Naoki Saito Pokemon Cards: Festa Pikachu, CP2 Legends & Modern SARs

Who Is Naoki Saito?

Naoki Saito (さいとうなおき) was born in 1982 in Yamagata Prefecture and graduated from Tama Art University. Before working on the Pokemon TCG full time, he was employed at Konami. He moved into freelance illustration and began contributing to the card game during the HeartGold & SoulSilver era.

Since then his card count has grown to 250 TCG cards plus 37 TCG Pocket cards — 334 Japanese-language entries in the Limitless database. He’s also contributed artwork to Duel Masters outside of Pokemon.

Saito’s work isn’t limited to individual cards. He painted map and city artwork tied to the Pokemon Black & White era, designed Trainer characters for the Sun & Moon era, and contributed art to Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs. He also runs the YouTube channel @saitonaoki2 — and he’s still actively illustrating for the TCG heading into 2026.

That range — individual card illustration, full map artwork for a mainline era, Trainer character design, and a spin-off game credit — is unusual even among prolific TCG artists, most of whom stay within card illustration alone. It’s also part of why his catalog spans such a wide stretch of the hobby: a collector who only knows him from a single alternate art is often unaware he also had a hand in the visual identity of an entire generation’s marketing.

Saito in Our PSA 10 Vault

All ten Naoki Saito cards currently in our PSA 10 inventory, ranked by price:

The spread across this table roughly mirrors Saito’s career — a Festa 2017 promo at the very top, two CP2-era legendary alternate arts in the upper tier, a first-edition CP5 promo, a modern VMAX special art rare in the middle, and his two most recent SARs closer to the entry point.

Two cards outside the top four are worth flagging on their own. The Vaporeon (Showers) EX promo, XY-P 194, is currently listed at ¥34,299 and represents a different era again — the XY block promo run, distinct from both the CP2 legendaries and the modern VMAX/SAR cards. And the Meowth card, MM 052/165, at ¥13,905, carries his name at the lower end of the table and remains listed.

Vintage CP2/CP5 vs His Active 2025–26 Work

Saito’s career splits cleanly into two windows in our inventory: the CP2/CP5 concept-pack era of 2015–2016, and his current run of SARs from 2025–26.

The vintage side is complete — Latios, Zekrom, and Arceus are all promo cards from sets that closed out over a decade ago, so what exists is what exists. That fixed supply is a large part of why they price above his current work. For the rest of Arceus’s printing history across other sets and rarities, see our Arceus card value guide.

The 2025–26 side is the opposite situation: Hilda and Canari are cards from sets that are still current, illustrated by an artist who is still working. Prices on that end of the vault sit lower for now, but Saito remains active, which means his catalog — and this section of the table — is still growing.

It’s worth being precise about attribution here, because Saito’s name gets mixed up with other illustrators working the same sets more often than most. A different Hilda print from the same SV11W set and a different Canari print from the same M2a set are credited to other artists entirely — only the specific SAR (SV11W 173/086) and SR (M2a 219/193) numbers listed in this guide are his.

The Mimikyu VMAX CSR at ¥42,328 sits between the two eras almost exactly, which fits its timing — a modern-era special art rare that’s had enough time on the market to settle, but comes from a set young enough that it hasn’t reached vintage promo territory. If you want the full breakdown of Mimikyu’s other printings, see our Mimikyu card value guide.

Frequently Asked Questions