How Flareon Ended Up on a 1997 Japanese Trading Sticker

Flareon No.339 — 1997 Amada Pokemon Trading Sticker

A First-Wave Licensed Product From Amada

This is a trading sticker produced by Amada in 1997, placing it among the earliest officially licensed Pokemon merchandise to reach Japanese consumers. The front displays the Pocket Monsters logo, the Japanese character name “Booster” (Flareon’s name in Japan), a “LV.46” designation, and the series number 339 inside a Pikachu-tail-shaped frame. Two additional emblem numbers — 114 and 360 — appear in the upper corners alongside a green-leaf icon; these are specific to Amada’s own design format. The Pocket Monsters logo printed on the card confirms it as an officially licensed product from Nintendo and Game Freak’s side.

Amada was a well-established Japanese manufacturer of trading stickers and cards throughout the 1990s, producing series for major properties including Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon alongside Pokemon. Their products were a separate line from Bandai’s Carddass system, operating under their own license. Distribution ran primarily through candy stores, stationery shops, and convenience stores in small packs; some titles also circulated through vending machines, though the exact format for this series isn’t fully documented. The series number 339 indicates a lineup running well into the hundreds — a structure Amada used deliberately to keep collectors working toward a complete set.

Flareon and the Eevee Evolutionary Line

Flareon — Booster in Japanese — holds Pokedex number 136 and is a Fire-type Pokemon that evolves from Eevee when exposed to a Fire Stone. It is one of the original Eeveelutions introduced in the first Pokemon games, and its appearance here — orange-yellow fur, warm flame-toned background — is consistent with the character’s design across both the Game Boy RPGs and the animated series. The “LV.46” notation on the sticker borrows from in-game stat displays; applying that language to merchandise was a characteristic Amada choice.

Pokemon launched in Japan in February 1996 with the Game Boy titles Pocket Monsters Red and Green. The anime began broadcasting on TV Tokyo in April 1997 and became a cultural phenomenon within that first year. This sticker dates to that same period, placing it among the merchandise tied directly to the anime’s debut season. Pokemon wouldn’t reach North America officially until 1998 and 1999, making items from this period part of the original domestic Japanese release that preceded international expansion.

The Sticker Culture Behind the Item

Trading stickers were a fixture of Japanese children’s culture through the 1980s and 1990s, predating the card game boom. Kids collected and traded them; many were stuck onto notebooks or pencil cases, which is why well-preserved examples tend to be those that were stored away rather than used. Amada’s Pokemon stickers carry a visual language specific to their brand — level indicators, emblem numbering, and the Pikachu-tail series framing — that distinguishes them from Bandai’s releases and other licensed goods of the same era.

Flareon belongs to the original 151 Pokemon, the generation that established the franchise’s global reach. The Eevee line in particular has retained a dedicated following across every subsequent era of the series. For collectors focused on early Japanese Pokemon merchandise, Amada stickers represent a defined category: Japanese-text originals produced before any international release, carrying design details that reflect both the franchise’s first year and the manufacturing conventions of a company central to 1990s Japanese collectible culture.