The Alola starters — Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio — have been printed across ten years of Japanese Pokemon TCG sets — from the very first Sun & Moon starter deck in December 2016 to a mega-era Primarina card released in May 2026. This guide finishes our regional starters series by tracking every verified Alola-line printing in one place: Decidueye’s six-card run, plus the current chase cards for Incineroar and Primarina.
We’re not covering VGC viability or competitive rankings here. This is a collector’s map of what exists, when it released, and what it looks like — useful whether you’re building a Rowlet binder or just trying to identify a card someone handed you.
Alola is an unusual region to map this way, because its starter line’s TCG history doesn’t run in a straight line. Rowlet’s evolved form, Decidueye, got the lion’s share of attention across the Sun & Moon era — a starter-deck debut, a tag team, a shiny secret rare, and a Hisuian regional-form reprint — while Litten and Popplio’s evolved forms show up only once each in this guide’s verified scope: Incineroar ex is a Scarlet & Violet-era print (SV5M), and Primarina AR is a current mega-era print (M5). That gap is part of what makes the Alola trio worth mapping on its own rather than folding it into a generic “starters” list.
Eight verified printings of the Alola starters span 2016–2026 across three lines. Decidueye (Rowlet’s final form) has the deepest run at six cards, including a Shiny SSR and a Hisuian VSTAR. Litten’s Incineroar ex is a Scarlet & Violet-era print (SV5M); Popplio’s Primarina AR is a current mega-era print (M5). The Rowlet Munch Exhibition promo 290/SM-P is currently listed as a PSA 10 at ¥354,732 (~$2,303) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order); none of the other seven are listed as graded singles. Sealed boxes from each set are the other way to chase these prints.
- At the time of this update: SV5M Cyber Judge, S9A Battle Region, and M5 Abyss Eye boxes are currently listed; SM10B Sky Legends and M3 Nihil Zero boxes are sold out.
- SNKRDUNK’s lowest asks on September 23, 2026: Decidueye ex SR 093/080 PSA10 ¥4,250 (raw ¥1,000), Incineroar ex SR 085/071 PSA10 ¥5,900, Primarina AR 085 raw ¥1,000.
- Full card-by-card breakdowns: M3 Nihil Zero card list, SV5M Cyber Judge card list, and SM10B Sky Legends card list.
Prices below are currently listed prices for sealed Japanese booster boxes. USD figures convert at ¥154/USD, approximate. The Rowlet Munch Exhibition promo 290/SM-P is currently listed as a PSA 10 at ¥354,732 (~$2,303) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order); none of the other seven are listed as graded singles — sealed boxes are the collectible route to those printings.
Every Alola Starter Printing in One Table
Eight verified prints across the three Alola starter lines, in release order:
| Card | Line | Set | Number | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decidueye-GX | Rowlet | Starter Set SM (SMA) | 004/059 | Dec 2016 |
| Rowlet Munch Exhibition Promo | Rowlet | SM-P | 290/SM-P | Nov 2018 |
| Shiny Decidueye-GX SSR | Rowlet | GX Ultra Shiny (SM8b) | 207/150 | Nov 2018 |
| Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX SA | Rowlet | Sky Legends (SM10b) | 056/054 | Apr 2019 |
| Hisuian Decidueye VSTAR HR | Rowlet | Battle Region (S9a) | 086/067 | Feb 2022 |
| Incineroar ex SR | Litten | Cyber Judge (SV5M) | 085/071 | Jan 2024 |
| Decidueye ex SR | Rowlet | Nihil Zero (M3) | 093/080 | Jan 2026 |
| Primarina AR | Popplio | Abyss Eye (M5) | 085 | May 2026 |
The pattern is lopsided: Decidueye has appeared six times since 2016, while Litten and Popplio’s evolved forms each have exactly one verified print in this guide’s scope — Incineroar ex from the Scarlet & Violet era (SV5M) and Primarina AR from the current mega era (M5). That’s not unusual for a starter trio — the “cover” starter of a generation (Rowlet, in Sun & Moon’s case) tends to get more GX/VSTAR/ex treatment across a set’s lifespan than its two partners.
The card frame is the fastest way to place any of these eight in time, even without checking the set code. GX cards (the debut print, the shiny SSR, and the Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor tag team) all belong to the 2016–2019 Sun & Moon era and share the same rounded, colour-banded frame. The single VSTAR print — Hisuian Decidueye — belongs to the 2022 Sword & Shield era and uses the star-shaped HP icon that VSTAR cards are known for. The three most recent cards (Incineroar ex, Decidueye ex, and Primarina AR) all use the current “ex” and alternate-rare frame conventions, spanning the SV5M Cyber Judge set in 2024 through the M3 and M5 mega-era sets in 2026. If you’re sorting a binder by feel rather than by set code, frame style alone gets you most of the way to the right era.
