Pikachu No. 3 from the first Pokémon National Championship is heading to auction

An exceedingly rare Pokémon card that only was available to players in a tournament held in Japan more than a quarter of a century ago will be up for grabs April 21-22 in Trading Card Games Signature® Auction.

The Pokémon Trophy Pikachu No. 3 Trainer Bronze PSA Trading Card Game NM-MT 8 (Media Factory, 1997) 1st Tournament, Holo is one of just four PSA-certified copies to earn a NM-MT 8 grade, with none graded higher. The only way to get the card was to be a trainer at the First Official Pocket Monsters Tournament in Chiba, Japan, in 1997.

The card was awarded to the third-place winners, with each of them receiving these ultra-rare cards, and preferred entry into the Lizardon Mega Battle Tournament, which was just the second Pokémon TCG tournament and is considered by many to be the first official Pokémon TCG National Championships. This card is an enormously important part of Pokémon history.

The artwork was done by one of the most famous Pokémon artists, Mitsuhiro Arita, who also was responsible for the artwork on the cards awarded to those who finished first and second in each of the contests.

Also among the highlights is a Pokémon First Edition Base Set Sealed Booster Box (Wizards of the Coast, 1999). Sealed boxes like this one, from the first set released in 1999, are increasingly rare, as more and more boxes are being opened. This set includes characters like Blastoise, Venusaur, Mewtwo and the elusive Charizard.

A Pokémon VS 2001 Tropical Mega Battle Complete Deck CGC Trading Card Game Graded (The Pokémon Company, 2001) is being offered for the first time at public auction. Individual cards from these VS TMB decks are elusive, but complete sets are even more rare. The VS set of cards was released by Media Factory in Japan only. The set was not re-printed by Wizards of the Coast, so this English deck was printed in Japan. These decks were awarded to the 23 children participating in the 2001 TMB. The offered copy is in English, eight of which were given out during the 2001 events. CGC has graded all 30 cards between NM/Mint+ 8.5 to Gem Mint 9.5 grades. Of note: Clair’s Mantine card had an error on the resistance, which later was fixed for the 2002 version — when this was discovered, all of the matches that had already taken place had to be re-played.

Pokémon Charizard 4 First Edition Base Set PSA Trading Card Game GEM MT 10 (The Pokémon Company, 1999) Rare, Holo is arguably the hottest card in the entire hobby, and the offered example is graded a GEM MT 10. Charizard was featured on the cover of Pocket Monsters: Red, one of two versions of the first released Pokémon games in Japan. Since then, his popularity has grown as he is widely considered the fan favorite, even topping the franchise mascot: Pikachu.