Not every great Japanese Pokemon card came out of a booster box. Some of the most expensive cards we carry from the XY era never sat in a pack at all — they came bundled with a comic book, handed out at a movie tie-in campaign, or slipped into a promotional card pack sold on its own. That’s the XY-P prefix: the running series of promotional cards distributed throughout the XY era rather than tied to a single expansion release date.
We currently carry six graded XY-P promos worth knowing, ranging from a ¥33,990 Water-type Basic up to a ¥1,751,000 grail. This guide walks through five of them in depth — a 2014 CoroCoro comic exclusive, a movie-campaign Groudon, a Water-type Basic, and two different Pikachu variants — and points you to where we’ve already covered the sixth in its own dedicated article.
Across the six XY-P promos we carry, the PSA 10 Pikachu Libre PROMO (247/XY-P) is currently listed at ¥360,500 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), and the PSA 10 Charizard EX PROMO (030/XY-P) — a 2014 CoroCoro Comic exclusive — is currently listed at ¥164,800. Every card on this list is a single PSA 10 graded copy: once it sells, that specific listing is gone.
All prices below are what our shop currently lists each graded copy at, in Japanese yen. Every card on this list is PSA 10, single-copy stock, shipped from Tokyo.
What Makes a Card “XY-P”
A main Japanese expansion — Wild Blaze, Rage of the Broken Heavens, and so on — has one clean release date and a fixed print run inside sealed booster boxes. XY-P promos work differently. According to LimitlessTCG’s card database, XY Promotional Cards (XY-P) is a running series distributed across the whole XY era rather than a single set with one release date — a card bundled with a magazine one month can sit alongside a card handed out at a store campaign a year later, all sharing the same XXX/XY-P numbering format.
That’s why the cards on this list look so different from each other. A CoroCoro comic insert, a movie-campaign giveaway, and two cards whose distribution history we simply couldn’t verify all carry the same prefix — the number after the slash just tells you where in that running sequence the card falls, not what event it came from.
The Charizard EX PROMO covered below is numbered 030/XY-P. It is a different card from the Charizard-family Mega Evolution chase numbered 055/080 that comes out of Wild Blaze (XY2) booster boxes — same era, same species, two completely separate cards with two separate numbering systems.
Every XY-P Promo We Carry, Ranked
Sorted lowest to highest by what each graded copy is currently listed at:
| # | Card | Number | Currently Listed At |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Showers EX PROMO | 194/XY-P | ¥33,990 |
| 2 | Groudon PROMO | 144/XY-P | ¥49,440 |
| 3 | Charizard EX PROMO | 030/XY-P | ¥164,800 |
| 4 | Pikachu Libre PROMO | 247/XY-P | ¥360,500 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| 5 | Pikachu Wearing a Poncho PROMO | 203/XY-P | ¥374,508 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| 6 | Mario Pikachu PROMO | 293/XY-P | ¥1,751,000 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
Two Pikachu cards and two Charizard/Legendary-adjacent cards make up the top half of that list — a pattern that shows up across almost every Japanese promo prefix we carry, not just this one. The sections below go through five of these six in detail; the sixth already has a full write-up of its own, linked further down.
Under ¥50,000: Showers EX and Groudon
The two most accessible cards on this list come from opposite ends of the XY-P design spectrum — one a straightforward Basic Pokemon attacker, the other tied to a specific movie promotion.
Showers EX (194/XY-P) is a Water-type Basic Pokemon at 180 HP — “Showers” being the Japanese name for the Pokemon known internationally as Vaporeon, which is why our listing carries that transliterated name rather than the English species name. Its first attack, Bubble Drain, does 30 damage while healing this Pokemon for 30; its second, Deep Scowl, hits for up to 130 but loses 10 damage for every damage counter already sitting on this Pokemon. Illustrated by Naoki Saito, weak to Grass, no resistance listed, retreat cost 3.
Groudon (144/XY-P) at 130 HP was distributed as a 2015 campaign prize tied to the Hoopa movie release, run at mass retailers such as Ito-Yokado, Aeon, and Toys “R” Us. Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. We’ve covered Groudon’s full printing history — including this promo and its later chase cards — in more depth elsewhere on the site, so this entry stays to the summary: a 130 HP Basic tied to a specific, dated retail campaign rather than a booster pull.
The 2014 CoroCoro Debut: Charizard EX PROMO 030/XY-P
This is the oldest distribution story in this ranking with a documented date attached to it. Charizard EX PROMO (030/XY-P) was bundled as a special insert with the Japanese children’s manga magazine CoroCoro Comic’s March 2014 issue, which went on sale February 15, 2014. That issue’s circulation ran around 673,000 copies (JMPA-certified print run for the surrounding January–March 2014 period) — a magazine print run, not a card-game print run.
