Pikachu · XY Evolutions, what to know.
About the Pikachu card
Pikachu is card 35 of 113 in XY Evolutions, released in November 2016, a Common. It is a Basic Lightning-type with 60 HP.
As a Basic Pokémon, Pikachu needs no prior evolution to put into play, which made it a practical card in the era's decks.
Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. Arita painted the Base Set Charizard and much of the early holo run, and his work has a painterly weight that set the visual tone of the Wizards era.
The Pokédex entry printed on Pikachu reads: "It has small electric sacs on both its cheeks. If threatened, it looses electric charges from the sacs."
About Pikachu in the Pokémon world
The franchise mascot. An Electric-type rodent with red cheeks, a lightning-bolt tail, and a vocabulary limited to its own name in the anime. The most-printed Pokémon card in history. The Base Set print has a famous yellow-cheeks variant that commands a premium over the standard red-cheeks 1st Edition.
What is Pikachu worth?
Pikachu is a Common, so raw copies trade for very little and most of the print run survives. The only real value is in pristine, high-grade copies, where even a Common can reach low triple digits in 1st Edition PSA 10. See the live price above for the current figure by grade.
Print variants and how to spot them
Confirm the print and finish on Pikachu before pricing it, since variant and rarity set the market more than the card name alone.
Grading and condition
Pikachu is the most forgiving tier to grade in the set. Centering on the framed border is the usual cap, and the soft cardstock picks up edge whitening easily, but high print runs keep clean copies affordable.
If you are collecting Pikachu
Raw copies of Pikachu are inexpensive enough that grading rarely pays unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completion, a clean sleeved Pikachu is the practical move.
