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One artist, two Pokemon Card Game collaborations and ten promo cards: Yu Nagaba Pokemon cards are the 2021 Pikachu promo and the nine-card Yu Nagaba Eevee promo run of 2023, alongside three retail products.
Yu Nagaba (長場雄) is a Tokyo illustrator known for stripping a subject down to a handful of confident lines — and in 2021 and again in 2023, The Pokemon Company handed him Pikachu and then the entire Eevee family to redraw in that style. The results never went through a normal booster pack. They were promos, raffle prints, and box sets tied to in-store spend, and the nine 2023 cards were handed out at random.
The 2023 “Eevee’s” collab produced nine YU NAGABA-illustrated promos, 062/SV-P through 070/SV-P, one for Eevee and each of its eight evolutions, handed out one at random per ¥1,000 (tax included) spent on card-related products at Pokemon Center stores and Pokemon Center Online from May 24, 2023. The 2021 collaboration added one Pikachu promo, distributed from July 22, 2021.
- The 2023 promo distribution started May 24, 2023, and the artist is 長場雄, per the official Pokemon Card Game announcement.
- The 2021 Special BOX price and the Pikachu promo distribution date are per the official 2021 announcement.
- Browse our card lists page for Japanese set and promo lists.
Who Is Yu Nagaba
The official Pokemon Card Game announcement describes Yu Nagaba as a Tokyo-born artist (1976) with collaborations including UNIQLO, ASICS and G-SHOCK. He studied design at Tokyo Zokei University before spending about six years as an in-house graphic designer for the apparel brand graniph, working on T-shirt prints. He went independent as an illustrator after that, and the style he’s known for now is deliberately minimal — thick, deformed outlines that capture a subject in the fewest lines possible, almost always in flat black and white or a limited palette.
He’s a member of the Tokyo Illustrators Society, posts a new drawing to Instagram most days as a standing practice, and has picked up the nickname “Kaeru Sensei” (frog teacher) along the way. His client list runs well beyond trading cards: magazine covers for POPEYE, GINZA, and WIRED, plus brand collaborations with UNIQLO, SoftBank (LINE stickers), Panasonic web ads, PRONTO cup designs, a Beams x Star Wars T-shirt line, Tokyo Metro manner posters, Columbia Sportswear’s 2019 Fuji Rock Festival merchandise, and Calbee snack packaging in 2021.
The line-art style is exactly why the Pokemon collaborations read so differently from a standard illustrated card. Nagaba’s Pikachu and his Eevee don’t look like the franchise’s usual painterly artwork — they look like sketches, and that’s the point.
Collab #1: The 2021 Pikachu Promo
The first Yu Nagaba x Pokemon Card Game tie-in launched in June 2021, built around a “いっぱつしょうぶ” (one-shot showdown) theme and centered on Pikachu and Charizard.
The retail side was apparel, offered through PUBLIC TOKYO: three T-shirt designs at ¥6,600 each (Pikachu, Charizard, and a design featuring both together), built on PUBLIC TOKYO’s white tee line with card-back-inspired patches on the sleeve and hem, plus a Special Box at ¥6,226 containing 64-count deck shields, a deck case, a rubber play mat, and a card box. Sales ran as a lottery through PUBLIC TOKYO’s online store (June 18–28, 2021) and Pokemon Center Online.
The card side is what collectors chase now: a monochrome, line-art Pikachu promo numbered 208/S-P (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), distributed starting July 22, 2021 at Pokemon Center, Pokemon Store, and Pokemon Center Online to customers spending ¥1,500 (tax included) or more, or with purchase of the PUBLIC TOKYO collab goods. It was the first time Nagaba’s style appeared on an official Pokemon TCG card, and it set the template — promo-only distribution, no booster pack, no chase-in-a-pack odds — for the larger campaign that followed two years later.
Collab #2: The 2023 Eevee’s Campaign
The second collaboration, announced through the official Pokemon Card Game site, scaled the concept up from one Pokemon to nine. Branded “Eevee’s” (イーブイズ), it covered Eevee and all eight of its evolutions in Nagaba’s line-art style, and released across three retail products, all on May 24, 2023 (the official page notes the three were first sold by lottery at Pokemon Center Online, with general sale undecided):
- Eevee’s Special BOX (¥4,800) — 64-count deck shields, a deck case with dividers, a rubber play mat, and a card box, all illustrated with Eevee, its evolutions, and cards symbolic of the Pokemon Card Game.
- Eevee’s Collection File (¥1,980) — a 180-card binder with ten pre-installed 9-pocket pages, Eevee’s evolutions on the cover and the card-back pattern on the reverse.
- Eevee’s Display Frame (¥1,490) — a self-standing frame built to display a single card.