The card itself is a 180 HP Fire-type Basic Pokemon, illustrated by 5ban Graphics. Its first attack, Mega Awakening, lets you search your deck for a copy of “M Charizard-EX,” show it to your opponent, and add it to your hand — a support attack built to fetch the Mega Evolution version rather than attack on its own. Its second attack, Brave Fire, does 120 damage but also deals 30 to this Pokemon itself. Weak to Water, no resistance, retreat cost 3.
The PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥164,800 — the third-highest of the five cards we cover in depth here.
Two Pikachu Variants Near ¥360,000
The two most expensive cards we cover in depth here are both Pikachu, both Lightning-type Basics, and both listed within ¥14,000 of each other — but they come from very different corners of Pikachu’s promotional history.
The card LimitlessTCG’s Japanese card database records as Masked Pikachu (247/XY-P) — a masked, wrestler-styled Pikachu — is the card we list under the name Pikachu Libre. Pikachu Libre is the official English name for this Cosplay Pikachu form (introduced in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire and later a playable fighter in Pokken Tournament); Masked Pikachu is simply the Japanese-language name for the same form, and our listing uses the official English name. On the card itself: 80 HP, first attack Quick Attack for 10 damage plus 30 more on a coin-flip heads, second attack Flying Elekick for a flat 50 damage. Weak to Fighting, resists Steel, retreat cost 1, illustrated by Yoshinobu Saito. The PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥360,500 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order).
Pikachu Wearing a Poncho (203/XY-P) is a lower-HP Basic at 70, illustrated by Kouki Saitou, built around a coin-flip search attack: on a heads, it lets you search your deck for a Mega Evolution Pokemon and add it to your hand. Its second attack does up to 90 damage across three coin flips. Weak to Fighting, resists Steel, retreat cost 1. It’s currently the single most expensive card we cover in depth in this guide — listed at ¥374,508 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), and like every other card here, it’s a single graded copy: once it sells, that specific listing is gone.
View Product → (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order)
Beyond This Ranking: Mario Pikachu PROMO 293/XY-P
The most expensive card in our full six-card XY-P lineup isn’t one we detail here. Mario Pikachu (293/XY-P) is currently listed at ¥1,751,000 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) — nearly five times the price of the next card on this list — and its distribution history and identification points get a full standalone treatment in our Mario Pikachu card guide. Rather than duplicate that write-up here, this ranking keeps it to its place at the top of the XY-P prefix: the outlier that makes every other card in this guide look like the accessible end of the series by comparison.
Where to Buy XY-P Promo Cards from Japan
We ship graded and sealed Japanese Pokemon product worldwide from Tokyo. If the Pikachu Libre PROMO (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) or the 2014 CoroCoro Charizard EX is the one you’re after, both product pages above go straight to checkout. For browsing beyond these six, our PSA 10 collection covers every graded single we currently carry across all eras and prefixes.
If your interest runs to a different era’s promo run, we cover the Sun & Moon-era equivalent in our companion SM-P promo cards guide. And for the sealed boxes, booster sets, and other XY-era chase cards these promos were distributed alongside, see our full XY era Japanese Pokemon guide.
For a mixed order across promos, sealed product, and other singles in one shipment, our Quick Order page is the fastest way to put it together.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does XY-P mean on a Japanese Pokemon promo card?
XY-P marks a card as part of the running XY Promotional Cards series — a group of cards distributed throughout the XY era outside of regular booster boxes, rather than a single expansion with one release date. The number before the slash (for example, 030/XY-P) identifies the individual card within that series.
What is the most expensive XY-P promo card you carry?
The PSA 10 Mario Pikachu PROMO (293/XY-P), currently listed at ¥1,751,000. We cover its distribution history in a standalone guide rather than in this ranking.
Is the Charizard EX PROMO (030/XY-P) the same card as the Charizard EX in Wild Blaze (XY2)?
No. The Charizard EX PROMO (030/XY-P) covered in this guide is a 2014 CoroCoro Comic magazine insert. It’s a different card from the Mega Evolution Charizard chase numbered 055/080 that comes out of Wild Blaze (XY2) booster boxes — same species, same era, separate cards with separate numbering.
Is “Pikachu Libre” the official name of that card?
Yes. The card’s Japanese name is Masked Pikachu, but Pikachu Libre is the official English name for this Cosplay Pikachu form, used in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire and as a playable fighter in Pokken Tournament. Our listing uses that official English name.
Are these XY-P cards graded or sealed?
All six cards in this ranking are PSA 10 graded singles, and each listing is a single copy. Once a specific card sells, that exact listing is gone until we source a replacement PSA 10 of the same card.
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