After weeks of unprecedented silence from The Pokémon Company, Chaos Rising preorders have officially arrived on the Pokémon Center. The wait is over — but the circumstances around this launch are unlike anything we’ve seen before.
According to PokeBeach, preorders for select Chaos Rising products are now live on pokemoncenter.com. Three products are currently available for preorder ahead of the set’s May 22nd release:
- Elite Trainer Box – https://www.pokemoncenter.com/product/10-10399-112
- Booster Bundle – https://www.pokemoncenter.com/product/10-10403-109
- Booster Box – https://www.pokemoncenter.com/product/10-10407-119
A Record-Breaking Delay
The bigger story here isn’t that preorders opened — it’s how late they arrived. According to PokeBeach, preorders for most sets typically open on the Pokémon Center around 78 days before release. With only 39 days remaining until Chaos Rising launches, this now holds the record for the latest preorder launch ever.
The delay had been building tension in the community for weeks. For reference, preorders for Perfect Order went live on January 8th for a March 27th release, and Ascended Heroes arrived on the Pokémon Center on November 24th, 2025, for a January 30th, 2026 release — both comfortably within the historical window. Chaos Rising, by contrast, was revealed over a month ago, and the preorder silence stretched long enough to become its own story. At one point, with 44 days left until launch, outlets were reporting that nobody — not fans, not insiders — knew what was behind the unusual cadence, or whether the delay was deliberate or unintentional.
According to PokeBeach, the set was officially revealed 32 days ago, meaning preorders have now opened roughly a month after reveal — a cadence that may indicate a shift in how future drops are timed.
A Possible New Pattern, and a Brand-New Program
It remains unclear why precedent was broken for this set. One theory is that future preorders may begin opening roughly a month after a set’s reveal, rather than the previous ~78-day window — which would represent a meaningful structural change to how the English TCG handles its release pipeline.
What we do know is that last week, the Pokémon Center quietly introduced something new. PokeBeach reported that the Pokémon Center announced a new early access program through an update to its FAQ. Customers subscribed to the Pokémon Center newsletter who meet specific criteria are eligible to be selected for early access, receiving a unique, non-transferable invitation link granting them early access to popular items.
As of now, Early Access is launching for only the US, Canada, and the UK. According to PokeBeach, the program has not yet been applied to any TCG products — but Chaos Rising would be the natural first candidate. Whether the Early Access program plays a role in this drop remains to be seen.
Fan reaction to the early access program has been mixed. Some are skeptical, worried that scalpers will simply create multiple email accounts to game the invitation system — a concern the Pokémon Center has attempted to address in its FAQ by stating that using multiple email addresses does not increase your chances of receiving an invitation, and may result in the invitation being voided.
Tips for Shopping on the Pokémon Center
According to PokeBeach, when visiting the Pokémon Center to place your preorder, it’s recommended to use an incognito window in Google Chrome to disable any browser extensions that might interfere with the website’s security systems.
You’ll also need to be prepared to wait. As has been the case since earlier this year, you will have to wait in a virtual queue to enter the website — a system that was implemented to combat scalpers. The queue was introduced after scalper groups exploited the Pokémon Center’s backend systems, with one Discord group reportedly purchasing over 42,000 products during a single preload incident.
The queue system has had mixed success — it is notoriously poor at distinguishing between bot activity and genuine human fans, leading to frustrating multi-hour waits that sometimes end with a sold-out page. Tips from the community remain consistent: join early, keep your payment info pre-filled, stay logged in, and don’t refresh the queue page.
What Is Chaos Rising?
For those catching up: Chaos Rising is the fourth main English Mega Evolution set, releasing May 22nd, with prereleases running May 9th through May 17th. The expansion adds five more Mega Evolution Pokémon ex, five additional Pokémon ex, a host of Illustration and Special Illustration Rare Pokémon, and 18 Ultra Rare Pokémon and Trainer cards. The set is headlined by Mega Greninja ex and is based almost entirely on Japan’s Ninja Spinner set.
With preorders now live, expect stock to move fast — it typically does. Setting up alerts via the Pokémon Center newsletter and tracking services like TrackALacker remains one of the most reliable ways to stay ahead of the drop.
Key information in this article was sourced from PokeBeach.com, the leading Pokémon TCG news site.
