Nintendo forces The Poké Court to change name after NYC robbery

3 hours ago 1

Published Feb 18, 2026, 2:20 PM EST

Manhattan shop The Poké Court is now known as The Trainer Court

An photo of two pages of a three-ring binder open with Pokémon cards. It shows cards from the Scarlet & Violet—151 set alongside other older cards.

After the New York City Pokémon card store The Poké Court wasrobbed at gunpoint of more than $100,000 in merchandise, Nintendo has asked the store to change its name.On Instagram, the shop formerly known as The Poké Court announced it has rebranded as The Trainer Court, along with a refreshed logo. In the caption, the owners shared that "Nintendo reached out to us with concerns about our name and logo. This means we're evolving! Same team, same ridiculous hit rate, and soon, even greater things coming your way."

The business also expressed gratitude to customers for standing by them "amidst the robbery and beyond." The Trainer Court was not the only Pokémon retailer store targeted by theft. On Jan. 4, at RWT Collective in West LA, a regular customer was held at gunpoint by two suspects in the underground parking garage at night and robbed of his rare cards, valued at roughly $300,000. That same weekend, thieves also targeted Simi Sportscards in Simi Valley, stealing Pokémon cards in what appeared to be part of a broader wave of break-ins across Southern California. Polygon reached out to The Trainer Court for comment and was directed to the store's social media post and a longer blog post addressing the name change and future customer events.

The secondary market for Pokémon cards has soared in recent months. Just this week, internet personality and WWE wrestler Logan Paul sold his PSA 10 Illustrator Pikachu card for $16.49 million at auction. Although the claims about the card's perfect grading have drawn heavy scrutiny, these cards now carry values comparable to high-end jewelry.

Nintendo has a longstanding reputation for aggressively protecting its IP. It has threatened and pursued legal action against game pirates and sued Palworld developer Pocketpair for copyright infringement. In light of that track record, it's easy to understand why The Trainer Court felt like the best move was to adapt quickly.

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