The Decidueye Line: Six Prints from 2016 to 2026
Decidueye’s Japanese TCG debut was Decidueye-GX 004/059 in the Starter Set SM (SMA), released December 9, 2016 — the deck that launched the Sun & Moon era in Japan. The English-language debut followed in the base Sun & Moon set (Decidueye-GX 12/149).
Two years after the starter deck, GX Ultra Shiny (SM8b), November 2, 2018, added a shiny SSR Decidueye-GX at 207/150 — the alternate-color secret-rare slot that era’s ultra shiny sets were built around. About five months later, Sky Legends (SM10b, April 26, 2019) paired Rowlet with an evolutionary partner from the same island in a tag team GX: Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX, full art, at 056/054.
The line then skipped ahead to the Sword & Shield era with Hisuian Decidueye VSTAR HR 086/067 in Battle Region (S9a, February 25, 2022) — the Legends: Arceus-style regional form treatment, released in the English-language Astral Radiance set as well. Most recently, Decidueye returned in the current mega era as Decidueye ex SR 093/080 in Nihil Zero (M3, January 23, 2026), the newest print in this guide.
If you’re trying to identify which Decidueye card you have, the card number and set logo are the fastest tell — six prints span three different card frame generations (GX, VSTAR, ex), so the layout alone narrows it down quickly.
Incineroar ex and Primarina AR: The Current Chase Cards
Litten and Popplio’s fully evolved forms don’t have Decidueye’s print history in this guide’s verified scope. Incineroar ex SR 085/071 is a Scarlet & Violet-era print (Cyber Judge, SV5M, January 2024); Primarina AR 085 is a current mega-era print (Abyss Eye, M5, May 2026).
Incineroar ex SR 085/071 released in Cyber Judge (SV5M) on January 26, 2024, the Japanese counterpart to the English Temporal Forces-era print run. It’s Litten’s line represented at the ex secret-rare tier, and the box it comes from, SV5M Cyber Judge Booster Box, is currently listed with the No Shrink option at ¥9,180 (~$60) and the Sealed option at ¥11,220 (~$73). The lowest asking price on SNKRDUNK for a PSA10 Incineroar ex SR 085/071 was ¥5,900 on September 23, 2026; a raw copy asked ¥1,000 the same day.
Primarina AR 085 is Popplio’s newest and only verified print in this guide, released in Abyss Eye (M5) on May 22, 2026 — the most recent card of the eight covered here. It’s an alternate-art rare, the current era’s mid-tier chase slot below the SAR/SR/UR treatments. M5 Abyss Eye Booster Box is currently listed with the Sealed option at ¥8,160 (~$53) and the No Shrink option at ¥8,475 (~$55); a raw Primarina AR 085 asked ¥1,000 on SNKRDUNK on September 23, 2026. No dated PSA 10 figure for this print is in this update.
The lowest asking prices on SNKRDUNK on September 23, 2026 were ¥7,999 (M3), ¥7,850 (M5) and ¥11,000 (SV5M) for a sealed box.
For the full rarity breakdown of either set, see the SV5M Cyber Judge card list, our SV5M Cyber Judge pull rates guide, or the M3 Nihil Zero card list (which also covers the current Decidueye ex print).
Worth noting: this guide’s verified scope is limited to the printings confirmed above, and both Incineroar and Primarina may well have earlier Japanese printings outside that scope. What’s confirmed is that these two cards are each Pokemon’s current representative for their line — the one you’ll find in a current booster box rather than in a decade-old binder.
The Munch Exhibition Promo: Rowlet Meets “The Scream”
A crossover that stands apart from the rest of this list: Rowlet 290/SM-P was distributed starting November 2, 2018, tied to “Munch: A Retrospective,” the Edvard Munch exhibition running at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum from October 27, 2018 to January 20, 2019. Buyers who purchased two packs at Pokemon Center or Pokemon Store locations during the tie-in period received the card as a bonus. This promo is currently listed as a PSA 10 single at ¥354,732 (~$2,303) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order).
The illustration, by Hideki Ishikawa, riffs on Munch’s 1910 version of “The Scream” while working in a Mimikyu silhouette — a Rowlet card, but the artwork is doing something entirely different from the rest of this list. It’s part of a broader Munch Exhibition promo series that also included cards for other Pokemon at the time; this guide covers only the Rowlet entry within its verified scope.
Cards like this sit outside the normal set-and-booster-pack pipeline that the rest of this guide’s printings came through. They were tied to a specific purchase (two packs, during a defined window) at specific retail locations rather than distributed inside any Sun & Moon-era product, which is part of why exhibition-tie-in promos like this one tend to be harder to track down years later than a card that shipped inside every booster box of a mainline set.
