Slowbro
Quick take
- Illustration Rare 090/084 from Pitch Black (ME05), released July 17, 2026
- Full-art scene by Mékayu; the regular print (card 30) is by CHORISO
- Top ten in the set by market price during release week, unusual for a non-ex card
- One of eleven Illustration Rares needed for a Pitch Black master set
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in Pitch Black
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 90/84 · $7.15 — 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 comfort pick in a set built on nightmares
Pitch Black leans hard into darkness. It adapts Japan's Abyss Eye expansion, and the mascot is Mega Darkrai ex, the nightmare Pokemon. Most of the secret rares deal in shadow and dread. Then there is card 090/084. Mékayu paints Slowbro stopped under a streetlight in Lumiose City, gazing up at the glow like it forgot where it was going. In a set about the dark, the one card about light is a Slowbro.
“Illustration Rare 090/084 from Pitch Black (ME05), released July 17, 2026”
Collectors noticed fast. Within days of release this card climbed into the set's top ten by market price, which put it ahead of a stack of Ultra Rares. Non-ex cards almost never do that, and the attack is not why. Slowbro has been a fan favorite for thirty years, and Illustration Rares are where that kind of character loyalty shows up in the price.
For master set builders, this is one of the eleven Illustration Rares (cards 085 to 095) you need from Pitch Black. It also draws buyers who are not chasing the set at all, Slowbro collectors and art collectors, so expect it to thin out of singles listings faster than its IR peers.
By the numbersMarket analysis
This sits in the set's top ten, above most of the other ten Illustration Rares and well below the Special Illustration Rare headliners like Mega Darkrai ex. For an IR of a non-ex Pokemon, that is a strong showing. Character demand is doing the lifting here, not rarity.
Two weeks in, the pattern is playing out as expected: the card trades around $17, holding near the top of the set's Illustration Rare pool while launch froth elsewhere deflated. Cards with a dedicated character following tend to hold or rebound where ordinary IRs drift, and Slowbro art cards have historically been in that group — so far this one is proving it.
Treat this as a collection piece, not an investment. IRs from modern sets rarely appreciate while product is in print. If you want it, the sensible play is to wait four to eight weeks for release hype to cool, then buy the dip. The character following gives it a better floor than the average IR, but it is still a mid-rarity card from a heavily printed modern set.
Almost no graded population exists yet two weeks in. Based on how comparable modern IRs behave, expect a modest premium for PSA 10 and thin returns on anything lower. Grading only makes sense if you pull a clean copy yourself or buy raw well below the going rate.
Official pull rate data for Pitch Black is still settling since the set released on July 17, 2026, but recent modern sets have put any Illustration Rare at roughly one in 12 packs. With eleven IRs in this set, the math on this specific Slowbro works out to well over 100 packs on average, call it three-plus booster boxes if luck is average. Buying the single is dramatically cheaper than pulling it.
IRs sit above regular holos but below Ultra Rares and SIRs in the rarity ladder. What makes this one interesting is that demand outruns its tier: it prices closer to the set's upper-middle cards than to a typical IR. In most sets, one or two IRs punch above their rarity on character appeal alone. In Pitch Black, this is that card.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Mékayu does not have the decades-deep catalog of a Sugimori or an Arita, so there is no established artist premium priced in yet. That cuts both ways. IRs like this one are exactly how illustrators build a following, and early demand suggests this piece is doing that work. The regular Slowbro print in this set is by CHORISO, a different artist entirely.
The scene shows Slowbro transfixed by a streetlight in Lumiose City, stopped in its tracks and staring up at the glow. Mékayu's style is bright, heavily saturated, and cartoon-like, closer to a storybook page than anything else in this set. Pitch Black treats the night as a threat on nearly every other card. Slowbro found the one light source and stayed to admire it. The joke lands because it is exactly what Slowbro would do.
Standard modern Illustration Rare treatment: full-bleed art with the textured holofoil finish used across the Mega Evolution era sets. The card itself is a Stage 1 Psychic type with 130 HP.
Contrast. Every other secret rare in Pitch Black is selling menace. This one has a Slowbro admiring a lamp. Illustration Rares reward artists who capture a Pokemon's personality in a small everyday moment, and few Pokemon have a more paintable personality than Slowbro.
BackgroundAbout Slowbro
Slowbro is original Kanto, number 080, the Slowpoke that got a Shellder clamped on its tail and somehow became more powerful for it. It has been a fan favorite for thirty years precisely because it is ridiculous. The vacant grin does a lot of the work. It received a Mega Evolution in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire back in 2014, and Mega Slowbro ex appears in Pitch Black itself, so the character has a direct stake in this era rather than a token cameo.
- ›One of the most meme-friendly designs in the original 151
- ›The relaxed, oblivious personality translates perfectly to slice-of-life card art
- ›Long TCG pedigree going back to the 1999 Fossil set
- ›Mega Slowbro ex is in this same set, giving Slowbro fans two chase targets in Pitch Black
- ›Fossil (1999), its English TCG debut in the vintage era
- ›Mega Slowbro introduced in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (2014)
- ›Galarian Slowbro, the Poison/Psychic regional form from the Sword and Shield generation
The card has a fun gimmick: All Out does 50 damage plus 160 more if your hand is empty, so a single Psychic energy can swing for 210. That is a real number, but emptying your hand on demand is awkward, and 130 HP does not survive long in the current game. Expect fringe experimentation, not tournament results. Buy it for the art.
Own it wellCollector guide
Modern IRs with the textured finish pick up surface scratches easily, and dark-background art shows whitening on edges and corners more than lighter cards. Check the bottom edge and the back corners first, that is where pack-fresh copies most often fail a 10.
Hold off unless you have a pack-fresh copy. The graded population is essentially zero right now and the raw price does not justify grading fees for most copies. If Slowbro copies keep their early strength after supply settles, a clean PSA 10 candidate becomes worth the fee. Check centering front and back before you send anything. Read the grading guide →
Penny sleeve into a semi-rigid or a snug toploader, art side away from direct light. If it lives in your master set binder, use side-loading pages and keep the binder stored upright. Textured cards should not slide against page material repeatedly. See the storage guide →
Do not chase this in release week. IR prices on freshly released sets almost always soften as more product gets opened, usually over four to eight weeks. Set a price alert, let the market settle, and buy raw from a seller with clear photos of both surfaces. If it bucks the trend and climbs instead, that tells you the character demand is real and you should not wait much longer. See the singles buying guide →
Counterfeit risk is low for a card at this price point and this fresh. Standard checks are enough: the textured foil pattern should be embossed and directional, not printed flat, and the card back should show the normal blue swirl gradient without blur.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Early reception has been warm. Set discussion is dominated by the Mega Darkrai ex chase, but this Slowbro made release-week most-wanted lists from set reviewers, and its market position backs that up. A Slowbro admiring a streetlight in a horror-themed set writes its own jokes, which helps a card travel.
Buzz remains mostly pull posts and set reviews. Among the Illustration Rares, this is one of the cards reviewers keep flagging. No standout viral moment yet, just steady affection, which is typically what durable demand looks like for character cards.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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