30th Celebration: English-to-Japanese Card Number Map

The 30 Pikachu: One Clean Rule

The 30 Pikachu subset (Japanese 017–046, sub-numbered 01/30 through 30/30) is the one part of this set with a clean stated rule: the English number is 22 plus the card’s x/30 sub-number, while the Japanese number is 16 plus that same sub-number — so the English number comes out 6 higher than the Japanese number, never 22 higher. Japanese 017 (01/30, Ken Sugimori) is English #023. Japanese 046 (30/30, Kazuki Minami) is English #052. Bill’s Archive states both halves directly: “Each English number is exactly 22 higher than the Pikachu number” on the English side, and “the Japanese set number is exactly 16 higher than the Pikachu number” on the Japanese side.

The 12 rows without the “(inferred)” label are confirmed directly by Bill’s Archive as having a published English scan; the others follow mechanically from the stated sub-number rule. Our Pikachu-30 illustrator hub covers all 30 artists by Japanese number.

Secret-Rare Pairs (Confirmed)

Japanese AR (104–123) and SAR (124–133) illustrators are unpublished in the official database, and so are most of their English counterpart numbers. Bill’s Archive states an absence in so many words for only three cards: “Maushold and Fuecoco ex have no English counterpart on this page yet” (JP AR 123 and SAR 124), and, back in the main set, Mewtwo ex 055/103, which “has no English counterpart on this page yet”. The others it lists on the Japanese side — Alolan Exeggutor AR 104, Moltres AR 105, Morpeko AR 110, Nidorina AR 114 and Sylveon ex SAR 130 among them — are simply not paired with an English number anywhere in the source, which is not the same thing as a stated absence. The pairs it does confirm:

Bill’s Archive names exactly nine Art Rare / Special Art Rare pairs, and they are the nine AR/SAR rows above: “#106, #111, #113, #115, #120, #122, #126, #127 and #133 are #131, #136, #138, #139, #144, #145, #149, #150 and #156 in order”. Other English secret rares in its list (Articuno 132, Zapdos 133, Toxtricity 134, Chandelure 137, Scraggy 140, Gholdengo 142, Greninja ex 148, Jirachi ex 155) are described only on the English side, with no stated Japanese counterpart, and Galarian Meowth’s Japanese AR (117/103) is not tied to its English Secret Rare (141) by any sentence found in the source — so none of those pairs appear here. Two of the nine — Alolan Meowth AR 115/EN 139 and Meowth AR 120/EN 144 — are a matched day/night pair; pokemon.com credits the English Illustration Rares 139 and 144 to OKUBO. Our Meowth day/night guide covers that pairing in full. The two Futuristic Rares carry an official illustrator credit in both languages rather than a Bill’s Archive-only one: Mewtwo ex (JP 134) and Mew ex (JP 135) are both officially YOSHIROTTEN, matching English Secret Rares 157 and 158. All 32 secret rares (104–135) have now been seen, but the AR/SAR/FUR block is still not in the official card database — these numbers are compiled from official images and PokeBeach’s September 9 list.

Promo Numbers

English promos use their own set code, MEP EN #094–109, entirely separate from both the 128-card main set and the Japanese M-P promo range (101–127 for the Card Set, 131/132 for the FUTURISTIC BOX). None of these three promo pools share numbers with each other. The two English Ultra-Premium Collection Pikachu ex promos, MEP EN #107 (day) and #109 (night), carry the same stats as Japanese 047/048 but are alternate-art printings on their own numbering, not a direct pair.

Frequently Asked Questions