Pikachu ex
Quick take
- Night half of the Day and Night Special Illustration Rare pair with Pikachu ex 149/128
- Illustrated by kantaro; the regular print at 054/128 is by takuyoa, not 5ban Graphics
- 190 HP Basic Lightning Pokemon ex, Fighting weakness, no resistance, retreat 1
- Zip-Zap Frenzy and Thunder, a different attack line from the Day card
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in 30th Celebration
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 150/128 · $57.55 — the only variant this card was printed in (no reverse holo or special pattern), so a master set needs just this one copy.
The storyThe half of the Pikachu pair that collectors pay more for
The Night card is the second of kantaro's two Pikachu ex Special Illustration Rares, and it is a different card from the Day one rather than a repaint. It has its own attacks, its own regular print at 054/128 by takuyoa, and its own crowd of about two dozen Pokemon from the set.
“Night half of the Day and Night Special Illustration Rare pair with Pikachu ex 149/128”
That crowd leans darker. Gengar, Umbreon, Midnight Form Lycanroc, Hisuian Zoroark and Chandelure fill a scene lit by fireworks, while Mewtwo and Jirachi float above it. Greninja, sitting near the right edge, makes a fourth: Greninja ex, Gengar ex, Mewtwo ex and Jirachi ex all have their own SIRs in the set, so this card points to four more chase slots.
For a master set the Night card is usually the harder half to fill by buying, because it has sold above the Day card since release.
By the numbersMarket analysis
Third among the Special Illustration Rares, behind Mew ex and Gengar ex, and ahead of the Day Pikachu. The Night card has led the Day card in every source since release. In Japan too, the Night card was the most expensive Japanese SAR in one late-September price table.
Roughly halved since release day, but it has held up better than the Day card, which fell further. The whole set has dropped over the first three weeks as generous pull rates and fresh product, including a wave of booster bundles in early October, put more singles on the market.
Prices are still drifting down and the November Ultra-Premium Collections add more boosters, so there is no hurry for a binder copy. Night has held up better than Day so far, but it has still roughly halved, and nothing three weeks in says the decline has finished.
Too early to say. There is no meaningful PSA or CGC population three weeks after release and no reliable centring data for this card.
About 1 in 210 packs for this specific card, the same as the Day card, from a count of more than 3,000 English packs. Any SIR appears about once in 21 packs. In a 9-pack Elite Trainer Box the chance at this card is roughly 4%.
The Night card is no rarer than the Day card. The price gap between them comes from demand. Across the set, a specific SIR is far easier to pull than in recent Mega Evolution sets, where any SIR runs about 1 in 80 packs.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
kantaro painted both Pikachu ex SIRs. The regular prints are split between two artists: 5ban Graphics on the Day card's 053/128 and takuyoa on this card's 054/128.
A night party under fireworks. Pikachu sits in the centre with Eevee in front of it, Hisuian Zorua on the left, Gengar and Midnight Form Lycanroc behind, and Umbreon's red eye and glowing rings at the bottom right. Mewtwo and Jirachi hang among the fireworks at the top. The rest of the crowd is Illumise, Greninja, Zapdos, Amped Form Toxtricity, Chandelure, Cosmoem, Lucario, Seismitoad, Nidoran female, Alolan Meowth, Scraggy, Galarian Meowth, Ferrothorn, Gholdengo, Jangmo-o, Kommo-o, Snorlax and Hisuian Zoroark.
Special Illustration Rare, numbered 150/128 in the secret block. Every card in the set is foil, so the extended art and number are what separate it. The 30th anniversary stamp sits on the art, as on every SIR in the set.
Read next to the Day card, many of the cameos look like answers to each other: Mewtwo here for Mew there, Umbreon for Espeon, Illumise for Volbeat, Cosmoem for Cosmog, Zapdos for the other two birds, and two regional Meowth for the ordinary one. That pairing is our own reading, not an official one. The checkable part is that the two crowds together include every other Pokemon with a Special Illustration Rare in the set, so the Night card carries the Greninja, Mewtwo, Gengar and Jirachi half of that list.
BackgroundAbout Pikachu ex
Thunder is a move Pikachu can learn in the games, and the Night card turns it into a 200-damage attack that costs Pikachu ex 30 damage of its own. As the anime's lead from 1997, Pikachu became the franchise mascot, and this anniversary set gives it thirty numbered illustrations before the two SIRs.
- ›Pikachu cards sell to people who otherwise never buy singles
- ›A night scene with Gengar, Umbreon and Mewtwo, which pulls in fans of those Pokemon as well
- ›Being the pricier half of a pair most master set collectors want to finish
- ›Pokemon Yellow, 1998, as the starter that follows the player around outside its Poke Ball
- ›The animated series from 1997, alongside Ash
- ›This set's thirty numbered Pikachu, 023/128 to 052/128, one per pack
Zip-Zap Frenzy costs one Lightning Energy and lets you attach any number of Basic Energy cards from your hand to your Pokemon in any way you like. Thunder does 200 for Lightning, Lightning and Colorless, and Pikachu ex takes 30 damage itself. Where the Day card sets up your Bench, this one powers it up.
Own it wellCollector guide
Fireworks and glow effects hide light surface scratches, so tilt the card under a light before deciding on condition, and check the corners and the back on any raw copy.
Hold off for now. Without population data or centring reports there is nothing to price a submission against, and raw prices are still settling. Read the grading guide →
Penny sleeve, then a semi-rigid or a well-fitted toploader. In a binder, give it the pocket next to the Day card so the two crowds sit together. See the storage guide →
If you are buying both Pikachu, this is the one that costs more, so look for sellers offering the pair. If you pulled the Day card, budget for Night being the bigger purchase. The Night Ultra-Premium Collection on November 6 includes a separate YOSHIROTTEN Pikachu ex promo, which is a Black Star Promo and not a substitute for this card. See the singles buying guide →
Check the number, 150/128, and the kantaro credit at the bottom left. Compare the foil pattern with a known copy under angled light and buy from sellers who accept returns.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Collectors have paid more for the Night card than the Day card since release, in English and in Japan. As with every SIR in the set, the anniversary stamp on the art draws complaints.
Discussion has centred on spotting the cameos and on pulling both halves of the pair. One opening story from the first weeks had a child pull this card in his first-ever packs, from a Knockout Collection, followed by a Mew ex SIR.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
Keep collectingRelated cards
The Day half of the pair, also by kantaroPikachu ex
Gengar appears in the Night crowd and has its own SIRGengar ex
Mewtwo appears above the Night crowd and has its own SIRMewtwo ex
Jirachi appears among the fireworks and has its own SIRJirachi ex
Greninja appears in the Night crowd and has its own SIRGreninja exPlan your Mega Evolution 30th Celebration master set
Track every card, see what you're missing, and lay out your binder page by page.
