Raikou in the Sun & Moon Era (SM3p, SMH, SM8, SM8b, SM12a): Pokemon Card Guide

The Arita Prints: SM3p, SMH and SM8b

Three of the five prints credit Mitsuhiro Arita, the illustrator whose career we outline in our Mitsuhiro Arita card guide. The database also credits him on Entei XY 011/171 and XY7 015/081 and on Suicune XY9 020/080, so the beast trio is a recurring subject for him. A dedicated spotlight on these three Raikou prints is in our Mitsuhiro Arita Raikou cards guide.

The SM3p print is numbered 033/072. Its two attacks, as the database prints them, are とどろくらいめい (30 damage; attach 1 Energy from your discard pile to a Benched Pokémon) and ライトニングボール (90 damage, no added effect) (rendering). With a Basic Pokémon of 120 HP and no ability, the card is short: one setup attack and one plain attack.

The SMH print, numbered 035/131, prints the same two attacks and the same 120 HP (rendering as above). The database credits Arita here as well. Whether the SM3p and SMH illustrations are the same artwork is not something the credit alone establishes; the two images on this page let you compare them.

The SM8b print is numbered 034/150 and again prints とどろくらいめい30 and ライトニングボール90 on 120 HP (rendering as above). Three prints with one text and one illustrator credit make this the largest group on the list, and the three set counts (072, 131, 150) help tell them apart when the cards are out of their sleeves.

Arita’s Legendary Beast Credits in the Database

Arita’s name recurs across the three beasts. The entries below are the ones the database credits to him as of October 29, 2026.

The Raikou group is the only one of the three that sits in the Sun & Moon era; his Entei and Suicune credits are XY-era cards. The Entei side of that XY-era work is covered in our Entei cards guide.

SM12a 044/173 by nagimiso

The SM12a print is numbered 044/173, the highest set count on the list, and credits nagimiso. The same artist is credited in the database on the Raikou V numbered S12a 218/172, a later print covered in our Raikou V PSA 10 guide. The two cards are different cards: the SM12a entry is a plain Raikou with 120 HP, and the S12a entry is a Raikou V with 200 HP.

The SM12a text is the second family: ロストボルテージ, 30 damage plus 90 more if you have Energy in your Lost Zone (rendering). It is identical in wording to the SM8 037/095 entry in the database, and the two cards differ in illustrator, number and set. A collector who sorts by attack name will therefore find both prints together, while a collector who sorts by illustrator will find them in different groups.

What Came Before and After in the Database

The Raikou entries around this group credit other artists and carry different texts, which is useful when you are sorting a mixed lot.

The S3a 015/076 card is the Amazing Rare covered in our Amazing Rare guide, and the later Mega-era prints are collected in our Raikou 162/103 guide and in the sibling checklist Raikou in the Mega Era. The Raikou V and Raikou ex cards are different cards from every Raikou in this guide, and they carry the V or ex rule box.

One practical note when sorting a mixed lot: the Pokédex line No.243 いかずちポケモン is printed on every plain Raikou entry in the database, from the LP cards (061/L-P and 064/L-P, 80 and 90 HP) and the DP3 card (DPBP#293, 80 HP) through to these 120 HP cards. It therefore does not separate one plain Raikou from another. The set code, the number and the HP do.

Raikou Products We List

None of the five Sun & Moon-era prints is among the Raikou listings we link in this guide. The table lists the Raikou products and the one set box we do link, each with its own price. The rarity letters in the listing names are our catalogue wording; the official database does not print them.

The three back orders are sourced to order, and each product page shows the current terms. We state our own listed prices only; this guide gives no marketplace figures, no sales figures and no forecast for the Sun & Moon-era prints.

Where to Buy Raikou Cards from Japan

For the set behind SM8 037/095, the sealed SM8 booster box is currently listed at ¥110,750 (~$719). For other Raikou prints we list, the PSA 10 back orders are at ¥18,574 (~$121) for the Raikou V SAR, ¥148,720 (~$966) for the BW4 071/069 1st Edition and ¥264,600 (~$1,718) for the e4 039/088 1st Edition. Browse the card list hub for the sets we cover. Sourcing requests for a specific Sun & Moon-era Raikou go through Quick Order.