franchise. Some of these are due to their design, with some creatures being more cute or incredible looking, while others are due to their impressive competitive stats. One of the most powerful Pokemon during the first generation was the Abra line, since the Psychic type was infamously known to be broken when used in-game. What most fans might not have known is that middle stage of this Pokemon, Kadabra, hasn't appeared in the Pokemon anime in almost over 16 years.
This is due to a lawsuit that took place back in 2000 between Israeli-British illusionist Uri Geller and Nintendo. He had sued the company for 60 million pounds ($80 million), claiming that The Pokemon Company made the Psychic-type Pokemon based off of him. The similarities that he pointed towards was that Geller made spoon-bending a famous trick, which is a main accessory of Kadabra, along with its Japanese name, Yungera, being very similar to his name.
While Uri didn't get any money from this lawsuit, The Pokemon Company did stop putting Kadabra in the trading card game and anime, with the last appearance of this Psychic-type Pokemon being the 2005 Pokemon Battle Frontier anime episode, "Fear Factor Phony." However, Uri reversed his decision last year, where he apologized to many fans and The Pokemon Company for holding a grudge for so long. He then sent a letter to the head of Nintendo, where he allowed Kadabra to be published in the TCG and anime again.
With the Abra line being allowed to shown again, some fans noticed that Kadabra made its first appearance since 2005 in the seventh episode of the spin-off anime Pokemon Evolutions. While not playing a particularly big role in the episode itself, it showed Kadabra's demonstration of telekinesis in an entertaining manner. The psychic-type can be seen near the beginning, where during a festival in Ecruteak City, he is manning a shaved ice stand and tossing in a spoon into a customer's cup.
With Kababra being one of the iconic 151 originals, its return after nearly two decades to the Pokemon anime and TCG is big. In the trading card game in particular, the game has allowed the base Abra form to skip evolving into Kadabra, going straight to Alakazam. There are even some Premium Alakazam cards could be played by themselves. With the Psychic-type making its first appearance in Pokemon Evolutions, it's likely fans will see new Kadabra Pokemon cards being printed too.
Source: Twitter