Alola Completes the Regional Starters Series
This is the eighth and final entry in our regional starters series, rounding out every generation we’ve covered so far. If you’re chasing a specific region’s trio, the other guides are here:
- Johto Starters Cards Guide (Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile)
- Hoenn Starters Cards Guide (Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip)
- Sinnoh Starters Cards Guide (Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup)
- Unova Starters Cards Guide (Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott)
- Kalos Starters Cards Guide (Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie)
- Galar Starters Cards Guide (Grookey, Scorbunny, Sobble)
- Paldea Starters Cards Guide (Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly)
Each guide follows the same format: every verified printing, release dates, and the sealed product where the current-era chase cards live.
How to Collect the Alola Starters
The Rowlet Munch Exhibition promo 290/SM-P is currently listed as a PSA 10 single at ¥354,732 (~$2,303) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order); none of the other seven printings are listed as graded singles. The practical route into the rest of this lineup is sealed booster boxes from the sets that contain each printing — five boxes cover five of the eight cards, with each box’s current status in the table below.
| Box | Contains | Current price |
|---|---|---|
| SM10B Sky Legends Booster Box | Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX SA | Sold out |
| S9A Battle Region Booster Box | Hisuian Decidueye VSTAR HR | Currently listed at ¥11,000 (~$71) |
| M3 Nihil Zero Booster Box | Decidueye ex SR | Sold out |
| SV5M Cyber Judge Booster Box | Incineroar ex SR | No Shrink ¥9,180 (~$60) |
| M5 Abyss Eye Booster Box | Primarina AR | Sealed ¥8,160 (~$53) |
SM10B Sky Legends and M3 Nihil Zero are sold out at the time of this update — restock requests go through Quick Order. Of the eight printings in the main table, the Starter Set SM debut (SMA) and the GX Ultra Shiny SSR (SM8b) also aren’t tied to a box we currently list — restock requests for those two go via our Quick Order page. The Munch Exhibition promo isn’t tied to a box we currently list, but it is listed as a graded PSA 10 single at the price above.
For the complete card-by-card breakdown of that set, see the SV5M Cyber Judge card list or the M3 Nihil Zero card list. For individual Alola-starter singles across any of these sets, or any of the other prints in the main table, request a quote via our Quick Order page.
Where to Buy Alola Starter Boxes from Japan
We ship Japanese sealed product from Tokyo via FedEx; if your country appears at checkout we can ship to you. The five boxes above are the direct route to five of the eight Alola starter printings in this guide, and each box also opens the rest of that set’s card pool — useful if you’re chasing more than just the starter card.
If you collect across generations, check the PSA 10 card list hub for graded Alola starter singles, and the SV5M Cyber Judge and M5 Abyss Eye boxes are currently the lowest-priced entry points on this list for a current-era starter chase card.
M5 Abyss Eye and SV5M Cyber Judge are currently listed and the lower-priced entry points; S9A Battle Region is currently listed and runs a little higher. SM10B Sky Legends and M3 Nihil Zero are sold out at the time of this update. Any of the seven other regional guides linked above follow a similar price spread between their oldest and newest sets.
For graded singles, browse the PSA 10 collection; for sourcing requests on prints we don’t currently list, use our Quick Order page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Pokemon are the Alola starters, and which cards does this guide cover?
Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio are the Alola region’s starter Pokemon. This guide covers their fully evolved forms in the Japanese TCG: Decidueye (Rowlet), Incineroar (Litten), and Primarina (Popplio), across eight verified printings from 2016 to 2026.
When did Rowlet and its evolutions first appear in the Japanese TCG?
Decidueye-GX 004/059 debuted in the Starter Set SM (SMA), released December 9, 2016, at the start of Japan’s Sun & Moon era. It’s the earliest verified printing in this guide.
What is the Munch Exhibition promo card?
Rowlet 290/SM-P is a Japanese promo distributed from November 2, 2018, tied to an Edvard Munch retrospective at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. The illustration by Hideki Ishikawa reworks Munch’s 1910 version of “The Scream” with a Mimikyu silhouette worked into the design.
Are there current mega-era prints of the Alola starters?
Yes. Decidueye ex SR 093/080 released in Nihil Zero (M3) in January 2026, and Primarina AR 085 released in Abyss Eye (M5) in May 2026. Incineroar ex SR 085/071 from Cyber Judge (SV5M, January 2024) is the most recent verified Litten-line print.
Where can I buy sealed product with these cards from Japan?
We list sealed booster boxes for SM10B Sky Legends, S9A Battle Region, M3 Nihil Zero, SV5M Cyber Judge, and M5 Abyss Eye — each contains one of the verified Alola starter printings. S9A, SV5M, and M5 are currently listed; SM10B and M3 are sold out at the time of this update. Individual singles or other sets can be requested by getting a quote via our Quick Order page.
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