How to get a Best Buy Pokémon invitation: find the $49.99 offer, ask, and watch the app

What happened on October 19

The Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Box's Best Buy page said "Available by invitation", with an "Ask for an invite" button and a "How it works" link (Best Buy's product page, October 19, 2026). The $49.99 price matches the MSRP (PHD Games). It's what we call an invitation list: you ask first, then the store picks. On October 19, the invitation was still open in the Best Buy app at about 10:25 AM CT (11:25 AM ET), even though the website showed a marketplace seller's price first. On October 20, 2026, the invitation was still open (checked 11:18 AM CT (12:18 PM ET)): the page showed $49.99, "Sold by Best Buy" and an active "Ask for an invite" button, even when signed out.

How to get one: sign in, find the offer, ask, then watch

1. 1
   Check you're looking at Best Buy's own offer (the app is easiest). As of October 20, 2026, Best Buy's $49.99 offer showed on the product page even when signed out. If you see a marketplace seller at a higher price instead, as on October 19 when one was $162.59, sign in or open "More buying options" and pick the one "Sold by Best Buy".
2. 2
   Ask for an invite. On the Best Buy offer, tap "Ask for an invite". Best Buy's invitation system has worked this way since November 2025: sign in and tap the invite button (how the stores compare).
3. 3
   Use the Best Buy app and allow notifications. The page says to use the app, with a QR code to get it, and to enable notifications to hear right away if you're selected (Best Buy's product page, October 19, 2026).
4. 4
   If you're selected, check your email. Best Buy's invitation email said buying would open online on October 22 at 10:00 AM CT (11:00 AM ET), with 24 hours to complete your purchase and a limit of one per customer (Best Buy's invitation email, October 21, 2026). It did: at 10:11 AM CT (11:11 AM ET) the product page for an invited account showed an Add to cart button, "Sold by Best Buy", "23 hours 49 minutes" left to complete the purchase, and shipping (get it by Monday, October 26) or store pickup (Best Buy's product page for an invited account, October 22, 2026). A purchase went through at $49.99 with the one-per-customer limit, as we saw it on October 22, 2026. A November 2025 report also said 24 hours (PokeBeach, November 13, 2025).
5. 5
   If you aren't selected, you'll hear nothing special: "not everyone will get one." The same report says people who weren't picked stay on the list in case of a restock (PokeBeach, November 13, 2025).

What being selected looks like

As of October 21, 2026, selected customers got an email and saw this on the product page:

If you didn't get the email and the product page doesn't show "You're invited", you weren't selected this time, as far as we can tell.

Once buying opened on October 22, the product page for an invited account showed a countdown, an Add to cart button and "Sold by Best Buy":

What we don't know yet

As of October 22, 2026, we haven't confirmed these, because we couldn't read Best Buy's "How it works" text ourselves:

• Who sees Best Buy's own $49.99 offer. On October 19 it showed signed in or in the app; on October 20 it also showed signed out. We saw one view each day and don't know why it differed or whether every account sees it.
• How many customers Best Buy selected, and whether more invitation rounds will follow. The page's own wording says only that supply is limited.
• How people are picked. The November 2025 report describes checks for bots using purchase history, membership and browser behavior (PokeBeach, November 13, 2025); Best Buy's page doesn't say so in the wording we have.
• Whether the sale will reopen or spread to other products. We'll update this guide when we know.

Hear about invitation lists when they open

Our free email alerts cover invitation lists (how email alerts work), and we sent one for this sale on October 19. Pick Pokémon when you sign up. Getting the most out of free alerts covers the store accounts, inbox and phone settings to set up before one arrives.