Daisuke Ito is a Pokemon TCG illustrator whose documented work is concentrated in the Diamond and Pearl Series. Bulbapedia lists Palkia, one of the DP-P Promotional cards, as his first card and records 43 illustrated cards excluding reprints. That compact time frame gives Ito a clear place in TCG history: a focused run during a period when the game was translating Sinnoh, new evolutions and many Unown cards into the card format.
Diamond and Pearl era Pokemon TCG illustration
In PKMN Collectors, Ito is credited on Palkia, Dialga, Charizard, Blastoise, Flygon, Gallade, Meganium, Raichu, Bronzong, Toxicroak, Whiscash, Chimecho, Rotom, Exploud, Latias, Latios, Phione, Infernape, Scizor, Torterra, Grotle, Manectric, Monferno, Chimchar, Electrike, Pikachu, Turtwig, Amulet Coin, Leftovers, Bubble Coat and several Unown cards. The Art of Pokemon also tracks Japanese releases, entry pack cards and artwork entries that fill out the same era.
For collectors, Daisuke Ito is valuable because his catalog is easy to frame: Diamond and Pearl, Sinnoh species, recognizable classic Pokemon and a strong group of mid-2000s card designs. The Charizard and Blastoise credits give the page obvious collector hooks, but the wider appeal is the way Ito covers both major Pokemon and quieter set-building cards. A Daisuke Ito run can support Sinnoh binders, Unown pages, DP-era nostalgia and collections focused on artists with a defined historical window rather than a long multi-decade catalog.
