Tthere’s no official explanation for why the cards are using new artwork. It could be due to a licensing issue. Pokemon GO is banned in China. Since the original Pokemon GO cards shared a copyright with Niantic, Creatures may have needed to commission new artwork under their normal licensing arrangements to dodge ties to Niantic.
This is one of the few times a country outside of Japan is getting new cards or artwork. (Some recent examples include England’s Futsal promos or the anachronism promos for Celebrations, like Dark Sylveon V.)
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