Pokémon Center Second 30th Celebration Pre‑Order Wave Overwhelms Site

Long virtual queues, anti-bot blocks and checkout errors have left many customers with orders in their accounts while Elite Trainer Boxes remain reserved for later drops.

Overview

The Pokémon Center released a second pre-order wave that added the 30th Celebration Booster Bundle with a three-per-customer limit and the 30th Celebration Mini Tin Display with a one-per-customer limit.
Thousands of shoppers entered a virtual waiting room that showed long, changing timers and triggered frequent site failures reported as Error 17 and Error 43, which blocked or kicked users during checkout.
Checkout was unstable for many buyers, with credit-card acceptance problems, intermittent site crashes and delayed confirmation emails that led sites to advise customers to screenshot any on-screen order confirmation.
The company is enforcing product-specific purchase limits and running anti-bot protections that the community links to Error 17 and Error 43, and the Pokémon Center warns that breaking posted limits can cause cancellations or checkout issues.
Collectors say heavy demand, reseller bot activity and the staggered wave strategy have tightened availability, so observers expect more timed drops and continued strain on the site as remaining high-demand items are released.