30th Celebration: the complete guide to the Pokémon TCG 30th anniversary set

Published on 2 June 2026 and rewritten on 16 September with the final set list, the box configurations and the official rarity table.

• The essentials
• What it is
• Packs and boxes
• Rarities
• Futuristic Rare
• A Pikachu per pack
• The chase cards
• Classic Collection
• Japanese, English or Chinese
• Products
• FAQ

What 30th Celebration is

It's the set marking 30 years of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the natural successor to Celebrations, the 2021 set for the 25th anniversary. The formula is similar (festive new cards plus a tribute to the game's history), but The Pokémon Company raised the stakes on almost everything: the whole set is foil, there's a new rarity, every pack guarantees a Pikachu and, for the first time, a set came out on the same day worldwide, Japan included. The official Japanese site sells it as "世界同時発売" (simultaneous worldwide release), and in China it was the first Simplified Chinese expansion with no delay after Japan.

The theme is a day in the life of Pokémon: the new cards move through the hours from dawn to night, and the cover has Pikachu up front with Mew and Mewtwo behind. Legendaries from every generation are spread across the set (Ho-Oh, Lugia, the three birds, Kyogre and Groudon, Dialga and Palkia, Reshiram and Zekrom, Xerneas and Yveltal, Solgaleo and Lunala, Zacian and Zamazenta, Koraidon and Miraidon), but it doesn't have "every" legendary, as was rumored in the spring: Rayquaza, Giratina, Kyurem and the Regis are not in the main set.

What the packs and boxes look like

This is the first difference between languages, and it's worth having clear before you buy:

A fully foil set changes how opening feels: there are no non-holo commons as filler, and every pack has two fixed cards (the Pikachu and the YOSHIROTTEN Energy) plus four variable ones. The Japanese and Chinese boxes are the only way to open the set in bulk; Korean and Traditional Chinese boxes exist too, but far fewer of them reach Europe.

• Japanese booster box (M6a)20 packs × 6 foil cards
• Chinese booster box (30th C)20 packs × 6 foil cards · same set list as Japan
• Japanese booster pack6 foil cards · Pikachu and Energy guaranteed

The rarities: no SR, no UR, and one new one

Pokémon China published the official rarity and pull table for the Simplified Chinese edition, which shares its set list with the Japanese one card for card. It's the best map of the set there is:

Commons

45

Rares

18

Double Rare (ex)

10

Pikachu

30one per pack

Art Rare

20

Special Art Rare

10

Futuristic Rare

2

Classic Collection

30

Mew RGB

3

Energy

8one per pack

Production splits into three tiers: commons, Energy and Pikachu make up 89.83%; Rares, Double Rares, Art Rares and classics 9.17%; and SAR, FUR and Mew RGB together 1.00%. What stands out is what's missing: there's no Super Rare and no Ultra Rare. In a normal M set the ladder goes RR → AR → SR → SAR → UR; here the SR step disappears and there's no gold card. The top of the set is the two Futuristic Rares and the three secret Mew.

Futuristic Rare: YOSHIROTTEN's new rarity

The anniversary's big addition is a rarity that didn't exist before: the FUR (Futuristic Rare). There are two cards, Mew ex (135 in Japanese, 158 in English) and Mewtwo ex (134 / 157), both by YOSHIROTTEN, a Tokyo graphic artist and art director born in 1983, with exhibitions like FUTURE NATURE and SUN behind him, who makes his Pokémon TCG debut with this set. His style is light and saturated color, closer to graphic design than to classic card illustration, and The Pokémon Company describes it as a colorful vision that evokes hope in an unknown future.

YOSHIROTTEN doesn't stop at the two FURs: he also draws the three Mew RGB (R, G and B, outside the numbering and in the 1% tier) and the set's eight basic Energy cards, one in every pack, in the same style; the official Japanese site presents them as special designs by the artist.

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  FURMewtwo exFuturistic Rare134/103

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  FURMew exFuturistic Rare135/103

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  RGBMewYOSHIROTTEN · secretR/RGB

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  RGBMewYOSHIROTTEN · secretG/RGB

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  RGBMewYOSHIROTTEN · secretB/RGB

The two Futuristic Rares and the three Mew RGB from the Japanese set · tap any card to enlarge · © Pokémon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK

A different Pikachu in every pack

Thirty years, thirty Pikachu, thirty artists. Every pack has one, numbered 01/30 to 30/30, with a fireworks foil layer over the whole card. The first one (017 in Japanese, 023 in English) is by Ken Sugimori, the original Pokémon designer, who recreates his own Jungle Pikachu. After him come house veterans like Atsuko Nishida, Naoyo Kimura and Akira Komayama, and a good batch of newer names: sowsow, OKACHEKE, Shimaris Yukichi, nagimiso and svlt. All 30, with their illustrators and the numbering in each language, are in our post on the 30 Pikachu of 30th Celebration.

