How many cards are in Base Set?

Base Set has 102 cards, numbered 1/102 through 102/102. Sixteen of them are holo rares, which is the run most collectors are actually chasing.

How many holo rares are in Base Set?

Sixteen, and all sixteen are Pokémon: Alakazam, Blastoise, Chansey, Charizard, Clefairy, Gyarados, Hitmonchan, Machamp, Magneton, Mewtwo, Nidoking, Ninetales, Poliwrath, Raichu, Venusaur, and Zapdos. Base Set printed no holo Trainer or Energy cards, so the holo run is exactly those sixteen.

What does the number on the bottom of a Pokémon card mean?

It reads as position over set total. A card marked 4/102 is the fourth card in a 102-card set. If the left number is larger than the right, the card was printed beyond the official count and is a secret rare.

Which Pokémon set has the most cards?

Of the sets in this reference, Scarlet & Violet is the largest at 250 cards. Modern sets are consistently far larger than Wizards-era ones, which mostly sat between 60 and 130 cards.

Do set totals include Trainer and Energy cards?

Yes. The printed total counts every card in the set, including Trainers and Energy, and includes secret rares where a set printed them. That is why the number of Pokémon in a set is always lower than its total.

How Many Cards Are In Each Pokemon Set: Full Count by Set

The short answer

Base Set has 102 cards. Jungle has 64, Fossil 62, and Team Rocket 83. Modern sets run far larger: Scarlet & Violet base is 250 and Pokémon 151 is 207 including secret rares. The smallest set in this reference is Celebrations at 25 cards, the largest is Scarlet & Violet at 250. If the left number on a card is higher than the right, it is a secret rare printed beyond the official total.

Key takeaways

The collector number reads as position over set total, so 4/102 is the fourth card of 102.
A left number higher than the right one means a secret rare, printed beyond the official count.
Base Set has 102 cards and 16 holo rares. Wizards-era sets run roughly a fifth to a quarter holo.
Modern sets replaced the holo slot with Double Rare, Illustration Rare, and Special Illustration Rare.
Set totals include Trainers and Energy, so a master set needs more slots than the printed total suggests.

Every set, by card count

The number printed on the bottom right of a card is the set total, and it is the fastest way to tell whether you are holding a base-set card or a secret rare. If the left number is higher than the right one, the card sits above the official count and is a secret rare. The table below gives the official total for every set we track.

Set	Era	Released	Cards in set
Base Set	Wizards of the Coast, early	January 9, 1999	102
Jungle	Wizards of the Coast, early	June 16, 1999	64
Fossil	Wizards of the Coast, early	October 10, 1999	62
Base Set 2	Wizards of the Coast, early	February 24, 2000	130
Team Rocket	Wizards of the Coast, early	April 24, 2000	83
Gym Heroes	Wizards of the Coast, early	August 14, 2000	132
Gym Challenge	Wizards of the Coast, early	October 16, 2000	132
Neo Genesis	Wizards of the Coast, Neo	December 16, 2000	111
Neo Discovery	Wizards of the Coast, Neo	June 1, 2001	75
Neo Revelation	Wizards of the Coast, Neo	September 21, 2001	66
Neo Destiny	Wizards of the Coast, Neo	February 28, 2002	113
Legendary Collection	Wizards of the Coast, late	May 24, 2002	110
Expedition Base Set	Wizards of the Coast, late	September 15, 2002	165
Aquapolis	Wizards of the Coast, late	January 15, 2003	182
Skyridge	Wizards of the Coast, late	May 12, 2003	182
XY Evolutions	XY	November 2, 2016	113
Hidden Fates	Sun & Moon	August 23, 2019	69
Sword & Shield	Sword & Shield	February 7, 2020	216
Vivid Voltage	Sword & Shield	November 13, 2020	203
Evolving Skies	Sword & Shield	August 27, 2021	237
Brilliant Stars	Sword & Shield	February 25, 2022	186
Astral Radiance	Sword & Shield	May 27, 2022	216
Lost Origin	Sword & Shield	September 9, 2022	217
Silver Tempest	Sword & Shield	November 11, 2022	217
Crown Zenith	Sword & Shield	January 20, 2023	160
Crown Zenith Galarian Gallery	Sword & Shield	January 20, 2023	70
Scarlet & Violet	Scarlet & Violet	March 31, 2023	250
Obsidian Flames	Scarlet & Violet	August 11, 2023	230
Scarlet & Violet 151	Scarlet & Violet	September 22, 2023	207
Prismatic Evolutions	Scarlet & Violet	January 17, 2025	180
Mega Evolution	Mega Evolution	September 26, 2025	188
Phantasmal Flames	Mega Evolution	January 30, 2026	130
Ascended Heroes	Mega Evolution	April 17, 2026	250
Celebrations	Anniversary	October 8, 2021	25
Celebrations Classic Collection	Anniversary	October 8, 2021	25

Official printed card count for all 35 sets in the Binder catalog. Totals include Pokémon, Trainer, and Energy cards, and count secret rares where a set printed them.

