First Partner Set Wave 1 Promos Revealed ✨, PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator Sells $13.3M ⚡️, Mario & Luigi Pikachu Boxes Sells ~$32k 🍀, 25th Anniv. Creatures Corporate History Box Sells ~$151k 🎁

📰 TCG News: First Partner Set Wave 1 Promos Revealed, “Abyss Eye” Set and “Storm Emeralda” Set Preliminary Details Revealed!, McDonald's Japan Ends Pokémon Happy Meals Over Reseller Abuse

🔢 Card Market Highlights: First Partner Set Wave 1 Promos Revealed, “Abyss Eye” Set and “Storm Emeralda” Set Preliminary Details Revealed!, McDonald's Japan Ends Pokémon Happy Meals Over Reseller Abuse

😴 Sleeper Pick: Destined Rivals - Team Rocket’s Meowth #203

🔵 “First Partner Illustration Collections” Wave 1 Starter Pokemon Promos Revealed!

Three “First Partner Illustration Collections” will be released across 2026 for Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, with Series 1 launching March 30 and featuring starters from Kanto, Sinnoh, and Alola.

Series 1’s Illustration Rare promos are now revealed, with artwork calling out iconic regional locations and items (like Gym Badges, the Pokédex, and Z-Crystals for Alola). Each collection includes a promo pack with 3 of 9 Illustration Rare cards, two booster packs, and a sticker sheet, while Series 2 and 3 will cover the remaining six generations later in 2026 (Source: PokéBeach).

🔵 “Abyss Eye” Set and “Storm Emeralda” Set Preliminary Details Revealed!

Japan's next two Pokémon TCG sets now have confirmed release dates: Abyss Eye on May 22nd and Storm Emeralda on July 31st. As previously speculated, the sets will feature Mega Darkrai ex and Mega Rayquaza ex, respectively and both names were first discovered as trademarks back in June 2025, making them a record 11 and 13 months from trademark to release.

The only remaining unrevealed trademark is Celebration Collection, expected to be a 30th anniversary set potentially releasing in September or October, following the precedent of Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (September 2016) and 25th Anniversary Collection (October 2021). (Source: PokéBeach)

🔵 McDonald's Japan Ends Pokémon Happy Meals Over Reseller Abuse

McDonald's Japan canceled its Pokémon Happy Set promotion after resellers bought meals in bulk solely for the included Pokémon cards, then dumped the food and trash outside restaurants. The Happy Sets, which included a toy and a Pokémon card for 510 yen (~$3.40), sold out in a single day, with resellers listing the cards on eBay for roughly $28 each. In response, McDonald's Japan announced it may limit per-person purchases, end online ordering for Happy Sets, and cancel official app memberships for repeat bulk buyers. (Source: USA TODAY)

🔵 Mario & Luigi Pikachu XY Promo Boxes Sells for $32.55k

These are two Japanese-exclusive Pokémon Center promo boxes from October 2016, released during the Mario Pikachu Campaign.

Sealed Type - Year: XY Promo Box - 2016
Contents: 1x full art holo (#294 Mario or #296 Luigi), 1x Holo (#293 Mario or #295 Luigi), 64x sleeves, 1x deck case, 1x storage Box, 2x dividers
Market Insight: In March 2025, this set of boxes sold for $13k and then for $20k in August 2025.

🔵 Japanese 1st Edition 20th Anniversary CP6 Booster Box Sells for $7.5k

Although many of the cards in this set were re-released in English, the box art is unique for recreating the art of the Japanese Base Set booster box but with Mega Evolution designs from the XY era.

Sealed Type - Year: Booster Box - 2016
Contents: 15 Packs
Market Insight: This massive $7,500 realization for the 1st Edition box sets a new local high, representing a staggering ~44% jump over recent January 2026 sales of ~$5,200.

🔵 PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator Sells for $13,300,000

This is the sole PSA GEM MT 10 copy of the 1998 Pikachu Illustrator, a card originally awarded to winners of the CoroCoro Comic "Pokémon Card Game Illustration Artist Contest" with an estimated 41 copies ever distributed.

Singles Type - Condition: Graded - PSA 10
Set Name - Year: CoroCoro Art Contest Promo - 1998
Market Insight: The final price with buyer's premium reached $16,492,000 on 97 bids. This card previously set the Guinness World Record for most expensive Pokémon card when it was acquired via private sale at around $5M.

🔵 2013 Pokemon World Championships Punch Cancelled No. 2 Trainer Sells for $10.1k

This is an exceptionally rare trophy card awarded to the second-place finishers at the 2013 World Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia. The "Punch Cancelled" designation refers to the hole punch physically applied to the card by The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) to void it, typically because these were extra copies or samples not intended for official distribution.

Singles Type - Condition: Graded - CGC 8.5
Set Name - Year: World Championships - 2013
Market Insight: There is very little information about this card or similar copies listed currently but this exact card was listed through another website (Double Infinity Gaming) and apparently sold for $40k although it's not clear when.

🔵 25th Anniversary Creatures Corporate History Box Sells for ~$151k

The 2021 Pokémon 25th Anniversary Creatures: Corporate History Factory-Sealed Half Deck is an ultra-rare, 30-card Japanese set gifted to Creatures Inc. employees and illustrators. With an estimated production of fewer than 400, this exclusive deck showcases 25 years of TCG history, including iconic, historic, and prototype card reprints.

Origin Source - Year: Employee awarded - 2021
Market Insight: One of these boxes sold for $200k in September 2025 (25% of that going to an auction house premium).

🔵 Neo Premium File Set Sells for ~$600

File 1 was released to celebrate the Pokémon Gold and Silver video game launch, while File 2 debuted at movie theaters during the Spell of the Unown: Entei theatrical run. These folders introduced the first-ever TCG look at Johto and the hobby's first "Reverse Holofoil" cards, including the Gen II starters, Entei, and Charizard.

Origin Source - Year: Promo folder - 1999, 2000
Market Insight: Sales for these folders have a decently wide range. Most recently in December 2025, a full set of these folders (whereas this particular sale was missing file 3) sold for $900. In January 2026, another sale of just the file 2 folder went for $579.

Since the release of Destined Rivals, numerous Art Rares have come down significantly in price following the initial hype but are still underrated. This Team Rocket’s Meowth is a great example with the “Team Rocket’s” prefix, and a unique art style featuring Meowth and Giovanni.