Set announcement
New Blastoise would let Mega Starmie ex knock out 67% of non-ex Basics on the Bench, up from 9%
Taiwan and Hong Kong's official Pokémon TCG channel revealed an Aura Seeker Blastoise whose Ability adds 30 damage to Water Pokémon attacks on the Bench. We ran every Water attack in Standard that hits the Bench against the HP of every non-ex Basic Pokémon.
Taiwan and Hong Kong’s official Pokémon TCG channel revealed a new Blastoise on Oct 30. Its Ability, 增水泵 (PokeBeach translates it as Torrential Pump), reads, in our translation of the card shown in the video: “As long as this Pokémon is in play, attacks used by your Water Pokémon do 30 more damage to your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. This Ability’s effect doesn’t stack.”
It’s a Stage 2 with 170 HP, Lightning Weakness, a Retreat Cost of 3, and one attack, Heavy Splash: 140 damage for three Water Energy. The video shows it as 016/078, a Rare with regulation mark J, in the Traditional Chinese release of Aura Seeker, plus an alternate-art promo of it in the Aura Seeker Bonus Set.
The official reveal, in Mandarin, from the Pokémon TCG channel for Taiwan and Hong Kong (Oct 30, 2026). It starts at the Bonus Set’s bonus pack, just before Mega Lucario Z ex and Blastoise; the products come earlier.
What the Ability does, and doesn’t#
It adds damage only where an attack already damages the Bench. It doesn’t give any Water Pokémon a new Bench attack, it doesn’t change damage to the Active Pokémon, and a second Blastoise adds nothing. It works from the Bench, since “in play” covers both.
We checked every Water Pokémon legal in Standard (regulation marks H, I, and J since the 2026 rotation) in pokemontcg.io’s card data. 17 have an attack that can damage a Benched Pokémon. For those with fixed damage, here’s what the extra 30 changes against the 689 different non-ex Basic Pokémon in Standard, each name and HP counted once. Bench damage ignores Weakness and Resistance, so a knockout comes down to damage against HP.
| Attack | Bench damage | With Blastoise | Basics KO’d now | Basics KO’d with Blastoise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard (Regice, N’s Vanilluxe) | 10 to each | 40 to each | 0% | 5% |
| Ice Shot (Glastrier), Shoot Through (Keldeo) | 20 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 0% | 9% |
| Chilling Wings (Frosmoth) | 20 to each | 50 to each | 0% | 9% |
| Hail (Articuno) | 30 to each | 60 to each | 2% | 28% |
| Overrun (Suicune), Frost Bullet (Glaceon ex) | 30 to 1 | 60 to 1 | 2% | 28% |
| Aqua Split (Cynthia’s Milotic) | 30 to 2 | 60 to 2 | 2% | 28% |
| Aqua Dive (Mantine), Jetting Blow (Mega Starmie ex) | 50 to 1 | 80 to 1 | 9% | 67% |
| Targeted Dive (Prinplup) | 70 to 1 | 100 to 1 | 56% | 74% |
| Spit Shot (Cramorant), Torrential Pump (Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex) | 120 to 1 | 150 to 1 | 90% | 99.7% |
The biggest jump is at 50. The two most common HPs among those Basics are 70 and 60: 50 damage knocks out neither, 80 knocks out both. Mega Starmie ex’s Jetting Blow does 120 to the Active and 50 to a Benched Pokémon for one Water Energy. With Blastoise in play, that Bench hit would knock out 67% of those Basics, against 9% now.
Spread attacks gain on every Benched Pokémon at once. Articuno’s Hail does 30 to each of the opponent’s Pokémon; with Blastoise, it’s 60 to each one on the Bench. Frosmoth’s Chilling Wings goes from 20 to 50 on each, also for one Water Energy. Three more attacks scale: Kyurem ex’s Blizzard Burst, Greninja ex’s Stealthy Slash, and Seaking’s Hydro Jet. The video’s hosts name Greninja ex, Mega Starmie ex, and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex as partners.
These are pairings on paper, not tested decks. Blastoise takes a Bench spot and a Stage 2 setup, and nothing here says it will see play.
Where it’s coming out#
The video’s description dates the Traditional Chinese Aura Seeker, its Bonus Set, and a 10-Pack Plus set for Dec 4; Japan’s Aura Seeker comes out Nov 27, per the official Japanese site. The Bonus Set (NT$2,230, HK$537) holds a booster box and 10 more packs, a 6-card bonus pack, and a card frame. The bonus pack has one of three combinations at random: alternate-art Mega Lucario Z ex or Blastoise, each with five basic Energy, or a Fighting one the hosts say will be shown Nov 6. Japan’s official card database doesn’t list this Blastoise yet.
PokeBeach reports that Aura Seeker comes to English as Flowing Fists on Feb 5, 2027, and expects Blastoise to be one of its prerelease promos. The Pokémon Company hasn’t announced Flowing Fists, so treat the table as a preview of a card that could still change. What earlier sets predict for Flowing Fists is in our earlier story.