Separately, Nagaba’s own site ran a limited silkscreen print raffle — two versions (“Eevee Evolutions No.1,” a sitting pose, and “No.2,” a battle pose) at 50 prints per version, sized to match the promo cards themselves.
None of these three retail products contained the actual promo cards. Those were a distribution mechanic layered on top: starting May 24, 2023, customers received one of the nine promos at random for every ¥1,000 (tax included) spent on card-related products at Pokemon Center, Pokemon Store, and Pokemon Center Online, capped at ten cards per person at physical locations. Online distribution reportedly closed early — by roughly 8:30pm on May 25 — because demand outran supply. That randomized, spend-gated rollout meant that nobody could simply buy all nine in one purchase.
The 9 Eevee’s Promos, Card by Card
All nine cards run consecutively as SV-P promos, numbered 062 through 070, and all nine carry the YU NAGABA illustrator credit:
| Number | Pokemon |
|---|---|
| 062/SV-P | Eevee (イーブイ) |
| 063/SV-P | Vaporeon (シャワーズ) |
| 064/SV-P | Jolteon (サンダース) |
| 065/SV-P | Flareon (ブースター) |
| 066/SV-P | Espeon (エーフィ) |
| 067/SV-P | Umbreon (ブラッキー) |
| 068/SV-P | Leafeon (リーフィア) |
| 069/SV-P | Glaceon (グレイシア) |
| 070/SV-P | Sylveon (ニンフィア) |
For another Eevee-evolution product, the official 30th CELEBRATION Premium Deck Set Espeon & Umbreon (released September 16, 2026) holds an Espeon ex deck and an Umbreon ex deck of 60 cards each; our Japanese Premium Deck Set is currently listed at ¥17,999 (~$117). USD figures convert at ¥154/USD, approximate.
The Special BOX Products
Both collaborations paired their card distribution with a set of physical accessory products, and both used the term “Special Box” (or “Special BOX”) in a way that’s worth keeping straight, since the two are unrelated products from different years:
- 2021 Pikachu Special Box (¥6,226) — deck shields, deck case, rubber play mat, card box, and a multi-ring, part of the PUBLIC TOKYO Pikachu/Charizard release.
- 2023 Eevee’s Special BOX (¥4,800) — deck shields, deck case with dividers, rubber play mat, and card box, illustrated with Eevee and its evolutions.
Neither box contained a promo card — the promos came from separate spend campaigns (¥1,500 or more in 2021, each ¥1,000 in 2023), running alongside these box releases rather than inside them. The official pages add that lottery winners of the Special BOX also received promo cards (four, for 2023 Special BOX winners), and the 2023 page notes that the Special BOX on its own cannot be used to play a game.
Where to Find the Nagaba Promos Today
The nine Eevee’s promos and the Pikachu promo were handed out in Japan through the spend campaigns and lotteries, so today they circulate as raw promos, sealed packs and graded slabs.
Where to Buy Yu Nagaba Pokemon Cards
We ship Japanese sealed product and PSA-graded singles worldwide from Tokyo with tracked delivery; see the Japanese Pokémon card collection for what is listed. Sourcing requests for a specific Nagaba promo, sealed pack or graded copy go through Quick Order.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Yu Nagaba x Pokemon collaboration?
It’s a pair of official collaborations between illustrator Yu Nagaba and the Pokemon Card Game, run in his signature minimal line-art style. The first, in 2021, put Pikachu and Charizard on T-shirts and a promo card (208/S-P). The second, in 2023 and branded “Eevee’s,” covered Eevee and all eight of its evolutions across nine promo cards and three retail accessory products.
Which 9 cards are in the Yu Nagaba Eevee’s set?
062/SV-P Eevee, 063/SV-P Vaporeon, 064/SV-P Jolteon, 065/SV-P Flareon, 066/SV-P Espeon, 067/SV-P Umbreon, 068/SV-P Leafeon, 069/SV-P Glaceon, and 070/SV-P Sylveon — all illustrated by YU NAGABA and released together in May 2023.
How can I get Yu Nagaba Pokemon promo cards now?
The in-store distribution (one random promo per ¥1,000 spent) began on May 24, 2023 and ran until the allotted quantity was gone, so the promos now come from the secondary market as raw cards, packs or graded slabs.
How do I find a PSA 10 Yu Nagaba card?
Each PSA 10 Nagaba promo is priced separately by card number, so there is no single price for the nine. The official announcement lists the nine as Eevee, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon, all drawn by 長場雄.
Can I buy Yu Nagaba Pokemon cards from Japan directly?
Yes. We ship Japanese sealed product and PSA-graded singles from Tokyo worldwide with tracked delivery. Sourcing requests for a specific Nagaba promo go through Quick Order.
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