In 1995, the Pokémon Trading Card Game launched in Japan. Inspired by Richard Garfield’s Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon is still thriving over 25 years later. The numbers speak for themselves: As of March 2023, Pokémon has sold 52.9 billion cards across 89 countries and regions in 14 languages. And what’s more? Its popularity may not have even peaked: In the 2022/2023 fiscal year, The Pokémon Company sold 9.1 billion cards — over 18% of its lifetime sales total.
So perhaps it’s fitting that the secondary market for rare Pokémon cards has also exploded over the past year. A confluence of factors led to this, spearheaded by celebrities and influencers like Logan Paul, who make news for their latest high-profile sales and trades. This can send the perceived value of these cards through the roof, even though the intrinsic value of cardboard remains the same.
So we set out to determine the 11 most expensive Pokémon cards ever sold, auctioned, or traded for. So the next time you’re rummaging through a garage sale or decluttering your attic, keep an eye out. The odds are unlikely… but stranger things have happened. You can also check out our list of the best Pokemon card packs to buy now if these are out of your price range.
11. Snap Magikarp
Approximate worth: $136,000
Most of the cards on this list were never available in retail. This card, for instance, was part of a promotional gimmick for Pokémon Snap back in 1999. Players took screenshots and sent them to CoroCoro Magazine, and the five winning entrants received 20 custom cards with their screenshots printed on them. This graded Snap Magikarp, which had never been seen in public in 23 years, sold at an auction for $136,000 in January 2022, as reported by YouTuber smpratte.
10. No. 2 Trainer, Pokémon (2000) Japanese Super Secret Battle
Approximate worth: $137,500
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This card’s value is owed to its rarity — there is only one of it in existence. Nintendo customized this card for Toshiyuki Yamaguchi, who came in second place in Japan’s Secret Super Battle Best tournament held in August 2000. It sold through Heritage Auctions in July 2023 for $137,500.
9. Neo Genesis 1st Edition Holographic Lugia
Approximate worth: $144,300
One of the trading card game’s first major expansions, Neo Genesis incorporated second-generation Pokémon for the first time. Production issues in 2000 made grading this set more difficult than average, and this first edition holographic Lugia is one of only three to receive a BGS Pristine rating, which essentially means it’s a perfect specimen—centered, glossy, and sharp-cornered, with bright, original colors. It sold for $144,300 in May 2021.
8. Kangaskhan – Holo Family Event Trophy
Approximate worth: $175,000
Like Snap Magikarp and No. 2 Trainer before it, this card was never available at retail. In 1998, there was a Japanese tournament called Kangaskhan Family Event, which pitted parent/child teams against one another. If you won a high number of games, you received this card as a thematic prize, which depicts a Kangaskhan with a baby Kangaskhan in its pouch. A Gem Mint condition card sold for $175,000 in July 2023.
7. Ishihara GX Promo Card (Autographed)
Approximate worth: $247,230
These cards bear the likeness of The Pokémon Company president and visionary Tsunekazu Ishihara. The company handed out a limited number of these cards to employees as part of his 60th birthday celebration in 2017. Ishihara autographed this particular Near Mint card in black ink, and it sold for $247,230 in April 2021.
6. Bronze Pikachu No. 3 Trainer Trophy
Approximate worth: $300,000
This is a memento of the very first Pokémon tournament ever held at the Makuhari Messe Event Hall in Chiba, Japan, in June 1997. These cards were given out to four competitors who placed third during the tournament. This particular card was graded as Mint and sold for $300,000 in April 2023.
5. Blastoise Presentation Card
Approximate worth: $360,000
This Blastoise card has an interesting history. It was commissioned by Wizards of the Coast in mid-1998 as a “presentation” card, a template to convince Nintendo of the viability of the English-speaking market. There were only two such Blastoise cards printed; it’s unknown whether the other still exists. The known Blastoise is graded as Near Mint, and it sold in January 2021 for $360,000.
4. 1999 Pokémon Base Set Shadowless 1st Edition Holo Charizard
Approximate worth: $420,000
A true piece of Pokemon history, this is the 1st Edition Charizard from the 1999 Base Set. The artwork is iconic, possibly the most famous drawn image of the character with a dramatic, head-on perspective. There are very few Gem Mint Charizards from the original Base Set run — out of the 3,000 cards that exist, only 121 of them have been given the highest rating. This particular Gem Mint card sold for $420,000 in March 2022.
3. 1998 Pikachu Silver Trophy
Approximate worth: $444,000
An artifact from the Lizardon Mega Battle, the first international tournament in Japan, this card was given out as a trophy to the second-place winner. Fourteen of these cards are speculated to exist, but only four of them are confirmed. Out of those four, this is the only one with a Gem Mint rating. It sold at a Goldin auction for $444,000 in September 2023.
2. 1995 Pokemon Japanese Topsun Charizard, Scarce Blue Back
Approximate worth: $493,230
The 1995 designation of this card refers to the copyright; the actual card was distributed in 1997 in Japan. It’s pre-1st Edition, and it has a blue back that resembles that of a playing card. When it first went on sale in 1997, it came with a pack of apple-flavored bubble gum. Out of the 31 cards known to exist, this is the only one that’s graded Gem Mint. It sold for $493,230 at auction in January 2021.
1. 1998 Pikachu Illustrator
Approximate worth: $5.275 million
From 1997-1998, CoroCoro held three illustration contests: Pokémon Card Game Illust Artist Contest, Mewtwo’s Counterattack Commemoration Illust Artist Contest, and Pikachu’s Summer Vacation Commemoration Illust Artist Contest. The winners of these contests each received a Pokémon Illustrator card. Thirty-nine of these cards were created, although only 20 of them were ever distributed.
Today, the Pikachu Illustrator is the most expensive Pokémon card sold. Most notoriously, influencer and YouTube celebrity Logan Paul bought a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator card for $1.275 million in June 2021. A year later, he traded that card, plus $4 million in cash, to acquire a PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator. He wore this card on a diamond-encrusted necklace in April 2022, when he entered the ring at WWE Wrestlemania 38 to fight Rey Mysterio.
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. His byline has appeared in numerous publications, including Complex, Engadget, Vice, Playboy, Gamespot, Popverse, and Kotaku. A pop culture aficionado, Kevin has written long-form features on a wide range of subjects, including movies and television, video games, professional wrestling, comics, and emerging tech. He lives in New York with his wife and son. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.