Putting this out there up front, there is no “wrong” way to arrange and enjoy your pokemon cards. I’m just making a case for something more visually interesting than set order. 

I was around 10 or so when Pokemon first came out in the US and got to experience peak excitement and the onset of pokemon card collecting. 

When we collected as kids and you looked at somebody’s binder, the usual arrangement was usually either:  
\- by type (can be visually appealing)  
\- pokedex order (my personal fav)  
\- by personal favorites (respect)  
\- zero organization whatsoever, they just needed a place to put them (chaotic good)

Nobody ever really arranged them in order based on the set numbers (Southern Islands excluded of course), and at 10 or so no kids had the goal of completing what we know as a master set today. My goal as a kid was to have all of the original 151 in pokedex order which just felt right considering that was such a common arrangement on posters and in other places. The pokemon and their evolutions just felt like they belonged together. 

I’m not trying to gatekeep here, arrange your cards in a way that makes you happy, but I’ve always felt that alphabetical set order runs counter to the spirit of pokemon. The pokedex was already a defined order and placing pokemon next to their evolutions I think makes for a more visually appealing presentation and elevates the presence moreso than if they are isolated. 

I also see so many collectors who flip through just the first few pages of a binder to see the “heavies” and treat the rest as “bulk”, which is a shame considering there is so much stunning artwork and design to be found on the non-holo cards as well.

Anyway, here are a few examples of arrangements where I think the cards are at their best near each other but would never be otherwise if in set order. I’m a fan of pokedex order but with a few creative liberties so that the cards arrange nicely in a 9 pocket binder, but I’d love to see the arrangements you guys have come up with outside of set order.  

Anyone else feel that arranging in set order feels kinda boring?