Pokémon TCG fans have been waiting, with varying degrees of patience, for the upcoming Chaos Rising set for weeks now, with no sign of activity or any explanation for the delay. Each day, players and collectors worldwide keep one watchful eye on the Pokémon Center homepage or TCG Discord groups, and each evening, once again the same conclusion is reached: it will not be this day. By now, the wait has become interminable.
What exactly is going on here? If you've been living under a rock, let us fill you in on the situation.
What is the Pokémon Center drop?
The Pokémon Center is the official retail store of The Pokémon Company and, as such, it's one of the best places to get hold of new Pokémon cards at retail prices. Before each new set, fans rush to buy Pokémon Center preorders before they're sold out.
There's a few reasons why TPC drops drive such fervor. For starters, you're guaranteed the genuine article with no markups or risk of tampering or damage. Secondly, The Pokémon Center sells an exclusive version of the Elite Trainer Box, with stamped promos, a slightly increased number of packs, and, often, exclusive accessories. Mainly though, it's because this is one of the few places you're likely to snag a significant number of Pokémon packs early and at RRP.
When do Pokémon Center preorders normally happen?
While you'll often see online commentators touting ideas about how to predict the exact date and time, the truth is there's no established rule for when the Pokémon Center preorders will drop. Usually, however, they'll arrive a few months before a new Pokémon set's official launch date.
For instance, just looking at the last few sets, preorders for Perfect Order were on January 8, and the main set released March 27. Ascended Heroes arrived at the Pokémon Center on November 24, 2025: a set that came out January 30, 2026.
Following this pattern, we expected Chaos Rising preorders to be mid-March at the latest. On March 12, Pokébeach revealed product shots of the set, something many fans associate with a Poké Center drop coming up just around the corner.
| Pokémon set | Preorder date | Release date | Days between preorder and release |
| Perfect Order | January 8 | March 27 | 78 days |
| Ascended Heroes | November 24 | January 30 | 67 days |
| Phantasmal Flames | September 15 | November 14 | 60 days |
| Mega Evolution | July 15 | September 26 | 73 days |
But almost a full month later, it's still not here.
Why is Chaos Rising so delayed?
At time of writing, there's just 44 days till Chaos Rising's launch on May 22, making this a truly unprecedented situation. And, truthfully, we just don't know what's behind the unusual release cadence. There are a million rumours, but nothing official. We don't even know if this delay is deliberate or unintended - whether it's down to disruption or an upcoming change to the system.
Fans have long complained about how hard it is to beat the bots and get hold of Pokémon products from TPC before they sell out, so it wouldn't be surprising if the company was trying something new, especially given how many Ascended Heroes preorders seemed to get cancelled in February. But that's just pure speculation.
Ultimately, we've got no secrets to share, and can just tell you what everyone else is saying when asked when Chaos Rising preorders are coming: Nobody knows. It'll probably be when you're in a meeting or something.
To have the best chance of spotting this long-awaiting drop when/if it does arrive, you should sign up for email alerts from The Pokémon Center. You can also follow us here or over at our Discord server. Rest assured that we'll be leaping into action to notify you as soon as the products arrive. After all, we had an article ready to go for the preorder announcement almost a month ago.