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  PikachuPikachu 01/30 · Ken Sugimori017/103

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  PikachuPikachu 06/30 · sowsow022/103

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  PikachuPikachu 18/30 · Shinji Kanda034/103

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  PikachuPikachu 28/30 · Shimaris Yukichi044/103

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  PikachuPikachu 14/30 · OKACHEKE030/103

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  PikachuPikachu 30/30 · Kazuki Minami046/103

Six of the 30 Pikachu: Ken Sugimori, sowsow, Shinji Kanda, Shimaris Yukichi, OKACHEKE and Kazuki Minami.

The set's chase cards

Below the FURs sit the ten Special Art Rares, one for each Pokémon ex in the set. The two Pikachu ex are the pair of the year: 126 is a daytime parade with Espeon and Fuecoco, 127 is the night party with fireworks and Umbreon, both by kantaro. Mew ex 129 and Gengar ex 131 round out the most wanted four, and among the 20 Art Rares the standouts are Lapras as a boat, Drifloon over the amusement park and the three regional Meowth. The full 176-card list is in our Japanese set post, and the 199-card list in the English set post.

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  SARPikachu exSpecial Art Rare126/103

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  SARPikachu exSpecial Art Rare127/103

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  SARMew exSpecial Art Rare129/103

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  SARGengar exSpecial Art Rare131/103

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  ARLaprasArt Rare106/103

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  ARDrifloonArt Rare111/103

The four most chased SARs and two of the Art Rares: Lapras 106 and Drifloon 111.

The Classic Collection: 30 classics with the 30 stamp

As in Celebrations, the set includes 30 historic cards reprinted, this time with the 30th anniversary stamp, a gold border and bright holo. It's no longer a leak: the list is official and runs in chronological order from 1996 (1999 in English) to 2023, numbered 136 to 165 in Japanese. You get Base Set Pikachu and Charizard (Mitsuhiro Arita), Misty from Gym Heroes, Shining Celebi, Lugia Crystal Type from Aquapolis, Gengar Prime, the two-card Darkrai & Cresselia LEGEND, N from Noble Victories, Pikachu & Zekrom GX and, to close, Shinji Kanda's Magikarp Illustration Rare. They aren't legal in the current Standard format. Card by card, with the story of each era, in our Classic Collection post.

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  30CharizardBase Set · 1999137/103

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  30Lugia (Crystal Type)Aquapolis · 2003142/103

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  30PikachuBase Set · 1999136/103

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  30Gengar PrimeTriumphant · 2010150/103

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  30Pikachu & Zekrom GXTeam Up · 2019160/103

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  30Magikarp (Illustration Rare)Paldea Evolved · 2023165/103

Six of the 30 classics: Charizard, Lugia Crystal Type, Base Set Pikachu, Gengar Prime, Pikachu & Zekrom GX and Magikarp.

Japanese, English or Chinese: which version to open

It depends on what you want. Japanese: the 20-pack booster box, the 176-card set list and the original Creatures print; it's the reference version and the one that trades most between collectors. Simplified Chinese: exactly the same set list and numbering as Japan, the same 20-pack box, and it's the first Chinese set with a simultaneous release; as far as we know, Base Set Charizard had never been printed in Simplified Chinese before. English: 25 more cards in the main set (the ones from the Espeon and Umbreon Premium Deck Set), two fewer Art Rares and different numbering, 199 in total, but no booster box: you have to go through the Elite Trainer Box, bundles, tins and collections, which come out in five waves from September to December. One more thing if you're chasing Art Rares: Nidorina and Ditto only exist inside a pack in Japanese and Chinese.

The set's products by market

• Japan (16 September): the 20-pack booster box, the Espeon & Umbreon Premium Deck Set (which TPCi used to build the English set) and the FUTURISTIC BOX, the big premium product of the anniversary. The 30th Celebration Card Sets followed on 16 October, with promos of the starter Pokémon.
• The West (16 September to 4 December): fifteen products in five waves. Elite Trainer Box, Pokémon Center ETB, Poster Collection, Tech Sticker Collection, Pokémon ex Box, Knock Out Collection and blister on 16 September; Mini Tins and Booster Bundle on 2 October; Battle Decks on 30 October; Ultra-Premium Collections, Ditto Premium and Figure Collections on 6 November; Binder Collection (and, according to PokéBeach, an ex tin) on 4 December. Everything, with its promos, is in our guide to the Western lineup.
• China (16 September): the 20-pack booster box, the Futuristic Gift Box with two Pikachu ex in FUR style, the Charizard box with a figure and 15 packs, and the Pikachu figure set. It's all in our post on the 30th anniversary in China.

If you're coming from the MEGA series, in Japan the set sits alongside Storm Emeralda (31 July, Mega Rayquaza ex) and the rest of the second half of 2026; our guides to Storm Emeralda and Delta Reign and to the whole Japanese catalog will help you get your bearings.

FAQ

Notes: set data from the official Japanese 30th anniversary site, Pokémon Center Online, Pokémon China (rarity table and Futuristic Gift Box), tcg.pokemon.com and the pokemon.com Product Showcase, and PokéBeach's listings of 9 and 10 September 2026; Korean box per Pokémon Korea (Pokémon Store Online lottery, 8 to 13 September) and Traditional Chinese box per the official Pokémon Asia site for Taiwan (20 packs of 6 cards). Images © Pokémon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK, used for informational purposes.