How many holo rares each Wizards set has

For the Wizards of the Coast era the holo count is the number most collectors actually want, because the holo run is the set. Base Set has 16, and the ratio barely moves across the era: a Wizards set is usually somewhere between a tenth and a quarter holo by card count.

Set	Cards in set	Holo rare Pokémon	Share of set
Base Set	102	16	15.7%
Jungle	64	16	25.0%
Fossil	62	15	24.2%
Base Set 2	130	20	15.4%
Team Rocket	83	14	16.9%
Gym Heroes	132	14	10.6%
Gym Challenge	132	16	12.1%
Neo Genesis	111	18	16.2%
Neo Discovery	75	17	22.7%
Neo Revelation	66	14	21.2%
Neo Destiny	113	15	13.3%
Legendary Collection	110	19	17.3%
Expedition Base Set	165	32	19.4%
Aquapolis	182	32	17.6%
Skyridge	182	32	17.6%
XY Evolutions	113	13	11.5%
Hidden Fates	69	3	4.3%
Sword & Shield	216	15	6.9%
Vivid Voltage	203	18	8.9%
Evolving Skies	237	20	8.4%
Brilliant Stars	186	8	4.3%
Astral Radiance	216	18	8.3%
Lost Origin	217	21	9.7%
Silver Tempest	217	12	5.5%
Crown Zenith	160	13	8.1%
Celebrations	25	5	20.0%

Holo rare Pokémon per set. A handful of Wizards sets also printed holo Trainer or Energy cards, Team Rocket among them, and those are not counted here, so treat this as the Pokémon holo run rather than every holo in the set.

Modern chase rarities by set

From Sword & Shield onward the useful question changed. Nobody asks how many holos a modern set has; they ask how many Illustration Rares there are to chase, or how many Special Illustration Rares stand between them and a master set. Those counts are below.

Set	Cards in set	Double Rare	Illustration Rare	Special Illustration Rare
Scarlet & Violet	250	12	24	6
Obsidian Flames	230	21	12	4
Scarlet & Violet 151	207	12	16	5
Prismatic Evolutions	180	25	0	26
Mega Evolution	188	10	22	6
Phantasmal Flames	130	10	13	4
Ascended Heroes	250	39	33	0

Pokémon-card counts only. Modern sets also print Trainer Illustration Rares and Trainer Special Illustration Rares, which are not included here, so treat these as the Pokémon floor rather than the full set count.

Reading the number on the card

The collector number sits at the bottom right and reads as position over total. A Base Set Charizard is 4/102, meaning the fourth card in a 102-card set. When the left number exceeds the right one, as with 205/165, the card was printed beyond the official count and is a secret rare. Modern sets also use letter prefixes for subsets, such as TG for Trainer Gallery and GG for Galarian Gallery, which are numbered separately from the main set.

Common questions

How many cards are in Base Set?: Base Set has 102 cards, numbered 1/102 through 102/102. Sixteen of them are holo rares, which is the run most collectors are actually chasing.
How many holo rares are in Base Set?: Sixteen, and all sixteen are Pokémon: Alakazam, Blastoise, Chansey, Charizard, Clefairy, Gyarados, Hitmonchan, Machamp, Magneton, Mewtwo, Nidoking, Ninetales, Poliwrath, Raichu, Venusaur, and Zapdos. Base Set printed no holo Trainer or Energy cards, so the holo run is exactly those sixteen.
What does the number on the bottom of a Pokémon card mean?: It reads as position over set total. A card marked 4/102 is the fourth card in a 102-card set. If the left number is larger than the right, the card was printed beyond the official count and is a secret rare.
Which Pokémon set has the most cards?: Of the sets in this reference, Scarlet & Violet is the largest at 250 cards. Modern sets are consistently far larger than Wizards-era ones, which mostly sat between 60 and 130 cards.
Do set totals include Trainer and Energy cards?: Yes. The printed total counts every card in the set, including Trainers and Energy, and includes secret rares where a set printed them. That is why the number of Pokémon in a set is always lower than its total.

Keep reading

How many cards are in each Pokémon set.